PHGG - good for more than your gut

This week’s blog is short one, but a powerful one.

It comes out of my recent experiences at the Pharmacy WA Forum in Perth chatting to some of the naturopaths and integrative pharmacists. They got very excited about the Daily Gut Health Boosts on our stand. They recognized the value of the partially hydrolysed guar gum (PHGG) in our Boosts not just to improve gut health, but other conditions too.

We include PHGG in our range primarily because of its gut health benefits. It not only helps with occasional constipation, but it also helps with diarrhoea, returning poop content to a normal healthy state without the bloating, cramping and gas production caused by some other types of fibre. It’s also a good prebiotic and increases the number of beneficial bacteria in the gut microbiome. It’s fermented into highly beneficial compounds called short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). Short-chain fatty acids fuel the cells of the digestive tract, keeping the gut healthy. If you want to read more about these gut health benefit check out our blog here.

But if you want to find out about additional benefits of PHGG, read on.

Cholesterol lowering effects of PHGG

High levels of cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood are risk factors for heart disease. Given, coronary heart disease is the number one cause of death for men in Australia and number 2 after dementia for Australian women, we all need to be aware of our cholesterol numbers (levels of bad LDL cholesterol and good HDL cholesterol) and working to improve them..

The soluble fibre found in oats and psyllium has long drawn attention for its ability to change lipid levels in the blood and reduce the risk of coronary heart disease.

Similarly, a range of animal and human studies have demonstrated beneficial effects of PHGG on blood cholesterol and lipid levels.

For example, Yamatoya and colleagues conducted a small study in Tokyo with young women who were healthy apart from relatively elevated cholesterol levels. They consumed either 5 g of PHGG once a day in a drink with breakfast or 15 g spread over breakfast, lunch and dinner for 2 weeks. The 5 g a day group experienced a significant decrease in free fatty acids in their blood after the two weeks, whilst the 15 g a day group saw a significant decrease in both cholesterol and free fatty acids.

Similarly, Kondo and colleagues conducted a study on blood lipid levels in healthy young males, again with slightly elevated cholesterol levels. Consuming 6 g of PHGG mixed in a yoghurt drink along with a high-fat and cholesterol-rich challenge food (containing cream and egg yolk) led to a reduced rise in serum triglycerides and serum remnant like particle cholesterol (RLP-C) compared to when they consumed the same challenge food without the PHGG.  This is good news because RLP-C is highly predictive of heart attacks, more so than any other lipid particle including LDL cholesterol. A side-study showed that just 3g of PHGG has almost as good a suppressive effect on post-meal triglycerides and RLP-C levels.

The researchers suggested that the branched structure of PHGG with galactose side chains suppress fat absorption in the gut.

Key points

If you have high levels of harmful cholesterol, adding a shot of Daily Gut Health Boost (with 5 g of PHGG per serve) to your routine isn’t a quick fix, but it can be helpful as part of a multi-faceted approach combining lifestyle, medication and dietary changes to improve your health.

When my father was first prescribed statins, I remember him opting for fruit for dessert and wisely declaring that “there’s no point me taking statins and then eating cream cakes”.  It’s the right attitude - his ticker is still going strong at 80.

So what changes are useful to build a healthy cholesterol profile (low LDL and high HDL) and lower triglycerides? Here’s our top tips:

1)       Move more

2)       Stop smoking

3)       Up your soluble fibre intake – soluble fibre is found in PHGG (e.g. in our Daily Gut Health Boosts), psyllium, oats, fruit and veggies – take a look at our Best Ever Poop page for more information.

4)       Eat less saturated fat – found in red meat and full–fat dairy. It can be hard to find a yoghurt that is both lactose-free and low-fat, Here in WA, Mundella make a great option. If you can’t find one, you may have to opt for a lactose-free regular option and reduce your serving size.

5)       Eat more healthy fats - found in oily fish, nuts, seeds including chia seeds, extra virgin olive oil and avocados.

6)       Check out the Mediterranean diet rich in plant-based foods – it encompasses -3) to 5) above, plus you’ll get additional cholesterol lowering effects from traditional vinegar and the polyphenols found in colourful fruit and vegetables

7)       Consider adding whey protein to your diet – studies have shown that whey protein isolate given as a supplement can lower LDL and total cholesterol. Three options in our Superflora shake range include whey protein isolate.

8)       Similarly, margarines and orange juice with added plant sterols can lower LDL

9)       Statins aren’t suitable for everyone, but they do save lives (around 4.3 in every 1,000 people are saved every year when treated with LDL cholesterol lowering therapy). Discuss with your GP.  And if you are taking statins – space out when you take your statins and any fibre supplements by a couple of hours. Studies have shown that psyllium can reduce absorption of statins, and it’s possible that the same is true for PHGG..

References:

Yamatoya, K., Kuwano, K. and Suzuki, J. (1997) ‘Effects of hydrolyzed guar gum on cholesterol and glucose in humans’ Food Hydrocolloids, 11:239–242 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0268-005X(97)80030-6

Kondo, S., Xiao, J.Z., Takahashi, N., Miyaji, K., Iwatsuki, K. and Kokubo, S. (2004) Suppressive effects of dietary fiber in yogurt on the postprandial serum lipid levels in healthy adult male volunteers’ Biosci. Biotechnol. Biochem., 68:1135–1138. https://doi.org/10.1271/bbb.68.1135

Pal, S., Ellis, V., & Dhaliwal, S. (2010). Effects of whey protein isolate on body composition, lipids, insulin and glucose in overweight and obese individuals. The British journal of nutrition, 104(5), 716–723. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007114510000991

Blog written by: Noisy Guts co-founder Dr Mary Webberley. Mary has a background in biology, with two degrees from the University of Cambridge and post-doctoral research experience. She spent several years undertaking research into the diagnosis of IBS and IBD.