Abstract
It is known that the fecal bulk and short-chain fatty acids produced by the anaerobic microbial fermentation of undigested carbohydrates increase the colonic motility. The fecal bulk and short-chain fatty acids respectively act as physical and chemical stimuli. An increase in fecal bulk and short-chain fatty acids can be respectively achieved by ingesting non-fermentable and fermentable dietary fiber. The present study investigates the effects on defecation by female college students suffering from functional constipation of a dietary fiber (DF) beverage containing 3g of commercial depolymerized sodium alginate as non-fermentable dietary fiber and 3g of commercial water-soluble corn bran fiber as fermentable material. The presence of functional constipation was determined in accordance with “Rome II” diagnostic criteria, and clinical testing was performed by using a single-blind crossover test. Ingestion for 2 weeks of the DF beverage significantly increased (p<0.05) the number of days on which the subjects defecated. The DF beverage also tended to increase the fecal volume and to improve the fecal properties without the subjects showing any sign of gas being present in the colon. The results demonstrate that the DF beverage was effective for inducing defecation by subjects with a tendency to functional constipation.
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