ILEAL RECOVERY OF NUTRIENTS AND MUCIN IN HUMANS FED TOTAL ENTERAL FORMULAS SUPPLEMENTED WITH SOY FIBER

The objective of this study was to determine whether soy fiber supplem entation of total enteral nutrition formulas affected small intestinal recovery of nitrogen, amino acids, and carbohydrates or mucin output in eight human subjects (four males, four females) with ileostomies. T he subjects ingested five test diets to provide 1.0-16.5 g soy fiber/L for 2 consecutive days each. The five test diets, each with a differe nt soy fiber content, were formulated by varying the relative proporti on (1:0, 0.75:0.25, 0.5:0.5, 0.25:0.75, and 0:1) of two commercially a vailable formulas. Effluent dry matter increased with soy fiber intake as a result of the quantitative recovery of soy fiber nonstarch polys accharide. Nitrogen and amino acid digestibilities were unchanged by t he ingestion of soy fiber. Nutrients from the total enteral nutrition formulas were well digested in the small intestine with true nitrogen and amino acid digestibilities in excess of 90% and starch digestibili ties approaching 100%. Ileal mucin output was higher in male subjects and was unaffected by soy fiber intake. In summary, soy fiber suppleme ntation does not compromise protein and carbohydrate absorption from t he small intestine of humans.