Certain studies suggest that dietary carbohydrates may have beneficial functional health effects; specifically  in-vitro and in-vivo studies have proposed that certain dietary saccharide compounds exert immunomodulatory effects, with specific compounds affecting the cellular pathway of serum protein glycosylation – an important enzymatic process in cells that is linked to changes in immune response. Azita Alavi, from St George's University of London (United Kingdom), and colleagues studied a group of 12 subjects, whose plasma glycan profiles (a marker of glycosylation) were measured prior to consuming a mixed saccharide dietary supplement for a seven-week period.  The team observed striking changes, particularly in the first two weeks of supplementation, concluding that: “Supplementation with the dietary plant-derived polysaccharides …  resulted in significant changes in serum protein N-glycosylation in healthy individuals.”