Source: CINVESTAV
With compounds obtained from the same agave variety with which tequila is produced (tequilana Weber Blue variety), experts from the Center for Research and Advanced Studies (CINVESTAV) have improved absorption of calcium and magnesium by the organism, which are essential minerals for bone health. Thus, it could represent an alternative in treatment of osteoporosis.
According with the study, performed at CINVESTAV – Irapuato and led by Mercedes Lopez Perez, the consumption of such agave fructans contributes to the generation of new bone, despite the presence of osteoporosis. However, Lopez Perez clarified that results are subject to subject’s good intestinal flora health. As it is essential for the fructans to ferment and turn into fatty acids.
This was determined from testing in animal models. It was found that, after consuming Agave tequilana Weber fructans, the diameters of the bones of these rodents are larger compared with those who were not given the compounds.
“What we did was removing the ovaries of female mice to generate osteoporosis. Once they had this problem, we gave them agave fructans; and eight weeks later, we took samples of their femur to measure the absorption of minerals. We also evaluated the presence of a protein called osteocalcin, which marks the generation of new bone. We observed that mice who consumed fructans synthesized nearly 50 percent of this protein,” said the researcher.
These results open the possibility of an alternative treatment for osteoporosis. This disease, according to the latest statistics from the International Osteoporosis Foundation, affects 200 million women worldwide. In the case of men, one in five fractures in adults older than 50 years is related to the disease.
Explaining the fructans’ operation, Lopez Perez said that since they are not digestible carbohydrates from agave’s fiber, they arrive intact to the large intestine. There, they decrease acidity levels allowing minerals becoming more available to be absorbed, helped by fatty acids. Because when the fructans interact with the gut microbiota, they become fatty acids, which are responsible for dropping acidity levels, helping cells exploiting minerals available in that part of the tract.
“Fructans reach the large intestine intact, and by interacting with microbiota living there, they become short chain fatty acids. These will chelate available minerals in the tract, and help transport them through the cells. This means that we have a second chance to take nutrients that were no longer available to the body, ” said the member of the National System of Researchers.
With these results, Lopez Perez hopes to continue to the stage of clinical trials, and she already applied for a national patent.
“Currently, there are products on the market based on fructans, which claim improving health of people with diabetes or overweight. However in many cases, they do not show good results because people are not warned about the need of having a good microbiota to see the benefits quickly, ” concluded the researcher.
Source: CINVESTAV
