title: Fructo-oligosaccharide effects on blood glucose: an overview.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify the current status of scientific knowledge in fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS), non-conventional sugars that play an important role in glycemia control.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed a search for scientific articles in MEDLINE and LILACS databases, from January 1962 to December 2011, using English/Portuguese key words: "blood glucose/glicemia", "prebiotics/prebióticos" and "dietary fiber/fibras na dieta". From an initial number of 434 references, some repeated, 43 references published from 1962 to 2011 were included in this study. The selected texts were distributed in three topics: (1) metabolism of FOS, (2) FOS and experimental studies involving glucose and (3) human studies involving glucose and FOS.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Five studies have shown that the use of FOS reduces the fecal content and increases intestinal transit time. Experimental studies have shown that dietary supplementation with high doses (60 g/Kg) of propionate, a short-chain fatty acid decreased glycemia. The use of lower doses (3 g/kg) did not produce the same results. Study in subjects with diabetes type II showed that the addition of 8 grams of FOS in the diet for 14 days, caused a reduction in serum glucose. In another study with healthy subjects, there were no changes in glycemic control.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This review demonstrates that consumption of FOS has a beneficial influence on glucose metabolism. The controversies appear to be due to inadequate methodological designs and/or the small number of individuals included in some studies.
authors.affiliation: Nutrition Division, Federal University of Amazon, Brazil.
authors.forename: Graciana Teixeira
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.forename: Sergio Botelho
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Guimarães
authors.forename: Helena Alves de Carvalho
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Sampaio
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism*; D002648:Child; D003672:Defecation / Q000187:drug effects; D004043:Dietary Fiber / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000378:metabolism*; D019587:Dietary Supplements / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D009844:Oligosaccharides / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D004043:Dietary Fiber; D009844:Oligosaccharides