Synbiotic Yogurt increases calcium absorption in Young Adult Women, Study finds

In adult women, short-term daily ingestion of a synbiotic yogurt increased calcium absorption compared to a control yogurt, says an article published in The Journal of Nutrition on 12th April, 2022.

Foods that include both probiotics (synbiotics) and prebiotics may improve calcium absorption. As a result, Rafael Cornes and colleagues undertook this study to assess the acute effect on calcium absorption in young adult women of consuming (185 mL) a synbiotic (SYN) containing inulin (4g) and Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (>1 107/CFU/mL) compared to a control (CON) yogurt.

For this study adult women with normal weight (25.0 3.5 y, n = 30) took part in a 3-week cross-over research comparing SYN against CON intake on a daily basis. At baseline, dietary habits, bone mineral density (BMD), calcium biomarkers, and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] were all examined. Calcium absorption was measured using a 42Ca oral tracer following each step of the investigation. Cumulative tracer recovery was assessed in urine pools taken 0–4h, 0–24h, and 0–36h after treatment. The key result was the SYN/CON tracer ratio from the timed-urine-pools. A favorable response to SYN was characterized as a SYN/CON tracer ratio greater than one from 0 to 36 hours.