ArticleNutrition & metabolism2012
Effects of regularly consuming dietary fibre rich soluble cocoa products on bowel habits in healthy subjects: a free-living, two-stage, randomized, crossover, single-blind intervention.
Article in Nutrition & metabolism, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 14 citations in OpenAlex.
- Fiber intake and laxation in people with normal bowel function: a systematic review.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2026Pooled it
- Adding Modified Buckwheat Sprouts to an Atherogenic Diet - the Effect on Selected Nutritional Parameters in Rats.Plant foods for human nutrition (Dordrecht, Netherlands) · 2023Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDietary fibre is both preventive and therapeutic for bowel functional diseases. Soluble cocoa products are good sources of dietary fibre that may be supplemented with this dietary component. This study assessed the effects of regularly consuming two soluble cocoa products (A and B) with different non-starch polysaccharides levels (NSP, 15.1 and 22.0% w/w, respectively) on bowel habits using subjective intestinal function and symptom questionnaires, a daily diary and a faecal marker in healthy individuals.
methodsA free-living, two-stage, randomized, crossover, single-blind intervention was carried out in 44 healthy men and women, between 18-55 y old, who had not taken dietary supplements,laxatives, or antibiotics six months before the start of the study. In the four-week-long intervention stages, separated by a three-week-wash-out stage, two servings of A and B, that provided 2.26 vs. 6.60 g/day of NSP respectively, were taken. In each stage, volunteers' diet was recorded using a 72-h food intake report.
resultsRegularly consuming cocoa A and B increased fibre intake, although only cocoa B significantly increased fibre intake (p < 0.001) with respect to the non-cocoa stage. No changes in body weight were observed in either of the 4 week interventions. With cocoa product B, the number of daily bowel movements increased (p = 0.002), the frequency of having a bowel movement once a day increased (p = 0.009), the time to have a bowel movement was lower (p = 0.016) as well as the feeling of constipation (p = 0.046) without inducing adverse gastrointestinal symptoms, only flatulence increased (p = 0.019).
conclusionsRegular consumption of the cocoa products increases dietary fibre intake to recommended levels and product B improves bowel habits. The use of both objective and subjective assessments to evaluate the effects of food on bowel habits is recommended.
Identifiers
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.