Retrospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Jul 6, 2024; 12(19): 3692-3700
Published online Jul 6, 2024. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v12.i19.3692
Relationship between dietary fiber intake and chronic diarrhea in adults
Lin Wang, Yan Li, Yu-Jing Zhang, Li-Hua Peng
Lin Wang, Yan Li, Yu-Jing Zhang, Li-Hua Peng, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, The First Medical Center, Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital, Beijing 100853, China
Lin Wang, Yu-Jing Zhang, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Chinese People's Liberation Army Medical School, Beijing 100853, China
Author contributions: Wang L conceived and designed the study, compiled and analyzed the data, and wrote the paper; Li Y and Zhang YJ performed the data compilation and analysis; Peng LH conceived and designed the study, and supervised the paper writing and quality control. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: The NHANES protocol was approved by the Ethics Review Committee of the National Center for Health Statistics, which obtained informed consent from all subjects.
Informed consent statement: Patients were not required to give informed consent to the study because the analysis used anonymous clinical data that were obtained after each patient agreed to treatment by written consent.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Li-Hua Peng, MD, PhD, Chief Physician, Associate Professor, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, The First Medical Center, Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital, No. 28 Fu Xing Road, Beijing 100853, China. penglihua301@126.com
Received: January 23, 2024
Revised: April 13, 2024
Accepted: May 14, 2024
Published online: July 6, 2024
Processing time: 157 Days and 21.9 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Dietary fiber is essential for human health and can help reduce the symptoms of constipation. However, the relationship between dietary fiber and diarrhea is, poorly understood.

AIM

To evaluate the relationship between dietary fiber and chronic diarrhea.

METHODS

This retrospective study was conducted using data from the United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, conducted between 2005 and 2010. Participants over the age of 20 were included. To measure dietary fiber consumption, two 24-hour meal recall interviews were conducted. The independent relationship between the total amount of dietary fiber and chronic diarrhea was evaluated with multiple logistic regression and interaction analysis.

RESULTS

Data from 12829 participants were analyzed. Participants without chronic diarrhea consumed more dietary fiber than participants with chronic diarrhea (29.7 vs 28.5, P = 0.004). Additionally, in participants with chronic diarrhea, a correlation between sex and dietary fiber intake was present: Women who consume more than 25 g of dietary fiber daily can reduce the occurrence of chronic diarrhea.

CONCLUSION

Dietary fiber can reduce the occurrence of chronic diarrhea.

Keywords: Fiber; Chronic diarrhea; National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey; Sex; Prebiotics

Core Tip: Dietary fiber is essential for human health. Among the many health advantages of dietary fiber include its ability to speed up intestinal transit, reduce blood sugar and cholesterol, and increase satiety. Based on numerous studies, a high-fiber diet can lower the incidence of type 2 diabetes, hypertension, hyperuricemia, cardiovascular illnesses, and cancer. Supplementing diet with fiber is advised in a number of chronic constipation treatment regimens. The symptoms of diarrhea include loose or watery stools and an increase in the frequency of bowel movements. It is caused by changes in the ion absorption and water balance of intestinal cells. Dietary fiber has been demonstrated in animal trials to alleviate diarrhea, decrease intestinal motility, and greatly boost the intestinal mucosa's release of secretory immunoglobulin A. We believe that our study makes a significant contribution to the literature because, currently, there is no recommended dietary fiber intake for patients with chronic diarrhea. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the correlation between dietary fiber consumption and chronic diarrhea via a comprehensive sample analysis using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey database.