Increasing amounts of dietary fiber provided by foods normalizes physiologic response of the large bowel without altering calcium balance or fecal steroid excretion.

Nine healthy, young men consumed constant diets to determine selected large-bowel, serum cholesterol and triacylglycerol, and calcium balance responses to 3 amounts of fiber provided by a mixture of fruit, vegetables, and grains. The diets, each consumed for 1 mo, contained 16, 30, and 42 g total fiber/d, of which 2.9, 4.8, and 7.7 g, respectively, was soluble. Mean daily wet and dry stool weights increased with each fiber addition. The first fiber addition increased defecation frequency and decreased fecal pH, bile acid concentration, and neutral steroid concentration; the second addition had no further effect. Mean weight of each defecation and stool moisture did not increase and serum cholesterol and triacylglycerol concentrations, calcium balance, and gastrointestinal transit time did not decrease as fiber intake increased. We conclude that 1) fiber provided by a mixed-food diet increases stool weight as effectively as does wheat or oat bran; 2) even high amounts of dietary fiber do not change transit time or defecation frequency if they are already approximately 1 and 2-3 d, respectively; 3) food patterns consistent with the food pyramid and incorporating legumes and whole grains are necessary to achieve recommended fiber intakes of 20-35 g/d, even if energy intake is > 12.55 MJ (3000 kcal); 4) soluble fiber provided by a mixture of whole foods has no effect on serum cholesterol concentrations or output of fecal bile acids; and 5) mixed-food fiber has little effect on calcium balance when calcium intakes are high (> or = 1.5 g/d).

Recovery of soluble dietary fiber is dependent on the method of analysis.

The effects of different methods on the distribution of total neutral sugars (TNS), uronic acids (UA), and beta-glucans (beta G) between the soluble (S) and insoluble (I) fractions of dietary fiber (DF) were determined for peas, kidney beans, oat bran, rice, and macaroni. Incorporation of a protease step into the Theander method "A" modestly increased, and addition of a pepsin digestion further increased the proportion of total fiber recovered in the S fraction. The effect of extraction method on the distribution of TNS, UA, and beta G between the S and I fractions varied with the food. The three methods measured the same total DF in a food and 1-3% starch in the I fraction of peas and kidney beans. Use of dimethyl sulfoxide to solubilize starch, or elevated temperature to extract S components, had no effect on the distribution of DF between S and I fractions of peas and macaroni. Incomplete protein hydrolysis did not always lower Klason lignin and excluding lignin from the fiber complex did not always substantially increase the S fraction.