Modern diets today, especially in the U.S. are high in refined and processed foods and are often lacking in the necessary dietary fiber. The healing and therapeutic qualities of a diet high in both soluble and insoluble fiber are manifold. Dietary fiber is necessary for clearing the digestive system. Constipation elevates blood pressure so algal dietary fiber can help to lower blood pressure. Algal dietary fiber, in addition to assisting in clearing the digestive system, also protects the surface membrane of the stomach and intestine from potential carcinogens and absorbs various substances such as sodium ions and cholesterol, ultimately to be eliminated. Recent research on experimental animals shows that certain algal acidic polysaccharides do prevent the proliferation of implanted cancer cells, possibly by enhancing the immune system. It has recently been reported that some of them elevate immune activity of cultivating cells when they were treated with some of these polysaccharides.

View full abstract

Male Sprague-Dawlay rats were fed a 0.5% cholesterol diet containing 5% cellulose, sodium alginate (SA) or partially hydrolyzed low-molecular sodium alginate (Low-SA), as dietary fiber source, for 4 weeks. Serum and liver cholesterol concentrations in rats fed the diet containing SA were comparable to those in rats fed the diet containing cellulose. But feeding of Low-SA increased serum and liver cholesterol levels when compared with feeding of SA. Fecal total steroid excretion was decreased in the Low-SA group. The concentration of triglyceride in serum and liver was significantly lower in the SA and Low-SA groups than in the cellulose group. Feeding of SA reduced hepatic fatty acid synthase activity and increased both hepatic carnitine palmitoyltransferase activity and excretion of fecal triglyceride. Low-SA increased only the activity of carnitine palmitoyltransferase. These results suggest that SA and Low-SA exert a triglyceride-lowering effect by the reduction of hepatic lipogenesis and/or the stimulation of fatty acid catabolism, although Low-SA, compared with SA, increased the levels of serum and liver cholesterol through the decrease of fecal steroid excretion.

View full abstract

The effect of cereal cakes containing an inner-layer fraction of barley bran on defecation habits in healthy young female volunteers was estimated by two kinds of intervention studies. In the studies, the barley bran cereal and two placebo cereals, 1 and 2, were used.
In the first intervention study, fifty healthy subjects were divided into the two groups of 25 each: the constipation group and non-constipation group, and were given the barley bran cereal(dietary fiber(DF) 3.91g) and placebo cereal 2(DF 0.80g) for a week in a crossover manner. The daily intakes of DF in the barley bran ereal diet and the placebo cereal diet were, 11.3g and 8.9g in the constipation group and those values were 11.4g and 8.Og in the non-constipation group, respectively. Irrespective of constipation or nonconstipation, the frequency of defecation and the fecal volume in the barley bran cereal group were significantly increased compared with those in the placebo group.
On the other hand, the second intervention study was performed mainly to clarify the effect of barley bran cereal on the fecal components. The subjects of 6 healthy females with nonconstipation tendency were given the barley bran cereal or placebo cereal 1(DF 0.1 lg) and 2 with a completely randomized crossover manner. They received the diets of cycle menu containing DF 8.1±1.6g/day according to their usual diets. The results showed that the average fecal volume and other parameters were not significantly different among the placebo cereals 1, 2 and the barley bran cereal, because of small number of subject and a large individual variation.
Although the correspondent result was not obtained in the two kinds of intervention studies, the first intervention study suggest that the ingestion of barley bran cereal to healthy young females with constipation tendency does improve effectively their defecation habits by preventing constipation.

View full abstract

Influences of dietary high-amylose cornstarch (HAS), on mucin and Immunoglobulin A (IgA) secretions in rat gastrointestinal tract were examined. In experiment 1, rats were fed a purified diet (control) or diet containing 15% or 30% of HAS for 10 days. Mucin as well as IgA contents in the small intestine, cecum and feces were dose-dependently increased in rats fed the HAS diet. In experiment 2, rats were fed a purified diet or diet containing either 30% HAS, 6% fructooligosaccharide (FOS) or 5% powdered polystyrene foam (PSF) for 9 days. Mucin content in the small intestine was increased by the ingestion of HAS or PSF diet, but not by FOS diet. In contrast, mucin in cecal mucosa was much greater in rats fed the HAS and FOS diets than in those fed the control or PSF diet. Greater cecal IgA content was observed in rats fed the HAS and FOS diets compared with those fed the control and PSF diets, whereas IgA contents in the small intestine and feces were manifest only in rats fed the HAS diet. The results suggest the view that dietary resistant starch enhances mucin and IgA secretions in the gastrointestinal tract at least by two different factors, i.e., bulk effects on mucin and IgA secretion, and large bowel fermentability also affects cecal mucin and IgA secretion.

View full abstract