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Cited by 154Food composition and propertiesGastrointestinal motility and disordersMicrobial Metabolites in Food Biotechnology

The Effect of Age, Sex and Level of Intake of Dietary Fibre from Wheat on Large-Bowel Function in Thirty Healthy Subjects

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Stephen, Alison M., Wiggins, H. S., Englyst, H. N., Cole, T. J., Wayman, B. J., Cummings, J. H.·1986·British Journal of Nutrition
DOI 10.1079/bjn19860116
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Abstract

1. To evaluate the effect of age, sex and level of intake on the colonic response to wheat fibre, thirty healthy volunteers aged 17–62 years (nineteen men, eleven women) recruited from a local industry, were divided into four groups and given a controlled diet for two 3-week periods. The diet contained white bread during one period or one of four different amounts of bran-enriched wholemeal bread during the other (30, 60, 110, 170 g/d). 2. Wide variation was observed between subjects in stool weight on the basal diet and in response to wheat fibre. Stepwise regression analysis showed that the variation in stool weight was significantly related to sex (t 4.0, P <0.001) but not to age, height, weight or energy:fibre intakes on the basal diet. Stool weight in men (162(SE 11) g/d) was approximately double that in women (83(SE 11) g/d). Transit time and stool weight were closely related and the effect of sex on stool weight could be explained entirely by differences in transit. 4. Faecal carbohydrate excretion increased with the addition of bran mainly due to increased amounts of cellulose and pentose (arabinose+xylose), whilst digestibility of dietary non-starch polysaccharide fell from 77.6 (SE 2.3)% on the white bread diet to 65.6 (SE 2.4)% with the added bran (t 7.4, P < 0.01, n26). 5. Faecal pH was more acid in men than in women and was related to methane production. Methane producers had higher faecal pH than non-producers (7.06 (SE 0.1 1) v. 6.65 (SE O.1)), lower stool weight (g/d; 93 (SE 12) v. 156 (SE 13)) and slower transit times (h; 84.6 (SE 11.7) v. 48.6 (SE 6.6)). 6. These studies show that, when on similar diets, women have much lower stool weights and slower transit times than men. Furthermore, within the range of amounts of wheat fibre used in this and other published work, stool weight increases in linear proportion to the dose of fibre added to the diet. Methane excretion in breath is associated in this group of subjects with slow transit time and high faecal pH.

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  • Numerous experiments have found that constipated individuals have a higher abundance of methanogenic species in their intestinal microbiota, along with slower intestinal transit times and higher faecal pH.

    “Numerous experiments have found that constipated individuals have a higher abundance of methanogenic species in their intestinal microbiota, along with slower intestinal transit times and higher faecal pH [54-58].”

    From Oral Iron Supplementation—Gastrointestinal Side Effects and the Impact on the Gut Microbiota (2021) · cites this paper as [55]

    The “Faecal pH and methane” results report that methane-producing healthy subjects had slower transit and higher faecal pH than non-producers. The study did not examine constipated individuals or measure the abundance of methanogenic species in intestinal microbiota; it measured breath methane. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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Cites

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Research works printed but not linked: 15

  1. Andersson, H., Navert, B., Bingham, S. A., Englyst, H. N . & Cummings, J. H. (1983). British Journal ofNutrifion
  2. Bingham, S. A., Williams, D. R. R. & Cummings, J. H. (1985). British Journal of Cancer 52, 399402.
  3. Burstein, M., Scholnick, H. R. & Morfin, R. (1970). Journal of Lipid Research 11, 583-595.
  4. Connell, A. M., Hilton, C., Irvine, G., Lennard-Jones, J. E. & Misiewicz, J. J. (1965). British Medical Journal ii, Curnrnings, J. H. (1978). Journal of Plant Foods 3, 83-95.
  5. G. V. Vahouny and D. Kritchevsky, Cummings, J. H., Hill, M. J., Jenkins, D. J. A,, Pearson, J. R. & Wiggins, H. S. (1976a). American Journal of Cummings, J. H., Hill, M. J., Jivraj, T., Houston, H., Branch, W. J. &Jenkins, D. J. A. (1979). American Journal
  6. Curnmings, J. H., Southgate, D. A. T., Branch, W., Houston, H., Jenkins, D. J. A. & James, W. P. T. (1978a). Cummings, J. H., Wiggins, H. S., Jenkins, D . J. A,, Houston, H., Jivraj, T., Drasar, B. S. & Hill, M. J. (19786). 50, 503-510. 1095-1 099. editors]. New York: Plenum Press. Clinical Nutrition 29, 1468-1473. of Clinical Nutrition 32, 2086-2093. Lancer i, 5-8. Journal of Clinical Investigafion 61, 953-963. https://doi.org/10.1079/BJN19860116 Published online by Cambridge University Press
  7. Gear, J. S. S. (1979). Epidemiological studies of the role of dietary fibre in the aetiology of disease. PhD Thesis,
  8. McCance, R. A. & Walsham, C. M. (1948). British Journal of Nutrition 2, 2 W 1 .
  9. Macrae, T. F., Hutchinson, J. C. D., Irwin, J. O., Bacon, J. S. D. & McDougall, E. I. (1942). Journal of Hygiene
  10. Roe, J. H. (1955). Journal of Biological Chemistry 212, 335-343.
  11. Stephen, A. M. (1980). Dietary fibre and human colonic function. PhD Thesis, University of Cambridge.
  12. Stephen, A. M. & Cummings, J. H. (1979). Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 38, 141A.
  13. H. M. Stationery Office. York: Plenum Press. Metabolism 25, 1129-1 135.
  14. Walker, A. R. P., Walker, B. F. & Segal, I. (1979). South African Medical Journal 55,495-498.
  15. Wootton, I . D. P. (1974). In Microanalysis in Medical Biochemistry, 5th ed, pp. 218-220. Edinburgh: Churchill World Health Organization (1973). Energy and Protein Requirements. Report of Joint FA01 WHO Ad Hoc Expert Livingstone. Committee. Technical Report Series no. 522, Geneva: WHO. Printed in Great Britain https://doi.org/10.1079/BJN19860116 Published online by Cambridge University Press

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Authors
Stephen, A. M., Wiggins, H. S., Englyst, H. N., Cole, T. J., Wayman, B. J., & Cummings, J. H.
ORCID
Venue
British Journal of Nutrition
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Published
1986-09
Volume
56
Issue
2
Pages
349-361
ISSN
  • 0007-1145 (ISSN-L)
  • 1475-2662
DOI
10.1079/bjn19860116
OpenAlex
W2162278126
Cited by
154
References
41
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 5
FWCI
6.08
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.cambridge.org/core/terms (unspecified, 7494 d)
Locations
  • British Journal Of Nutrition (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Open Research (University of Surrey) (submittedVersion)
  • Surrey Research Insight Open Access (The University of Surrey) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Food composition and properties
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Gastroenterology › Gastrointestinal motility and disorders
  • Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Microbial Metabolites in Food Biotechnology
Keywords
dietary fiber, wheat bran, whole grain bread, colonic transit time, stool weight, sex differences, age effects, fecal pH, methane production, fecal water content
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Aging, Body Weight, Dietary Fiber, Eating, Feces, Female, Humans, Hydrogen-Ion Concentration, Intestine, Large, Lipids, Male, Methane, Middle Aged, Minerals, Sex Characteristics, Time Factors, Triticum

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