Consumption Behavior for Foods for SpecifiedHealth Use
and Improvement of Constipation by Feeding Wheat-Bran
Cereal in Young Women Yoko NAKASHIMA1, ToshieTSUDA2, Sumiko NAGAYAMA3,
Sachie IKEGAMI4 1Faculty of Humanities, SeitokuUniversity
2Kyoritsu Women's Junior College
3Faculty of Homeeconomics, Tokyo KaseigakuinUniversity
4Faculty of Homeeconomics, Otsuma Women's University In recent year, it has suggested that Japaneseyoung women have increasingly been suffering from constipation.This study was performed to clarify the consumption behavior for Foods for Specified Health Use(FOSHU), health foods andnutritional supplements, and the effects of wheat bran cereal onbowel movement in female students.
A survey in consumptions of FOSHU and others was conducted on 578students who were divided into two groups, non-constipatinggroup(one time per day in defecation) and constipating tendencygroup(less than one time per 2 days and irregular). Half of thestudents have known the name of FOSHU, while more than 90% haveknown the health foods and nutritional supplements. In FOSHU, foodsfor control of bowel function have been consumed by 15% ofsubjects, especially highly by constipating tendency group. On theother hand, foods for lean body and beauty in the health foods andvitamins or minerals in the nutritional supplements were frequentlyused. Female students learning in dietetics courses have used FOSHUand others to understand their characteristics.
In next experiment, we have determined the improvement inconstipation by being fed the wheat bran cereal to 52 subjectsselected from the students. The subjects were divided into thenon-constipating group and the constipating group and were giventhe wheat bran cereal or placebo cereal for a week in a cross-overmanner. The fecal volume, the frequency of defecation and feelingafter defecation were significantly improved by feeding the brancereal in all subjects and constipating group, while only thefrequency of defecation was improved in non-constipating group.Although significant difference in dietary fiber intake wasobserved between the wheat-bran cereal period and the placebocereal period, no significant difference in other nutrient intakes.These results showed that the ingestion of wheat bran effectivelysupplemented dietary fiber and improved the bowel habits in femalestudents.
Key Words:FOSHU, wheat bran, dietary fiber, cereal,constipation |
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