Normalization of Gastrointestinal Symptoms in Adults With Constipation With Daily Green Kiwifruit Consumption: Protocol for an Open-Label Intervention Study
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Background: Irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C) and functional constipation (FC) have significant personal, health care, and social impacts, affecting patients' quality of life. Treatment of these conditions is challenging. While green kiwifruit is a promising natural alternative to laxatives, its effectiveness in managing abdominal pain and the underlying mechanism of action is yet to be substantiated. Objective: This study investigates the effect of consuming 2 green kiwifruit daily for 4 weeks (the habitual serving) on abdominal pain and discomfort in individuals with IBS-C and FC. Methods: This study is a 2-arm parallel, open-label, placebo-controlled randomized study. This study's duration was 9 weeks, with a 3-week lead-in phase, a 4-week intervention phase, and a 2-week follow-up phase. A total of 60 participants with IBS-C and FC were randomized to consume either 2 Zespri green kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa "Hayward," ~150 g per serving, ~90 kcal) or maltodextrin (calorie-matched to the fruit, ~25 g per serving, ~90 kcal) per day for 4 weeks. The participants completed validated questionnaires assessing digestive and general health and well-being parameters, underwent magnetic resonance imaging to determine colon physiological measures, ingested a blue food dye, provided blood and fecal samples to measure microbial, immunological, and biochemical parameters, and ingested wireless motility devices (selected participants only) to assess physiological processes. Results: Recruitment for this study began in May 2021 and was completed in May 2022. A total of 63 participants were randomized, and 57 were analyzed using intention-to-treat analysis. Data analysis is complete, and full results are expected to be published in a peer-reviewed journal by April 2026. Conclusions: This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of green kiwifruit consumption in managing abdominal pain in individuals with IBS-C and FC. It will provide new insights into the mechanisms behind the habitual consumption of green kiwifruit for digestive comfort in this population.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.015 | 0.010 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.004 | 0.002 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.009 | 0.005 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.002 | 0.002 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.004 | 0.003 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.002 | 0.002 |
| Open science | 0.004 | 0.002 |
| Research integrity | 0.005 | 0.006 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.035 | 0.008 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".