Effects Of Different Fibers On Bowel Habits In Healthy Individuals

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Objective To investigate safety and efficacy of insoluble (wheat, corn) and soluble (Psyllium, and viscous fiber blend‐ PGX) fiber on bowel habits in healthy individuals. Methods Using a randomized, single blind, crossover design, participants were placed on a typical North American metabolic diet (50% carbohydrates, 35% fat and 15% protein, dietary fiber 15±5 g/day) and received addition of either: All Bran (AB), Bran Buds with Corn (BBC), Bran Buds with Psyllium (BBP), viscous fiber blend (PGX) breakfast cereals, or a low‐fiber wheat based cereal (control) for three weeks separated by at least one‐week washout period. Twenty three healthy participants (12M:11F, age 35±12 years, BMI 24±5 kg/m 2 ) were included in the final analyses. Changes in bowel habits and symptom diary were compared to baseline and the low fiber control. Results All study cereals ‐ AB, BBC, BBP and PGX ‐ induced significant increases in wet stool weight compared to control (52%, 55%, 85% and 49% respectively, p<0.05) and baseline (50%, 52%, 83% and 47%, p<0.05), with lower stool weight in females in all groups. AB, BBC, BBP and PGX also significantly increased stool frequency compared to control (21%, 24%, 31% and 28%,p<0.05) and baseline (15%, 18%, 25% and 22%, respectively, p<0.05), with no significant side effects. Conclusions Addition of breakfast cereals containing different sources of water‐insoluble and soluble dietary fibers to a metabolically controlled, typical North American diet, increases both stool weight and frequency of bowel movement. The Psyllium enriched breakfast cereal was more effective than other studied fibers in promoting fecal bulk.