Resistant Starch Has No Effect on Appetite and Food Intake in Individuals with Prediabetes

Abstract

Background: Type 2 resistant starch (RS2) has been shown to improve metabolic health outcomes and may increase satiety and suppress appetite and food intake in humans.

Objective: This study assessed whether 12 weeks of daily RS2 supplementation could influence appetite perception, food intake, and appetite-related gut hormones in adults with prediabetes, relative to the control (CTL) group.

Design: The study was a randomized controlled trial and analysis of secondary study end points.

Participants/setting: Sixty-eight adults (body mass index ≥27) aged 35 to 75 years with prediabetes were enrolled in the study at Pennington Biomedical Research Center (2012 to 2016). Fifty-nine subjects were included in the analysis.

Intervention: Participants were randomized to consume 45 g/day of high-amylose maize (RS2) or an isocaloric amount of the rapidly digestible starch amylopectin (CTL) for 12 weeks.

Main outcome measures: Subjective appetite measures were assessed via visual analogue scale and the Eating Inventory; appetite-related gut hormones (glucagon-like peptide 1, peptide YY, and ghrelin) were measured during a standard mixed-meal test; and energy and macronutrient intake were assessed by a laboratory food intake (buffet) test, the Remote Food Photography Method, and SmartIntake app.

Statistical analyses performed: Data were analyzed using linear mixed models, adjusting for treatment group and time as fixed effects, with a significance level of α=.05.

Results: RS2 had no effect on subjective measures of appetite, as assessed by visual analogue scale (P>0.05) and the Eating Inventory (P≥0.24), relative to the CTL group. There were no effects of RS2 supplementation on appetite-related gut hormones, including glucagon-like peptide 1 (P=0.61), peptide YY (P=0.34), and both total (P=0.26) and active (P=0.47) ghrelin compared with the CTL. RS2 had no effect on total energy (P=0.30), carbohydrate (P=0.11), protein (P=0.64), or fat (P=0.37) consumption in response to a buffet meal test, relative to the CTL. In addition, total energy (P=0.40), carbohydrate (P=0.15), protein (P=0.46), and fat (P=0.53) intake, as quantified by the Remote Food Photography Method, were also unaffected by RS2, relative to the CTL.

Conclusions: RS2 supplementation did not increase satiety or reduce appetite and food intake in adults with prediabetes.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01708694.

Keywords: Appetite; Food intake; Gut hormones; Prediabetes; Type 2 resistant starch.