The Effects of #Artichoke Activities in the Promotion of Bowel Health, Researchers Suggest

By Kyle J. Norton

Bowel problems may be a condition associated with some underlying diseases or syndrome including bowel incontinence, IBS, Colitis, Crohn's, constipation, or other bowel conditions.
Bowel problems can be cured if the causes of the problem are found.

The most common syndrome that does not associate with the underlying disease is constipation, a condition that affects bowel movements.

According to the statistics in the US, constipation affects approximately 2% of the population and the condition is more common in women than men.

Patients with constipation may experience symptoms of abdominal pain, bloating, and feeling of not completely passed the bowel movement.

Chronic constipation is one of the common causes of hemorrhoids, anal fissure or fecal impaction.

Conventionally, constipation in most cases is treated by the use of a laxative. However long-term use of laxatives may induce diarrhea, intestinal obstruction, and particularly unbalanced levels of salts and minerals in your body.

Therefore, if you currently use one of the over-counter laxatives for the treatment of constipation, please make you know all the side effects for preventive measures.

Artichoke is a perennial thistle of Cynara cardunculus species of the Cynara genus, belonging to the family Carduoideae native to Southern Europe around the Mediterranean.

The herbal plant has been used in traditional medicine as a liver protective and detoxified agent, and to treat digestive disorders, abdominal pain gas and bloating, etc.

On finding a natural compound with bowel health promotion activity, researchers compared the effects of probiotic-enriched artichokes on the treatment of the symptom profile and short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) production in constipated subjects with ordinary artichokes.

20 chronically constipated participants including 3 males and 17 female have selected to a double-blind method and a computer-generated randomization list.


Each patient consumed 180 g per day of ordinary artichokes or artichokes enriched with Lactobacillus paracasei IMPC 2.1 for 15 days.

According to the returned questionnaires, 80% of patients preferred probiotic-enriched artichokes compared to ordinary ones.

The satisfactory relief of symptoms was significantly higher in the probiotic-enriched artichoke compared to ordinary ones.

According to the Bristol stool scale in the measurement of fecal retention was lower in the probiotic-enriched artichokes compared to higher in the artichoke group seconded to the control.

GSRS (Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale) of constipation was significantly lower in the probiotic group compared with the baseline.

Furthermore, the short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) production and propionic acid were significantly higher in the probiotic group compared with the baseline.


In order to reveal more information on artichokes in the promotion of bowel health, researchers investigated the chemical compounds inulin and oligofructose, a class of fructans found in the Jerusalem artichoke.

Injection of inulin and oligofructose was found to stimulate the immune system of the body, decrease the pathogenic bacteria in the intestine, and relieve constipation.

Furthermore, inulin and oligofructose also displayed significant effects in the promotion of bowel health by protecting the colon against colon cancer.

Taken altogether, artichoke, particularly Jerusalem artichoke alone or combined with probiotics may be considered functional remedies for the improvement of bowel health, pending the validation of a larger sample size and multicenter human study.

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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.


References
(1) Randomised clinical trial: efficacy of Lactobacillus paracasei-enriched artichokes in the treatment of patients with functional constipation--a double-blind, controlled, crossover study by Riezzo G1, Orlando A, D'Attoma B, Guerra V, Valerio F, Lavermicocca P, De Candia S, Russo F. (PubMed)
(2) Applications of inulin and oligofructose in health and nutrition by Kaur N1, Gupta AK. (PubMed)