New patterns of drinking-water consumption: results of a pilot study.

A pilot study on water consumption was carried out in the Québec City region in April and May 1996 with 125 people using a 24-h recall plus a 2-day diary. Consumption of drinking water via liquid and food was assessed as well as the type of water consumed (tap, bottle or filtered water) and place of consumption (home or away from home). Most of the people (56%) were drinking some bottled water or filtered tap water and 25% of water intake was away from home. Food consumption was found to be a non-significant source of drinking-water intake. The average water consumption was nearly similar in exclusively tap-water consumers and bottled- or filtered-water consumers (1.5 vs. 1.7 l/day, P = 0.29) but two-thirds of the consumption in this last group is natural water, while it is mixed water in the bottled/filtered-water group. No significant difference in amounts consumed were found according to age, but older people drank hot beverages and soup more often. The present pilot-study was weakened by a low participation rate (14%). Incentive might be necessary to improve participation rate and data collection methods must also be simplified. A 24-h recall plus a 1-day diary seem sufficient and data on consumption could be limited to liquids, soups and cereals.

Postprandial glucose, insulin, and lipid responses to four meals containing unpurified dietary fiber in non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM), hypertriglyceridemic subjects.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of two levels of total dietary fiber (10 g vs. 20 g) and two soluble:insoluble fiber ratios (1:4 vs. 2:3) on postprandial glucose and lipid metabolism in hypertriglyceridemic subjects with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM). METHODS: Eight NIDDM, mildly hypertriglyceridemic subjects consumed four test breakfasts, each containing variable proportions of the same cereal and fruit fiber sources. Blood samples were obtained during the 4 hours following the test meals and analyzed for glucose, insulin, triglyceride, total cholesterol and high density lipoprotein cholesterol. RESULTS: The incremental area under the curve for glucose and insulin was lowered after consuming 20 g as compared to 10 g of dietary fiber (p < 0.05), but was not affected by the soluble insoluble fiber ratio. The postprandial lipemia was similar after all test meals. CONCLUSION: The proportion of soluble to insoluble fiber in cereal and fruit does not necessarily predict the effect of fiber on the glycemic response, while the overall quantity of fiber does appear to affect postprandial glucose metabolism in NIDDM.

Effects of dietary fibre mixtures on glucose and lipid metabolism and on mineral absorption in the rat.

Four diets containing different mixtures of dietary fibre (DF) were tested in the rat to verify the effects of fibre source and fibre level on plasma glucose, insulin and lipids and on apparent intestinal absorption of minerals. Diets Puri5 and Puri 10 contained 5 and 10% of total DF from pectin and cellulose. Diets Bran 5 and Bran 10 supplied 5 and 10% DF from oat bran and wheat bran. A fifth diet with 5% cellulose was used as a control. Ten rats were fed each diet for 4 weeks. On days 3, 17 and 28, feces were collected and analyzed for Fe, Zn, Ca and Mg. On day 29, blood samples were collected in portal vein and abdominal aorta in fasted and fed rats from each group. All diets had similar effects on plasma insulin and triglycerides. Compared to Bran diets, Puri diets induced higher portal glucose (p < 0.01) and lower plasma cholesterol (p < 0.03) in fed rats. The apparent absorption of Fe, Zn and Mg was higher (p < 0.05) in rats fed Puri diets than in those fed Bran diets. For Ca, the difference was significant only on day 3. In this study, only the apparent absorption of Fe was affected (p < 0.01) by fibre level (5 > 10%). This indicates that in fibre mixtures, the source rather than the amount of fibre generally affects absorptive and metabolic parameters.