A study of a typical hemicellulose-hydrogel product revealed: 1. The product absorbed and held between 10 and 20 times its weight in water. 2. The resulting stool was semi-solid in consistency in spite of the fact that it consisted of only 14% of solids. 3. Although the amount of laxative fatty acids found in the stool increased proportionately to the amount of the product ingested, at no time was the amount quantitatively or qualitatively sufficient to correspond to an established effective laxative dose.
