Editing Dietary fiber (section)

===Fecal weight===
Feces consist of a plasticine-like material, made up of water, bacteria, lipids, sterols, mucus and fiber.

# Feces are 75% water; bacteria make a large contribution to the dry weight, the residue being unfermented fiber and excreted compounds.
# Fecal output may vary over a range of between 20 and 280 g over 24 hours. The amount of feces egested a day varies for any one individual over a period of time.
# Of dietary constituents, only dietary fiber increases fecal weight.
Water is distributed in the colon in three ways:
# Free water which can be absorbed from the colon.
# Water that is incorporated into bacterial mass.
# Water that is bound by fiber.
Fecal weight is dictated by:
# the holding of water by the residual dietary fiber after fermentation.
# the bacterial mass.
# There may also be an added osmotic effect of products of bacterial fermentation on fecal mass.