What is stachyose?

       Stachyose is a naturally existing tetrose, whose structure can be expressed as fructose-glucose-galactose-galactose. It is a functional oligosaccahride that can enhance bifidobacteria in the gut. The pure stachyose is white powder with a little bit sweet taste (about 22% as sweet as sucrose).
       Stachyose, easily soluable, can be eaten alone or mixed with other food. As a kind of functional oligosaccharide, it plays an important role in enhancing bifidobacteria and other beneficial bacteria in human gut. By doing so, micro-ecology of human gut can be balanced and internal environment in digestive tract can be improved. By enhancing bifidobacteria and lactobacilli and inhibiting decomposing bacteria growth, human gut can be healthier and the production and absorption of carcinogens are inhibited. As a new functional food additive, our stachyose is extracted from a special plant of Chinese origin which grows in rural area and free of pollution. Therefore, our stachyose is safe.

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What are the characteristics of Pengyu TM stachyose?

       Compared with other functional oligosaccharides, Pengyu TM stachyose has the following characters: (1) high content of functional oligosaccharide. According to the chemical determination, Pengyu TM stachyose contains 75% ~80% of stachyose and about 10% of raffinose. At present, widely sold oligosaccharides extracted from soybean contain only 50% of oligosaccharides (about 30~35 % of stachyose). (2) Small effective dosage. Experoment on human bodies show that 1.5 g of Pengyu TM stachyose a day shows effect in health improvement. It significantly enhances the growth of bifidobacteria and lactobacilli. In contrast, 20 g of galactooligosaccharide and 8 ~10 g of fructooligosaccharide and 10 g of soybean oligosaccharide are needed to produce the same effect. (3) Sooner health-improving effect. It takes Pengyu TM stachyose only 7 days to produce beneficial effect. But for same effect it will take soybeam oligosaccharide 3 weeks and fructooligosaccharide 8 days. (4) Pengyu TM stachyose contains little heat producing sugar, less than 5%. Therefore, you have no need to worry about gaining weight and increase of blood sugar while taking Pengyu TM stachyose.

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Why is it that decrease of bifidobacteria in gut is associated with aging and many diseases?
        There are two kinds of bacteria in human gut, one is health promoting and the other is harmful to health. Bifidobacteria is health-promoting bacteria. As one gets older, due to the decrease of gastric-intestinal fluid secretion and other factors involved, bifidobacteria in gut will gradually reduce in number. This is especially true in senior citizens. Reduction in bifidobacteria is well known to be associated with aging, reduction in immunity and diseases such as cancer and arthritis. It is believed that mental stress can result in imbalance of endocrine secretion as well as deteriorating health. In the meanwhile, bifidobacteria in gut reduce dramatically, too. The bad bacteria in gut grow more rapidly and lots of toxins are produced due to good one's reduction. In turn, it reduces immune function in human body and as a result, diseases come along. The experiments with rats indicate that the increase of harmful bacteria will induce colon cancer and liver cancer. Besides, many other diseases are associated with reduction of bifidobacteria. Modern research has found that taking certain amount of stachyose can significantly increase bifidobacteria in gut and prolong the aging as well as prevent many diseases.

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What is the significance of bacteria in gut to human body?

      Human beings cannot live without bacteria. As soon as one is born, bacteria gets into his body and stay with his until the rest of his life. The close relation of intestinal flora to human health condition indicates that good internal environment and balanced GI bacteria flora are extremely important to the human body. Once the bad bacteria grow rapidly in gut, the functions of liver and intestine will get worse and for a long run, many diseases such as hypertension, coronary heart disease and cancer may occur. Therefore, it is important to manage the bacteria balance in gut, which is to increase good bacteria and inhibit bad ones. By proper diet and taking reasonable amount of functional food, such as stachyose, one can benefit a lot in building up the balance of intestinal flora and maintaining a good health.

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Which is better----taking stachyose or live bifidobacteria?

