Tate & Lyle partnered with researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to investigate the effects of PROMITOR® Soluble Fibre on cognitive function, gut microbiota composition and the gut-brain axis in middle-to-older age adults. The findings demonstrate that daily consumption of PROMITOR® Soluble Fibre improved aspects of executive function, specifically attentional inhibition, while selectively enriching key gut microbial populations. These results provide new insights into the potential role of dietary fibre in supporting healthy cognitive ageing through the gut-brain connection.
The randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial included 42 healthy adults aged 45-75 years who consumed 22 g/day of PROMITOR® Soluble Fibre for four weeks.
PROMITOR® Soluble Fibre was shown to support cognitive function. This was demonstrated through improved attentional inhibition, a key aspect of executive function involved in maintaining focus and resisting distractions, and one that may naturally decline with age. The study also demonstrated selective modulation of the gut microbiota, including an increase in Parabacteroides, a bacterial genus increasingly associated with pathways relevant to gut-brain communication. While further research is needed to better understand the underlying mechanisms, these findings provide promising new evidence supporting the gut-brain axis, healthy cognitive ageing and PROMITOR® Soluble Fibre’s prebiotic benefits.
The results from this study were published in The Journal of Nutrition and contribute to the growing scientific evidence highlighting the role of PROMITOR® Soluble Fibre in selectively modulating the gut microbiota, supporting prebiotic health benefits and advancing our understanding of the gut-brain axis and healthy ageing.
