Abstract
We evaluated the effects of ingestion of lactosucrose on the defecation in 15 late elderly residents in a nursing home. The experimental duration was 3 weeks, which was consisting of before-administration period (1 week), administration period (1 week) and after-administration period (1 week). Subjects took 100 ml green tea containing 7.2g of lactosucrose before dinner every day for 1 week in the administration period. In the results, the subjects' feces softened significantly in the administration period compared to those in the before-administration period. In addition, the feces' odor became worse in administration period than in the before-administration period. While, there was no significant difference in the defecation frequency and in the frequency of laxative administration among the three experimental periods. These results indicated that the effect of ingestion of lactosucrose on the defecation of late elderly residents in a nursing home is limited compared to that for the younger subjects.
