To evaluate the effects of green banana and pectin (nondigestible, dietary sources of colonic shortchain fatty acids [SCFA]) on intestinal permeability, 57 boys (5-12 months) with persistent diarrhea (> or = 14 days) were given a week's treatment with a rice-based diet containing either cooked green banana (n = 19), pectin (n = 17), or rice diet alone (n = 21). Intestinal permeability was assessed before and after treatment by giving a lactulose-mannitol (LM) drink and measuring urinary recovery after 5 hr. Treatment with banana significantly (P < 0.05) reduced lactulose recovery, increased mannitol recovery, and decreased the LM ratio, indicating improvement of permeability. Pectin produced similar results. Permeability changes were associated with a 50% reduction in stool weights which correlated strongly (green banana, r2 = 0.84, pectin, r2 = 0.86) with the LM ratio. Green banana-derived and SCFA-mediated stimulation of colonic as well as small bowel absorption is responsible for their antidiarrheal effects. The antidiarrheal effects of green banana and pectin are mediated by improvement of small intestinal permeability in addition to their known colonotrophic effects.
Background: Information is needed on the minimum energy density and feeding frequency of complementary foods that can provide adequate energy intakes (EIs) for healthy breastfed children. Objectives: The objectives of the study were to evaluate the effects of various energy densities and feeding frequencies of complementary foods on EI from these foods, breast milk consumption, and total EI from both sources. Design: During 9 separate, randomly ordered dietary periods lasting 3-6 d each, we measured intakes of food and breast milk by 18 healthy breastfed children 8 -11 mo of age who, 3, 4, or 5 times/d, were fed porridge with a coded energy density of 0.5, 1.0, or 1.5 kcal/g. Food intake was measured by weighing the feeding bowl before and after meals, and breast milk intake was measured by test weighing.
Results:The mean amounts of complementary foods consumed were inversely related to their energy density and positively related to the number of meals/d (P 0.001 for both); EIs from foods were positively related to both factors. Breast milk intake decreased slightly but progressively, with greater energy density and feeding frequency of complementary foods; total EIs (kcal/d) increased in relation to both factors (P 0.001 for both). Conclusions: The energy density and feeding frequency of complementary foods affect infants' total daily EI and breast milk consumption. Recommendations can be developed for the appropriate combinations of these dietary factors that are compatible with adequate EI, although longer-term effects of complementary feeding practices on breast milk intake and breastfeeding duration need further community-based studies.Am J Clin Nutr 2008;88:84 -94.
Whole gut transit time (TT) was measured in 68 children aged up to 5 years (29 cholera, 17 rotavirus, 13 enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, and 9 Shigella) during acute stages of diarrhoea and 2 weeks after recovery. Absorption of calories, fat, protein, and carbohydrates contained in a normal Bangladeshi diet was studied for 72 h after the first appearance of a charcoal marker in the stool, both during acute diarrhoea and 2 weeks after recovery. Mean TT varied from 5.5 to 7.3 h during the acute stage and from 14.1 to 15.5 h during the recovery period of diarrhoea of all aetiologies; the increase in the TT was significant as expected (P less than 0.001). Correlation coefficients were calculated between TT and the coefficients for absorption of fat, nitrogen, calories, and carbohydrates in the acute and recovery stages of cholera, rotavirus, E. coli, and Shigella. No significant relation was found between TT and absorption of nutrients in any stage of diarrhoea of any aetiology. The results of this study suggest that the mechanism for absorption of nutrients is independent of the whole-gut transit time. Further studies are necessary to identify the role of transit of a meal and its absorption along the whole gut.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.