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Effect of Increasing Levels of Hard Wheat Fiber on Fecal Weight, Minerals and Steroids and Gastrointestinal Transit Time in Healthy Young Women¹

^* Shaklee Research Center, 1992 Alpine Way, Hayward, CA 94545 Department of Foods and Nutrition, Stone Hall, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907

Hard red wheat bran (HRWB) baked in a yeast-leavened bread was fed to 36 healthy young college women consuming a basal diet of traditional foods, which contained 15 ± 3 g/d dietary fiber (DF). Three levels of HRWB were added supplying, respectively, 5.7, 17.1 and 28.5 g/d DF; an additional treatment group did not receive any HRWB. Fecal collections were carried out in the last 5 d of treatment. Fecal wet weight, fecal dry weight and fecal ash increased significantly for each increase in HRWB (P < 0.05). Fecal dry matter percent changed significantly only at the highest level of HRWB (P < 0.05). After accounting for the minerals in the HRWB, there was an increased fecal loss of Ca, but not of Zn, Cu, Fe or Mg compared to the women fed no HRWB. HRWB at a level of 17.2 g/d induced faster transit times (TT) than no HRWB and 66 g/d HRWB induced faster TT than either 17.2 or 39.6 g/d HRWB (P < 0.05). Total daily fecal steroids were not altered by changes in HRWB. Daily total bile acid excretion increased significantly (P < 0.05) at the two higher levels of HRWB due primarily to higher excretion of chenodeoxycholic acid.

KEY WORDS: • dietary fiber • transit time • fecal minerals • fecal steroids • wheat fiber • hard wheat bran

¹ Some of these data were presented at the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology Meeting in St. Louis, MO, April 1984 (Spiller, G. A., Wong, L. G., Nunes, J. D., Story, J. A., Petro, M. S., Furumoto, E. J., Alton-Spiller, M., Whittam, J. H. & Scala, J. (1984) Effect of four levels of hard wheat bran on fecal composition and transit time in healthy young women. Fed. Proc. 43, 392 (abs. 631).

² Present address: Consultant in Research Nutrition, P.O. Box 123, Los Altos, CA 94023.

Manuscript received 11 March 1985. Revision accepted 16 December 1985.