Psyllium Husk

The benefits of Psyllium Husk are

• Laxative Effect - Most dietary fibre sources promote laxation by increasing colonic contents, which stimulates propulsion. Unfermented or incompletely fermented fibre and the accompanying moisture it holds are two contributors to this increased stool mass. Slowly or incompletely fermented fibres also contribute to stool weight by providing substrate for microbial growth. The greater bacterial mass and accompanying water further increase stool weight. In most studies, the additional stool mass produced by consumption of more dietary fibre contains the same proportion of moisture as do low-fibre stools Psyllium seed husk is a partially fermented dietary fibre from Plantago ovata that increases stool weight and promotes laxation by its presence in stool and by increasing the moisture content of stool.
• Cholesterol lowering - Consumption of viscous soluble fibres significantly lowers serum total and LDL cholesterol concentrations (18,19), and may provide an alternative to drug therapy for some patients (20-22). Of the viscous soluble fibres, psyllium husk fibre appears to be one of the most effective with the least adverse effects.
• Anticarcinogenic effect - Ingestion of prebiotics (non-digestible food ingredient that selectively stimulates bacteria in the colon) results in a different spectrum of fermentation products, including the production of high concentrations of short chain fatty acids, leading to a decrease in pH. A low pH in faeces was associated with a reduced incidence of colon cancer in various populations.Butyrate is associated with many biological properties in the colon. One of the first observed effects of butyrate on the degree of DNA methylation is probably associated with modified gene expression, the consequences of which are yet unknown, particularly in relation to colon cancer. However, butyrate may also directly enhance cell proliferation in normal cells and suppress proliferation in transformed cells by improving cell differentiation. This is an important step in suppressing cancer cells. In addition, apoptoses may be increased in transformed cells but inhibited in normal cells when butyrate is present.Colon cancer, which in a high proportion of the population is due to somatic mutations occurring during the lifetime of an individual, could be retarded by preventing these mutations. Prebiotics have been shown to deactivate genotoxic carcinogens. DNA damage had been prevented and chemopreventive systems may be stimulated in vivo in colon tissues.
• Intestinal Health - The colon of the human gastrointestinal tract contains a large population of resident bacteria. In fact, approximately 55% of the solids in faeces is microbial biomass. In adults, these bacteria are balanced in a complex ecosystem consisting of more than 40 major species and more than 400 species in total.In a healthy individual, most of these species are advantageous or benign to the host, but some are potentially pathogenic if their numbers are allowed to increase to high levels. Disturbances to the ecological balance in the intestinal microflora caused by, for example, changes in diet, stress or antibiotic treatment can lead to the overgrowth of deleterious bacteria, and subsequently to gastrointestinal disorders (48). These disorders may be as minor as intestinal discomfort or increased flatulence, or relative serious health problems such as severe diarrhoea, irritable bowel syndrome and colitis. Undesirable bacteria in the colon have even been implicated in the development of colon cancer.