Elsevier

The Lancet

Volume 300, Issue 7792, 30 December 1972, Pages 1408-1411
The Lancet

Occasional Survey
EFFECT OF DIETARY FIBRE ON STOOLS AND TRANSIT-TIMES, AND ITS ROLE IN THE CAUSATION OF DISEASE

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(72)92974-1Get rights and content

Abstract

Certain diseases are absent or rare in countries that have been little affected by industrialisation. Here diets containing the natural amount of fibre are eaten and result in large, soft stools that traverse the intestine rapidly. By contrast, the refined low-fibre foods of the economically developed countries produce small firm stools which pass through the gut slowly. This paper records over a 1000 transit-times of various ethnic groups at home and abroad, together with the weight of stool passed daily. It is suggested that dietary fibre has a role in the prevention of certain large-bowel and other diseases which have become prevalent in Western countries.

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