Incomplete Absorption of the Carbohydrate in All-Purpose Wheat Flour

MALABSORPTION of the carbohydrate lactose is a common cause of flatulence, abdominal discomfort, and diarrhea in otherwise healthy persons. The possibility that such symptoms could result from malabsorption of the other major dietary carbohydrates (sucrose or starch) has received little consideration since these carbohydrates are assumed to be completely absorbed in health. We measured breath hydrogen to assess the absorption of the carbohydrate in white, all-purpose wheat flour. These studies demonstrate that nearly all normal subjects fail to absorb an appreciable portion of this form of starch, possibly because of an interaction between the starch and protein moieties of wheat.