       The direct way to increase bifidobacteria is to take live bifidobacteria. Many such kinds of products are available on market. However, it must take the amount of 10 9 ~10 10 daily to produce beneficial effect. Live bifidobacteria need to store in cold place and it reduces with storage time. After 2~3 weeks of storage, the live bifidobacteria reduce to 1% ~0.1% of original amount. Besides, the metabolites of bifidobacteria will make the taste of the product worse. Compared with taking live bifidobacteria, taking stachyose has the following advantages:
    (1) small amount will produce functional effect of increase in bifidobacteria. It will take about 1.5 g of stachyose to get the significant result.
    (2) In recommended dosage, there will be no diarrhea. Only if the dosage is over 42 g, can diarrhea occur.
    (3) It tastes sweet and has good acceptability.
    (4) Good water solubility will not increase the viscidity of the product.
    (5) Stable characters with no chelating with minerals and promoting absorption of calcium
    (6) Easy to add to food process.
    (7) The price of stachyose is much lower than live bifidobacteria. Therefore, it is suitable for common people's daily use without costing too much.

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Why can stachyose work as cosmetics?

      With the improvement of standard of living, people tend to eat more refined food and less dietary fiber in diet. More sugar and fat intake gradually reverses the internal environment and more and more toxins cannot be discharged from human intestine. More toxins discharged from skin make skin splash deposition and wrinkle formation in face. Therefore, toxin in human body must be discharged immediately. One good way to do so is to take stachyose daily. The reasons are as follows:
      Taking stachyose can promote the growth of bifidobacteria and accelerate vermiculation and make feces softer and easy to discharge toxin with feces. That is:
      (a) clean the GI tract and get rid of toxins immediately.
      (b) Increase bifidobacteria flora in gut and balance the ecosystem of gut and shorten the stay of toxins in gut as well as reducing its absorption.
      (c) As bifidobacteria are increased, bad bacteria will be decreased or inhibited. The toxins that these bad bacteria produce will reduce. The toxins normally discharged will further improve the micro-ecosystem in gut. The protected membrane in internal gut can form in order to prevent toxins getting into blood circulation. Therefore, pigment is no longer deposited on face. Since the activity of cells enhanced, freckles and comedo are inhibited and cosmetics effect functions.
      Taking stachyose regularly can strengthen collagen fibers and protect them from being damaged by free radials. This collagen network can prevent skin from cutis laxa.

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Is there any bacteria in a healthy human body?

      Many people may believe that people get bacteria only if they are having contagious diseases. In fact, healthy people do carry bacteria and carry many kinds of bacteria. In general condition, bacteria do not make people sick. These kinds of bacteria are called physiological bacteria or normal flora. Normal flora is a micro-ecosystem formed between human and microorganism in evolutionary process thousands years ago. Normal flora exists in many parts of the human body, such as in intestine, mouth, vagina and skin. Among the above, intestine contains the majority of bacteria. In modern society, many factors disturb the balance of flora in gut, such as heavy workload and omnipresent stress is everywhere, abuse of antibiotics, hormones and isotopes. Modern scientific research indicates that intestinal flora is closely related with body health. Some metabolites from the bad bacteria may cause cancer or promote to develop cancer, while other good bacteria can breakdown these carcinogens into non-carcinogens and maintain the balance of the gut and keep human body in healthy condition. Therefore, intestinal flora is one of the most important and interesting topics in scientific research today. And the functional oligosaccharides, especially stachyose, are very promising in the application market both at home and abroad.

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Besides functional foods, what other foods can stachyose add in?

      Due to stachyose's low sweetness, good moisture, strong heat resistance, stability to acid and good water molecule activity, stachyose can be widely used in beverage, candy, dairy products, cakes and wine in order to give these foods functions of anti-dental caries and bifidobacteria promoting. (1) Baked foods. Stachyose can be used in ordinary bread, biscuit. Proper amount of stachyose added can keep moisture in these foods and prolong the shelf life. (2) Cakes and Candy. Stachyose can partially substitute sucrose in cakes, candy, chocolate, jelly and so on. These foods with stachyose can provide anti-dental caries function and remain sweetness and are particularly suitable for children and the patients with diabetes. (3) Foods for senior citizens. Bread with stachyose has been developed in Japan and other developed countries for older people who have high tendency to develop constipation and hyperlipidemia. Stachyose makes these foods the best choice for them. It was reported that in Japan functional beauty-drinks with stachyose, dietary fibers, and pectin have been developed for younger ladies. Stachyose is also used for making tea to treat the patients with gastric intestinal disorders. (4) Acid-foods. Since stachyose is more stable than sucrose in acid condition, stachyose can be used in acid foods such as beverage, yoghourt to increase their stability. Stachyose has been used in ice cream, milk shaker and foods for infants.

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What is the proper daily amount of stachyose?

