Note on Inulin

Here's an article that gets at the way inulin behaves in the body. The authors are saying that in adult animals, inulin, once in the blood, slowly crosses the blood-brain barrier (BBB), from the blood to the brain, but that the rate of clearance of inulin from the CSF is more rapid than the rate of uptake into the brain. This creates a concentration gradient across the blood-brain barrier and prevents an equilibrium from being established. The BBB is not totally impermeable to solutes, and noradrenergic activity, from physical exercise, or any number of other factors can temporarily permeabilize the BBB. It's worth noting that inulin cannot be degraded in the body and would have to be excreted by either the biliary (liver) or renal routes [Ferguson and Woodbury, 1969: (http://www.springerlink.com/content/m3511570224q6828/)]. I personally think it's disturbing that that's being sold.