THE DILEMMA CONCERNING DIETETIC CELLULOSE

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Abstract
To the Editor:— A dilemma, apparently more confusing than the one regarding vitamin C requirements which Stefansson referred to inScience(89:484 [May 26] 1939), has arisen in recent years because of conflicting reports concerning the effect of cellulose in the diet. Thus, Cowgill and Sullivan (The Journal, March 18, 1933, p. 795) concluded that the laxative effect of food pulp is proportional to the amount of fiber escaping destruction in the digestive tract. Williams and Olmsted (J. Nutrition11:433 [May] 1936), however, concluded that the laxative effect of the cellulosic constituents in the diet is proportional to the percentage destroyed in the digestive tract. Similarly some investigators, such as Frey, Harding and Helmbold (M. J. & Rec.127:585 [June 6] 1928), reported that pure cellulose served quite well as a laxative, but Bastedo (Materia Medica, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, ed. 4, Philadelphia, W. B. Saunders Company, 1938)

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