In acute illness, fermentable fiber is effective in
reducing diarrhoea in patients after surgery and in
critically ill patients. It was shown that guar gum
(e.g. partially hydrolyzed guar gum) and pectin
were superior to soy polysaccharides.11–15 In nonICU-patients
or in patients requiring long-term EN
the use of a mixture of bulking and fermentable
fiber would appear to be the best approach. Soy
polysaccharides, or soy polysaccharides combined
with oat fiber were effective to increase daily stool
weight and frequency during enteral feeding.