A health researcher says a waste product from farming can be a useful waste-enhancer in humans.
University of Saskatchewan pharmacy and nutrition graduate student Wendy Dahl has shown that adding four grams of ground pea hull fibre to the diets of nursing home residents dramatically relieves constipation, a chronic condition plaguing the elderly.
“People in long-term care facilities consume less than half as much fibre as they need,” said Dahl.
As a result, more than 70 percent of nursing home residents are prescribed pharmaceutical laxatives and enemas. In Saskatchewan, where the study was conducted, residents pay for their own constipation prescriptions, which can cost up to $600 per year.
Read Also
Agriculture ministers agree to AgriStability changes
federal government proposed several months ago to increase the compensation rate from 80 to 90 per cent and double the maximum payment from $3 million to $6 million
But it’s more a quality of life issue than a financial one. It is a common nursing home policy to administer enemas to patients who haven’t had a bowel movement for three days, an unpleasant procedure for everyone involved.
Dahl said her research shows incorporating pea hull fibre into three or four food items a day can reduce the need for enemas.
Seventeen of the 114 residents at Saskatoon’s LutherCare Communities were severely constipated, averaging only nine bowel movements a month. The addition of pea fibre in their diet boosted that number to 13, a 44 percent improvement.
“The highest increase was with those people that needed it the most,” said Dahl.
The findings of her study convinced the Prairie North Health Region, in the North Battleford, Sask., area to add pea hull fibre to the menus at its care facilities.
The fine powder acts as a substitute for wheat flour and can be an ingredient in cookies, hot cereal, pancakes, meatloaf, gravy and other food.
It is extremely high in insoluble fibre, which is ideal for “fecal bulking,” said Dahl. Products like oats fibre are better for reducing cholesterol but that’s not a priority in long-term care facilities where people are nearing the end of their lives.
Parrheim Foods, a company in Portage la Prairie, Man., is supplying the fibre to the Prairie North Health Region. It uses a wet milling process to convert the hulls of yellow peas into a bland off-white powder.
Technical sales manager Tamara Ranadheera said the company has been selling the product into markets in Europe and Australia for some time.
“Our inventory is always kind of low. We’re definitely shipping out as we manufacture.
“Hopefully this specific application will just kind of broaden into the mainstream. We all need fibre, not just the elderly.”
Dahl agreed. Too many people eat fast food that contains a lot of fibreless “white products.” She thinks finely processed fibre should be incorporated into bagels, hamburger buns and other baked goods eaten by the masses.
Wheat bran is the only fibre enhancer found on grocery store shelves, but its applications are limited when it comes to making things like desserts.
“You can’t really make a good shortbread cookie with wheat bran. It kind of ruins it. But you can make a good shortbread cookie with pea hull fibre,” said Dahl.
One of the goals of the study was to increase fibre intake without decreasing food quality. People don’t want to “choke down” bran muffins three times a day, said Dahl. By using pea hull fibre, nutritionists can work with the same menus they already have in place.
There was no measurable increase in leftovers at the LutherCare home where the study was conducted. In fact, many residents had no idea there had been any change in their diet.
