Effects of regularly consuming dietary fibre rich soluble cocoa products on bowel habits in healthy subjects: a free-living, two-stage, randomized, crossover, single-blind intervention

Table 8 Effects of consuming the soluble cocoa products on daily bowel movements was assessed by a daily diary (mean week values and standard error of mean (SEM), n = 44)

	Daily Bowel movements		Straining at defecation		Feeling of incomplete and/or difficult defecation		Lumpy or hard stools
Stage	Mean	SEM	Mean	SEM	Mean	SEM	Mean	SEM
Non-cocoa	1.14^a	0.04	0.14	0.02	0.15	0.02	0.28	0.03
Cocoa product A	1.29^b	0.04	0.18	0.02	0.19	0.02	0.32	0.03
Cocoa product B	1.30^b	0.04	0.17	0.02	0.15	0.02	0.27	0.03
	p = 0.002		N.S.		N.S.		p = 0.042

Volunteers were asked to record the number of bowel movements per day and give yes/no responses to the rest of the questions. For statistical purposes, the conversion of yes = 1 and no = 0 was applied. For all questions the mean was calculated per week.
Effects on daily bowel movements was studied using a mixed model with repeated measures (stage) with one factorial fixed factor (cocoa product). Effects on straining at defecation, feeling of incomplete and/or difficult defecation and on producing lumpy or hard stools were evaluated using generalized estimating equations with repeated measures (stage) and one fixed factor (cocoa product) were applied. Where there was a significant main effect, post hoc Bonferroni tests were used to analyse differences between means.
^{a, b}Mean values within a column with unlike superscript values were significantly different according to Bonferroni test.

ISSN: 1743-7075