Resistant starch has little effect on appetite, food intake and insulin secretion of healthy young men.

OBJECTIVE

This study investigated whether resistant starch types II and III are more satiating than glucose.

DESIGN AND SUBJECTS

During 4 weeks 24 healthy male volunteers consumed a daily supplement with either glucose or high-amylose corn starch (RS2) or extruded and retrograded high-amylose corn starch (RS3) in a cross-over, single-blind, randomised and balanced study design. Each type of supplement was consumed for a week. In the first week each subject consumed the glucose supplement. The RS2 and RS3 supplements provided for 30 g resistant starch/day. At the end of weeks 2, 3 and 4, subjects rated their appetite each whole hour on a visual analogue scale. Food intake was measured 1 day/week using the 24-h recall method. Subjects collected 24-h urine during the last 2 days of weeks 2, 3 and 4 to determine C-peptide excretion as a measure for the 24-h insulin secretion.

RESULTS

Supplementation with RS2 caused significantly (P < 0.05) lower appetite scores than supplementation with RS3 and glucose, though subjects paradoxically felt less full while consuming RS2. The cyclic pattern of appetite during the day did not change with the supplements. Energy and macronutrient intake was similar in the three supplementation periods. When consuming RS3, subjects had a significantly (P < 0.0012) lower urinary C-peptide excretion than when consuming RS2 or glucose: 3.74 +/- 1.42 nmol/day for RS3, 4.39 +/- 1.52 nmol/day for RS2 and 4.71 +/- 1.73 nmol/day for glucose. The mechanism for this lower insulin secretion is yet unclear.

CONCLUSION

Consumption of 30 g/day RS2 and RS3 had little influence on appetite and food intake, but RS3 reduced the insulin secretion.