       According to experiments on human body, the effective dosage for Pengyu Stachyose is 1.5 g/ day for a week to produce promoting bifidobacteria function. For long term use, the recommended dosage is 1.5 ~5 g. Older patients with severe constipation can take 10 g at beginning until the symptom relieve and then reduce the amount gradually. The dosage range for stachyose is from 1.5 ~10g. Since stachyose exists in natural foods for human consumption for many years, it is very safe for daily intake.

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Why is it claimed that stachyose can prevent colon cancer?

       Stachyose promotes the growth of bifidobacteria in gut and inhibits bad bacteria to grow as well as inhibits production of toxins and accelerates the movement of gut (more toxins which cause cancer can be discharged quickly). In addition, the components from bifidobacteria cell membrane and substances secreted from bifidobacteria can significantly improve immune function and break down certain carcinogens. All the above factors contribute to colon cancer prevention.

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Why is it that stachyose can prevent and treat constipation?

       In the process of breakdown of stachyose by bifidobacteria, a lot of short chain fatty acids are produced, which can stimulate bowel movement and increase bulk of feces so as to avoid storage of feces in colon. In experiment on human body, 1.5 ~3 g of stahcyose for one week can prevent or reverse constipation. But for those who suffer severe constipation, stachyose should be increased to over 10 g a day.

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Why is it that stachyose, unlike other sugars, does not cause dental caries?

        Microorganism in mouth, especially mutant streptococcus, causes dental caries, because it produces large amount of sugar and acids. However, these microorganisms cannot use stachyose. Several new chewing gums on the market which claim to prevent dental caries contain stachysoe.

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Why is it that bifidobacteria is a ‘ weatherglass' of human health?

       Since the separation of bifidobacteria by French scientist, Trssier in 1898, many research projects have identified that bifidobacteria is beneficial bacteria in human gut. Its reduction is a symbol of poor health. Micro-ecology found that there are over 100 species of bacteria in healthy human gut. The variation of these bacteria is significantly correlated with aging. As the age goes on, the bifidobacteria is decreasing.

       Three to four months after an infant is born, bifidobacteria is about 25% of total bacteria in gut. As age goes on, bifidobacteria is decreasing and gradually disappear. For those over 65, the bifidobacteria in their gut is only about 7.9% of total bacteria. While the decomposing bacteria such as E. Coli. and Cl.Perfringens increase greatly. And as the age further goes on, bifidobacteria almost disappears while the decomposing bacteria such as E. Coli. and Cl.Perfringens almost occupy the whole colon, which produce many toxic substances, including amines, hydrogen, scatole, indole, phenol and nitrosamines. These substances are harmful to human body and result in accelerating ageing, cancer, arteriosclerosis, liver disorders. There are two ways to increase bifidobacteria in gut. One is to intake live bifidobacteria and the other is to intake bifidobacteria stimulating factor. Since live bifidobacteria is sensitive to moisture, temperature and pH value, the production process and storage conditions must meet the requirement of bifidobacteria. In fact, it is hard to do so in actual daily practice. In addition, through gastric acid and bile, part of bifidobacteria will be destroyed. Therefore, it needs to take a large amount of live bifidobacteria to get the ideal result the human expects. However, to intake bifidobacteria-stimulating factor is another story. Bifidobacteria stimulating factor, say, stachyose, can not be digested in human gut by the enzymes there and directly goes to colon to nourish bifidobacteria and other beneficial bacteria which selectively metabolite stachyose as a nutrient. On the contrary, the decomposing bacteria such as E. Coli. and Cl.Perfringens are inhibited. Therefore, to intake bifidobacteria daily is one of the best ways to strengthen micro-ecology balance in gut.

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Why is it that stachyose is good for the patients with hypertension?

       Human experiments showed that if the patients with hypertension took 10 g of stachyose daily for 6 weeks, their diastolic pressure reduced 799.7 Pa (about 6 mmHg). Another research indicated that human diastolic pressure has a significantly negative proportion to the percentage of bifidobacteria in total bacteria in gut. In other words, the more bifidobacteria in gut, the lower the diastolic pressure. From the above research, it is easy to find that stachyose reduces blood pressure through increase of bifidobacteria in gut.

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Why is it that stachyose is good for patients with hyperlipidemia?

