In the RTL Z doc "Superfoods: What's It Really Like?", it featured chufa and the fibre in chufa. As you may know, chufa is rich in fibre, but does it benefit you when you make the milk drink horchata from it?
The answer is yes! The fibre in chufa is mainly soluble fibre. If you make it into horchata, these fibres will get into your horchata. Dr Perez, microbiologist has done research on the effects of chufa on digestion.
When you drink horchata (or eat chufas), they are digested by your saliva, stomach and small intestine. Except for the soluble fibre, which ends up in the colon. The bacteria there feed on the fibres and produce lactic acid. Dr Perze demonstrated this by adding soluble fibre from horchata to a purple liquid containing intestinal bacteria. When lactic acid is present, the purple liquid should turn yellow.
Why is that a good thing?
These gut bacteria also produce butyric acid, butyrates. These butyrates nourish the cells of the gut. They make the intestines stronger, make the intestines absorb more nutrients and ensure an optimal pH in the gut.
Jesse van der Velde adds, "butyrates are short-chain fatty acids that possess infection-inhibiting properties, inhibit nf-kappa-beta (inflammatory responses) and protect our digestive system from chronic inflammation, such as ulcerative colitis (e.g. Scheppach, 1992) and Crohn's disease (Di Sabatino et al., 2005). The gut bacteria in our body can produce butyrate themselves when in contact with fibre (which is why eating enough fibre is so important!)."
Here whole the piece of film.
Chufas make your gut happy!
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