title: Variability of fecal energy content measured in healthy women.
abstract: The variability of daily stool energy losses was examined in six healthy adult women over a complete menstrual cycle. On average, stool energy was 0.74 +/- 0.15 kJ/d (mean +/- SD) for the group. For a given individual, daily stool energy varied up to twofold. The variability for rolling averages of daily fecal energy losses over 3-, 5-, and 7-d periods showed no significant differences between collection periods of 3 and 5 d and 5 and 7 d. There was a close linear relationship between the energy content of the stool and either the wet or dry weight of stool (range 17-460 g wet wt). In metabolic studies of healthy women representative values for daily losses of energy in stool can be obtained from a 3-d collection. The energy content of wet stool was approximately 7 kJ/g. Under field conditions, weighing the stool provides a simple, useful method of assessing fecal energy losses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Nutrition, University of Southampton, UK.
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Wootton
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Jackson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D005243:Feces / Q000737:chemistry*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008597:Menstrual Cycle / Q000378:metabolism*; D014867:Water / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D014867:Water