       Bifidobacteria directly act on the enzyme, β-methyl-glutaric acid reductase and inhibit the synthesis of cholesterol and as a result, blood cholesterol concentration reduces. Stachyose promotes rapid growth of bifidobacteria and indirectly enhances the activity of enzyme--β-methyl-glutaric acid reductase. Cholesterol synthesis is inhibited. Several human trials found that taking certain amount of stachyose can reduce the concentration of cholesterol. Daily intake 3 g of stachyose from 2 weeks to 3 months, the concentrations of cholesterol in patients reduce 20~50mg/100ml. Frequent intake of diary products rich in bifidobacteria or stachyose, such as yogurt can also reduce concentration of blood cholesterol.

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Why is it that stachyose is good for the patients with liver disorders?

       Long-term intake of stachyose can accelerate the discharge of toxic substances in gut that they are not absorbed into blood circulation, which will put extra burden on liver to detoxicate these substances. The research showed that after the aged patients with cirrhosis of liver took 3 g of stachyose daily for 7 days their liver functions and constipation improver significantly. By the same token, after the patients with chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis of liver took fermented milk containing large amount of bifidobacteria for 80 days, the toxic substances and their metabolites in the patients' serum and urine were reduced to or closed to normal levels and their symptoms were improved as well as the appetite was increased. In addition, frequent drinking of alcohol gives the liver extra work to decompose alcohol. Therefore, taking stachyose can help liver to detoxicate alcohol and protect liver from being further damaged.

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Why is it that stachyose is good for the patients taking antibiotics for long time and the cancer patients with chemotherapy?

      Some patients need to take antibiotics for a long time for many reasons. One side effect for long-term antibiotics users is the disturbed flora in gut. Antibiotics kill a lot of good bacteria since they are more sensitive to antibiotics. Therefore, bad bacteria grow more rapidly than before. As a result, Gastric and intestinal functions and digestive function are bad. In this situation, taking stachyose can provide more nutrients to bifidobacteria and lactobacilli and make them grow and multiply faster. In this way, disturbed intestinal flora may reverse to normal. Stachyose can only be used by probiotics such as bifidobacteria and lactobacilli and cannot be used by decomposing bacteria.

      The same is true for cancer patients with chemotherapy. Radiation kills cancer cells and probiotics ( probiotics are very sensitive to radiation ) in the same time. Intake of stachyose can help probiotics, such as bifidobacteria and lactobacilli grow better because of extra nutrient provided to them. Therefore, stachyose intake is good for the cancer patients with radiation therapy to reduce the side effect caused by radiation including imbalanced flora in gut.

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Why is it that stachyose is good for those who are in stress condition to keep healthy?

       It is well known that stress can disturb endocrine system and harm human health. Stress can also change the equilibrium of intestinal flora with reducing bifidobacteria and lactobacilli and increasing bad bacteria or decomposing bacteria that produce a lot of toxic substances. Part of toxic and carcinogens produced by bacteria acts on intestinal tract and the rest part is absorbed into blood circulation. In the long run, it will cause the damage to important organs such as liver, kidneys and heart. As a result, hypertension, heart disease, liver lesion, arteriosclerosis will take place. The research showed that taking stachyose could reduce or even demolish the above harmful effects by increasing bifidobacteria and lactobacilli in gut. Therefore, taking stachyose is good for those who are working in stress condition.

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Why is it that stachyose is good for prolonging aging?

       Animals without bacteria in their gut have 50% longer lifespan and they have, lower ammonia and cholesterol lever in their blood than their normal counterparts. All these indicate that bacteria flora in gut are closely related with their host's lifespan and aging.

       One research surveyed the flora in gut of people of different ages and longevity people and found that the longevity people maintain adult-status flora in their gut, which has a higher percentage of bifidobacteria and lactobacilli and lower percentage of decomposing bacteria.

       Scientists are very interested in this phenomenon and did a lot of research to try to find out the secret in it. The research on gut flora partially solved the problem. They found that protein, amino acids and nitrogen containing substances can be changed into some harmful substances, such as ammonia, amine, hydrogen, phenol, steroid by decomposing bacteria. Part of these substances are absorbed into blood circulation and cause further damage to human body, which eventually result in many diseases and speeding up aging process. For example, ammonia is detoxicated in liver. The more ammonia body contains, the more work the liver will do to eliminate the toxic substance. Thus, as the burden is too much, the liver function will reduce. Bifidobacteria and lactobacilli can compete with bad bacteria and reduce the production of above toxic substances by bad bacteria, which can indirectly protect liver, heart and other vital organs of our body.     

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