Letter: Milk as obstipant.

Abstract

To Editor.— The absence of reference to cow's milk in Dietary Fiber and Disease (229:1068, 1974) is surprising in an article dealing with the amount of time necessary for passage of intestinal content through alimentary tract, and to bulk and consistency of Ingestion of cow's milk is a common cause of constipation in infants, teen-agers, and middle-aged adults, and of obstipation and fecal impaction in elderly. Except where, uncommonly, milk ingestion is associated with diarrhea, it can increase consistency of stools dramatically. In young women who returned to normal bowel habits by elimination of milk and addition of fruit and vegetable fiber to their diet, soft bulky stools and absence of constipation is readily achieved. On adding milk to fiber regimen, constipation often returns, as does appearance of dense, compacted stools. Among elderly persons, while obstipation may have multiple associations, many