Posts Tagged “constipation”
Results from a recent survey funded by the International Nut & Dried Fruit Council (INC) have shown that dried fruits containing both fiber and sorbitol can substantially improve chronic constipation. The findings were presented at the Digestive Disease Week conference in San Diego, California.
Sorbitol is a carbohydrate that contributes to fruit’s sweetness and is particularly present in dried fruits.
This randomized, placebo-controlled food intervention trial examined the effects of dried fruit, fruit juice, and a fruit-flavored placebo on constipation symptoms. The study included 150 participants who were randomly assigned to one of three groups: (1) consuming 90 grams daily of dried fruit (prunes, raisins, and dried apricots), (2) consuming juice made from the same fruits, or (3) consuming a fruit-flavored placebo.
Researchers assessed changes in stool weight over a seven-day collection period. Additional outcomes evaluated included stool consistency, stool frequency, gastrointestinal symptoms, constipation-specific symptoms, quality of life, and gut microbiota.
Results indicated that stool weight increases were significantly greater in the dried fruit group compared to the placebo group. Participants in the dried fruit group also experienced significant improvements in both complete and spontaneous bowel movements. Furthermore, the dried fruit group reported greater enhancements in quality of life relative to the placebo group.
“Living with constipation can have a large impact on quality of life, but we found that a half-cup or about 3 oz of mixed dried fruits per day can offer a real benefit,” said study author Simon Steenson, PhD, who is a postdoctoral research associate in the nutritional sciences department at King’s College London.
This study is the largest clinical trial to date demonstrating that dried fruit consumption can benefit individuals with constipation. The findings support dietary recommendations encouraging the inclusion of dried fruits as part of constipation management strategies.
By The National Mango Board
ORLANDO, FL – Next time you suffer from constipation, you may want to consider grabbing a mango instead of reaching for a fiber supplement, suggests a new Texas A & M University pilot study published in the peer-reviewed journal Molecular Nutrition and Food Research. The researchers found that mango, which contains a combination of polyphenols and fiber, was more effective than an equivalent amount of fiber powder in relieving constipation – a chronic digestive condition that affects an estimated 20 percent of Americans.
“Our findings suggest that mango offers an advantage over fiber supplements because of the bioactive polyphenols contained in mangos that helped reduce markers of inflammation and change the make-up of the microbiome, which includes trillions of bacteria and other microbes living in our digestive track,” said corresponding author Susanne U. Mertens-Talcott, an associate professor in the department of nutrition and food science at Texas A & M University. “Fiber supplements and laxatives may aid in the treatment of constipation, but they may not fully address all symptoms, such as intestinal inflammation.
For the four-week study, 36 adult men and women with chronic constipation were randomly divided into two groups: the mango group ate about 300 grams of mango a day (equivalent to about 2 cups or 1 mango), while the fiber group consumed the equivalent amount of fiber powder into their daily diet (1 teaspoon or 5 grams of dietary psyllium fiber supplement).
Throughout the study, the participants’ food intake was assessed by a food questionnaire to ensure that their eating habits did not change. The food intake analysis revealed that the mango and fiber groups consumed equivalent amounts of calories, carbohydrates, fiber, protein and fat.
Measures of constipation severity were taken at the beginning and end of four weeks, and both the mango and fiber groups improved over the course of the study. However, mangos were found to be more effective in reducing the symptoms of constipation in the participants than fiber alone. Mango supplementation significantly improved constipation status (stool frequency, consistency and shape) and increased short chain fatty acids levels, which indicate improvement of intestinal microbial composition. Mango consumption also helped to reduce certain biomarkers of inflammation.
The researchers conclude that more research is need to determine the mechanism of action involved in the mango protective effect in constipation and which role mango polyphenols may play in supporting the beneficial effects of fiber.
The research was supported in part by funds from the National Mango Board.
About the National Mango Board
The National Mango Board is an agriculture promotion group supported by assessments from both domestic and imported mangos. The board’s vision, to bring the world’s love of mangos to the U.S., was designed to drive awareness and consumption of fresh mangos in the U.S. marketplace. One cup of the superfruit mango contains 100 calories, 100 pecent of daily vitamin C, 35 percent of daily vitamin A, 12 percent of daily fiber, and an amazing source of tropical flavor.
Four new studies surrounding the effects of mango consumption suggest this superfruit has the potential to help combat adverse effects associated with high fat diets and obesity (animal study), as well as inhibit growth of fat cells (anti-lipogenic properties in an in-vivo study), slow advancement of breast cancer tumors (animal study), and improve regularity and decrease inflammation associated with constipation (human subject study). The research was presented recently at the 2016 Experimental Biology conference in San Diego, CA.“While more research is needed, especially in humans, there is a growing body of studies that suggest mango consumption may contribute to some protective effects in relation to obesity, certain cancers, gut health, and inflammation,” said Leonardo Ortega, Director of Research at the National Mango Board (NMB).
Obesity
- Nutrition science researcher, Babajide Ojo at Oklahoma State University, was selected by the American Society for Nutrition (ASN) as one of five finalists to present his research at the 2016 ASN Young Minority Investigator Oral Competition. Ojo’s study investigated the effects of supplementing mangos (in the form of freeze-dried mango pulp) in mice fed a high fat diet on body composition, glucose homeostasis and gut inflammatory markers: tinyurl.com/zyz6dpc.
- Chuo Fang, PhD, of the department of Nutrition and Food Science at Texas A&M University investigated the potential role of mango and its microbial metabolites in regulating lipid metabolism and adipogenesis via the activation of AMPK in differentiated 3T3-L1 adipocytes: tinyurl.com/zwe78kq.
Breast Cancer
- Researcher Matt Nemec, of the Interdisciplinary Program of Toxicology at Texas A&M University, studied the anti-proliferative activities of pyrogallol, an intestinal microbial metabolite of gallotannin, a mango polyphenol, on mice with ductal carcinoma in situ breast cancer (DCIS): tinyurl.com/ze3y5kx.
Constipation
- Vinicius Paula Venancio, of the Department of Nutrition and Food Science at Texas A&M University, studied the consumption of 300 grams of mango compared to an equivalent amount of fiber (1 teaspoon of a fiber supplement) and its effect on abdominal distention and constipation in otherwise healthy human volunteers: tinyurl.com/h6pvwnn.