Not only does eating two kiwis each day help increase bowel-movement frequency and reduce straining in people with chronic constipation, but the fuzzy fruits are less likely to cause side effects such as gas than are prunes or a psyllium fibre supplement such as Metamucil.
By Wendy Haaf
Researchers compared the remedies in a study involving 79 volunteers with constipation (defined as three or fewer bowel movements a week).
Participants were assigned to one of three groups in terms of daily dietary additions: two kiwis; 100 grams (3.5 oz) of prunes; or 12 grams (0.4 oz)of psyllium. While symptoms im- proved significantly across the board, kiwi eaters reported no abdominal pain (versus 33 per cent of subjects in the psyllium group and 18 per cent of those in the prune group) or gas (ver- sus 19 and 18 per cent, respectively).
Eating kiwis was linked with slightly more bloating than consuming psyllium (11 versus 10 per cent), but with far less bloating than was seen in the prune group (36 per cent).
Source: American College of Gastroenterology Annual Scientific Meeting 2020
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