title: The effects of sorghum and wheat bran on the colonic functions of healthy Sudanese subjects.
abstract: The effects of sorghum and wheat bran were compared and contrasted in a group of healthy Sudanese subjects. Ten medical students were studied while taking their normal diet, a diet of 20 g/day of sorghum bran and a diet of 20 g/day of wheat bran, each for 3 wk. Toward the end of each dietary period the wet stool weight, gut transit time, and frequency of bowel evacuation were estimated. The mean stool weight on normal diet was 136.6 +/- 43.1 g/day, on sorghum bran 173.3 +/- 48.4 g/day, and on wheat bran 219.1 +/- 98.3 g/day. The increase produced by wheat bran was significant, p less than 0.001. Both brans produced a similar number of bowel evacuations. The results suggest that sorghum bran, which is both cheap and readily available in the Sudan, produces a similar number of bowel evacuations to those of wheat bran without significantly affecting stool weight or transit time.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003106:Colon / Q000502:physiology*; D003672:Defecation / Q000187:drug effects*; D004043:Dietary Fiber / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002523:Edible Grain; D005243:Feces / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013397:Sudan