This study examined the relationship between the patterns of dietary behaviors and dietary consciousness of mothers rearing infants by ranking the following six factors; cooking techniques, enjoyment, safety, convenience, economy and nutritional management. We obtained the following results.
1) From the standpoint of overall eating habits, the sequence of rank in importance was nutritional management, safety, enjoyment, economy, cooking technique and convenience.
2) Safety and enjoyment were markedly observed in the group focusing on nutritional management. Safety was the primary factor of importance for eating at home and enjoyment for eating out.
3) Enjoyment of dietary life by employing various cooking techniques at home had a positive effect for better nutritional management. Encouraging the habit of “enjoying eating” is an important dietary factor.
4) Economy and convenience were intrinsic to the group indifferent about dietary behavior, and decrease the habit of cooking at home.
5) The structure of dietary consciousness consists of safety, enjoyment, convenience, and economy/convenience. Implementing dietary education corresponding to individual dietary patterns should be effective in transforming the dietary behaviors.

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Juices of 46 green vegetables, 3 potatoes, 2 mushrooms and 15 fruits were investigated for their scavenging activities against superoxide anion radical (O₂) by the luminescence method with xanthine-xanthine oxidase system. IC₅₀ measurements of all the samples were performed on five solutions ranging in concentration from 0.01 to 100% (w/v) of each sample juice.
1) Juices from yellow and red peppers showed the most remarkable scavenging activities among all the samples, followed by juice of tomatoes and cherry tomatoes. Carrot contains a large quantity of β-carotene, but showed a weak O₂ radical scavenging activity compared to other vegetables. Juices in this study contained only the water-soluble components, leaving the oil-soluble components in the samples. The weak O₂ radical scavenging activity of carrot may be due to absence of the oil-soluble components.
2) Chinese green leaf vegetable (chingensai) and asparagus demonstrated the strongest O₂ radical scavenging activity among green and yellow vegetables. Other colored vegetables such as turnip, cabbage, onion, ginger root, garlic, radish-daikon and Chinese cabbage demonstrated strong O₂ radical scavenging activities. These results may be attributable to the total action of polyphenol, vitamin C and other compounds in water-soluble fractions.
3) In the botany classification as edible parts, “fruit vegetables in solanaceas”, “root and herbage vegetables in cruelferace”, “root vegetables in nymphaeceate” and “herbal vegetables in lillaceae” strongly scavenged O₂ radical. Two types of mushroom showed an activity similar to those of turnip and cabbage. Juices of grapefruit, lemon, orange and mandarin orange demonstrated strong activities.

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Effects of a soft drink, 150ml/can containing 4g of sodium alginic acid of which molecule weight was lowered to about 50, 000 (Alginic Acid Drink) were investigated on defecation and fecal conditions such as shape, volume, color and smell of female students, and were compared with those of a placebo drink. The results were as follows.
1) When subjects drank more than one can of Alginic Acid Drink, the days with defecation per week increased significantly in the group with a slight constipation tendency depending on the volume ingested, but not in the group with normal defecation habits. Ingestion of placebo did not improve defecation of both groups.
2) Ingestion of more than one can of Alginic Acid Drink softened feces significantly in the constipation group, bringing them closer to those of the normal defecation group. Ingestion of placebo did not improve the fecal conditions in both groups.
3) Ingestion of more than one can of Alginic Acid Drink increased the fecal volume significantly in the normal defecation group. Two cans increased the volume notably in the constipation group, bringing them closer to that of the normal defecation group. Ingestion of placebo did not increase the fecal volume in both groups.
4) Ingestion of more than one can of Alginic Acid Drink improved the fecal color significantly in both groups. Two cans improved the color much more in the constipation group, bringing them closer to that of the normal defecation group. Ingestion of placebo did not improve the fecal color in both groups.
5) Ingestion of more than one can of Alginic Acid Drink improved the fecal smell significantly in the constipation group. Two cans improved the smell also of the normal defecation group. Ingestion of placebo did not improve the fecal smell in both groups.
In conclusion, ingestion of more than one can of Alginic Acid Drink improves defecation and the fecal conditions such as shape, volume, color and smell.

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Effects of commercially available “dietary fiber-DF”, which is made principally from galactomannan on postprandial plasma glucose and HbA_1c for diabetic control were investigated.
1) Four normal healthy volunteers were divided into two groups: one group received as breakfast 330g of rice gruel with 10g of ume (plum) paste and a mixture of 0.5g of salt and 4.7g of DF, and the other group received the same diet but not containing DF. The two groups were compared in terms of changes in the plasma glucose level. Although no significant differences were observed, the group which received the breakfast added with DF tended to show lower postprandial plasma glucose levels.
2) The same experiment as above was conducted on NIDDM patients being treated with dietary restrictions. At 60 minutes after breakfast, the group given the breakfast added with DF showed significantly lower plasma glucose levels than the other group (p<0.05).
3) Ten diabetic patients who were judged as being under poor glycemic control because of insufficient dietary restrictions were given DF (5g of galactomannan) for every meal for three months. Six of them who continued taking DF for three months showed a significant reduction in the HbA_1c level from 8.2±0.2% to 7.9±0.2% (p<0.05).

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