Dietary reference intakes (2005) for Japanese were established instead of 6th edition Dietary Allowance in November, 2004. DRIs were prepared as the objects of health promotion, primary prevention of lifestyle-related diseases and prevention of detrimental effects by over-intake for individual and population. The tentative dietary goal of dietary fiber was 10g/1000kcal for preventing lifestyle-related diseases for Japanese, although the definition and analytical method of dietary fiber was different from country to country. The definition of dietary fiber used in DRIs (2005) was the non-digestible food components which are not digested by human digestive enzymes.

View full abstract

This study was performed to examine the effects of several kinds of dietary fiber (DF) with different physical properties on the elevation of serum uric acid concentration induced by dietary adenosine and adenosine-5'-monophosphate (5'-AMP). Male Wistar strain rats, 4 weeks old, were fed diets with purine compounds-free and adenosine or 5'-AMP (30 mmoll kg diet each) together with or without 50g1 kg diet of DF (cellulose, chitin, chitosan or xanthan gum) for 20 days. The concentrations of uric acid, allantoin and urea nitrogen in serum elevated by additions of purine compounds to the fiber-free diet were significantly suppressed by the test DF as compared with fiber-free. This phenomenon was remarkable in the xanthan gum group. The suppressive effect of chitin and chitosan on the elevation of serum uric acid concentration induced by 5'-AMP was stronger than that induced by adenosine. The present results reveal that the elevation of serum uric acid concentration induced by dietary adenosine and 5'-AMP can be suppressed by DF, and the suppressive effect of DF varied with the type of DF.

View full abstract

The effects of young barley leaf powder(YBLP) on fecal wet weight, defecation frequency, fecal characteristics and fecal microflora were studied in 8 healthy women(26.4 ± 11.6 years old). The subjects were divided at random into 2 groups for a cross-over design test. After one week of pre-test period, the group- I was given a test diet and the group- II was given a placebo diet for one week. After the following one week of the wash out period, the group- I was given the placebo diet and the group- II was given the test diet for one week. The test were carried out at two trials. YBLP contents of the test diets for two trials were 6.0 g(total dietary fiber 2.2 g) and 10.0 g(total dietary fiber 3.6 g). The results showed that the fecal wet weight tended to increase with YBLP 6.0 g and significantly increased with YBLP 100g. The ratio of Lecithinase(+)Cl ostridium or Lecithinase(-)Clostridium in fecal were reduced with YBLP 6.0 g(The fecal microflora was investigated in only YBLP 6.0 g). In these studies, we examined a correlation of fecal wet weight and fecal estimated weight. In result, these wo factors significantly possessed mutual relations (p<0.0001). The consumption of YBLP showed any serious symptoms during two trials. These results suggest that YBLP makes high effect on the fecal bulk is high safety food material.

View full abstract

We examined the effect of polydextrose on levels of plasma glucose and serum insulin concentrations in the glucose tolerance tests using healthy, non-diabetic Japanese male and female volunteers (22-49 years old) as subjects. The carbohydrate source used in the test was 50 g glucose or 106 g bread (corresponding to 50 g carbohydrate). The subjects that were fasted overnight ingested the carbohydrate with or without 14 g polydextrose. When polydextrose was ingested with the carbohydrate, the increases in plasma glucose and serum insulin concentrations in the tolerance tests tended to be suppressed. The area under curve for plasma glucose was significantly decreased by the polydextrose ingestion: 28% and 35% decreases for the glucose and the bread ingestion tests, respectively, compared to those of each control. These results suggest a potential of polydextrose to decrease the glycemic index of carbohydrates.

View full abstract

Effects of large or long-term intake of galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) on defecation, abdominal symptoms and physical conditions were tested in 21 healthy humans (11 males and 10 females; average age 38.5±8.3 years). The subjects were divided into two groups; the large intake group (6 males and 5 females; average age 38.8±9.3 years) was given 180 mL soft drink/day (containing 12 g GOS) for 2 weeks and the long-term intake group (5 males and 5 females; average age 38.2±7.0 years) was given 60 ml soft drink/day (containing 4 g GUS) for. 12 weeks after the 2 weeks intake of a placebo drink. In both groups, there were no clinical problems in defecation, abdominal symptoms and physical conditions (blood pressure, blood examinations, urinalysis and interview) during the test period. Furthermore, in the constipation tendency subjects in the ong-term intake group, after the 3 weeks intake of soft drinks (60 mL/day; containing 4 g GOS), defecation frequency, fecal properties and volumes were improved. These results show that the long-term intake has a beneficial effect and is safe for ealthy humans, suggesting that it contributes to humans to maintain good gastrointestinal conditions.

View full abstract