The effects of a dessert beverage supplementedwith indigestible dextrin on defecation and health conditions infemale students. Mikako KISHIMOTO1, TomonoriUNNO2 and Yoshiko TANAKA3 1Department of Food Science andNutrition, School of Human Environmental Sciences, Mukogawa Women'sUniversity
2Central Research Institute, ITO EN, LTD.
3Department of Life Style Studies, School of HumanCultures, The University of Shiga Prefecture We evaluated the effects of a dessert beveragesupplemented with indigestible dextrin (4.2 g of dietary fiber) onfrequency and fecal characteristics in 38 healthy female students(age 19.8 ± 0.9 years). The subjects were divided into twogroups for a crossover study. The study duration of 7 weeks wasdivided into 5 periods: non-intake period (1: one week, controlperiod); intake period (II: two weeks, test period); non-intakeperiod (III: one week, free period); intake period (IV: two weeks,test period); and non-intake period (V: one week, free period). Abeverage containing no indigestible dextrin was used as a placebo.For the entire seven weeks, the subjects filled out dailyquestionnaires concerning their defecation and fecal conditions andweekly questionnaires conceming their health conditions. Subjectswith slight constipation significantly increased their frequency ofdefecation, the number of days with defecation, and the amount ofdefecation during the test period when they received the beveragecontaining indigestible dextrin, as compared to the control period(n=12). Moreover, these subjects also significantly increased theirnumber of days with defecation compared to those when consuming theplacebo beverage. The health conditions questionnaire also showedan improvement in constipation when the subjects consumed thebeverage containing indigestible dextrin.
Key words: dietary fiber, indigestible dextrin, dessert beverage,defecation |
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