title: The evaluation of total dietary fibre content in standard hospital diets during the winter and summer seasons.
abstract: The main aim of the study was to determine the total dietary fiber in standard diets for hospitalized patients in winter and summer. In the randomized trial performed in the winter of 1995/1996 and summer 1997, we assessed the dietary fiber content in 12 standard diets with AOAC method. The dietary fiber in the tested hospital diets was derived mainly from grains--average value 12.2 g/day in winter and 15.8 g/day in summer. The second group of plant products to supply fiber in the diet were vegetables. Food portions covered an average of 11.5 g dietary fiber per day in winter and 8.5 g in summer. In spite of the variety of cheap vegetables on sale, a significantly lower content of fiber was observed in summer (p < 0.05). Fruits and fruit products in hospital food contained 1.4 g/day of fiber in winter and 1.7 g/day in summer respectively. We also made a simulation, where white bread, present in every diet, was replaced by dark bread. This let us determine the degree to which the alternative food product influences the diet's composition. The results demonstrate that the replacement everyday of eaten food products may evoke significant changes in dietary fiber contents. The change induced statistically significant differences between diets containing white bread and dark bread (p < 0.001).
authors.affiliation: Samodzielna Pracownia Bromatologii Akademia Medyczna w Białymstoku.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Borawska
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Witkowska
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Markiewicz
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hukałowicz
mesh_terms: D004043:Dietary Fiber / Q000032:analysis*; D005502:Food; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D011044:Poland; D012621:Seasons