According to a study published ahead of print of the British Journal of Nutrition website, eating soluble corn fibre could increase the amount of calcium that your body absorbs.
Apparently tests had already been done in which it was seen that soluble corn fibre significantly improved the bone density of growing rats compared to other soluble fibres.
The researchers wanted to test if the same could be said for humans and so recruited 24 adolescent children whose calcium intake was considered on the low side and split them into two groups, half were given 12 grams of soluble corn fibre and the other half acted as the control. Both groups had a daily calcium intake of 600mg per day.
They found that the children consuming the soluble corn fibre had a higher calcium absorption compared to the control group.
Interestingly the levels of bacteria from the phylum Bacteroidetes present in the gut increased significantly in both groups. This is thought to be down to the fact that even the control group were eating more fibre in their controlled diet during the study than they would usually.
The paper is available from the British Journal of Nutrition website.