[Time of normal intestinal transit in Peruvian subjects]

Intestinal transit-time (TTI) and daily steel weight (PDH) were determined in 20 Peruvian healthy volunteers, following a universally accepted technique. Mean of TTI (mean +/- s.d.: 60.2 +/- 25.5 h) was similar to the ones reported in subjects, from other world places, who consume refined diets, poor in fibre; while mean of PDH (mean +/- s.d.: 174.5 +/- 114.0 g) compared better to the ones reported in subjects who consume mixed diets, composed by refined foods and foods with a high fibre content. Contrarily to what other authors have observed, correlation between TTI and PDH was not significant (r r0.03, only). The obtained results may be explained by the coexistence of several inconstant determinant factors, among which would be a deficient ingestion of dietary fibre.