Carbohydrate unabsorbed

The fecal flora ferment unabsorbed carbohydrates with production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). One likely explanation for diarrhea due to antibiotics is altered fecal... 

Dietary fibre and diabetes. The addition of gel-forming (soluble) but unabsorbable fibre (guar gum, a hydrocoUoidal polysaccharide of galactose and mannose from seeds of the cluster bean ) to the diet of diabetics reduces carbohydrate absorption and flattens the postprandial blood glucose curve. Reduced need for insixlin and oral agents are reported, but adequate amoimts (taken with lots of water) are impleasant (flatulence) and patient compliance is therefore poor. 

An increase in osmotic pressure due to retention of unabsorbed carbohydrate in the distal small intestine and proximal colon may explain the acarbose-induced diarrhoea that results from sucrose combined with acarbose (Hayakawa et al., 1989). In cases of hypoglycaemia, glucose has to be preferred over saccharose. 

Several quite different mechanisms can lead to diarrhea. In carbohydrate malabsorption, the presence of unabsorbed solutes in the bowel causes an osmotic diarrhea as water enters the bowel from the tissue. By contrast, the diarrhea of most laxative abuse and in VIPomas is due to active secretion of water and electrolytes into the bowel, which is described as secretory diarrhea. Inflammatory bowel diseases (ulcerative colitis and Crohn s disease) cause diarrhea as a consequence of the inflammatory process with loss of fluid into the bowel. 

Carbohydrate malabsorption plays a major role in diarrhea associated with SBS. Unabsorbed carbohydrates are broken down by intestinal bacteria to short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), producing an osmotic load in the distal small intestine and colon that can lead to protracted diarrhea. However, the colon is able to use these SCFAs as a source of energy, thus complex carbohydrates may provide a significant caloric source for patients with a massive resection and a preserved colon. ... 

A digestive disorder due to (1) the lack of one or more enzymes which digest carbohydrates, or (2) other conditions which prevent the absorption of certain sugars. The unabsorbed sugars provide nutrients for bacterial growth and have a laxative effect which often results in diarrhea. 

Several decades of research have confirmed that cell wall polysaccharides modify physiological mechanisms throughout the alimentary tract. Delayed absorption of glucose and lipids in the small intestine makes an important contribution to metabolic control in type 2 diabetes, and certain types of hypercholesterolemia, respectively. Any loss of carbohydrates to the colon will lead to increased fermentative activity, and through this pathway, most of the unabsorbed energy will be recovered as short-chain fatty acids. Unfermented cell wall polysaccharides and increased bacterial... 

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