Resistant Starch - Weight Management

Weight Management

Consumption of foods containing natural resistant starch seems to positively affect weight management in six ways.

• Fiber fortification: When added to foods such as bread, biscuits, sweet goods, pasta, nutritional bars and cereal, resistant starch can increase fiber content without affecting taste or texture. In 2003, the World Health Organization concluded that dietary fiber was the only dietary component that had convincing evidence showing a protective effect against weight gain and obesity. While the exact mechanisms of fiber protecting against weight gain are still under investigation, its ability to increase satiety and decrease subsequent hunger, along with altering the secretion of hormones related to food digestion, are considered likely mechanisms.

• Calorie reduction: Resistant starch can be used to replace higher calorie food ingredients, such as flour or other rapidly digested carbohydrates. Natural resistant starch delivers between 2-3 kilocalories/gram (8-12 kilojoules/gram) versus 4 kilocalories/gram (16 kilojoules/gram). Consequently, resistant starch is a valuable tool for formulators of reduced-calorie foods.

• Satiety: Multiple recent studies have shown that naturally occurring resistant starch (from high amylose corn and from barley kernels) increases satiety and reduces food intake in the short term (within a few hours) and longer-term (for 20–24 hours). However, chemically modified resistant wheat starch, chemically modified resistant potato starch and retrograded, acid-treated high amylose resistant corn starch was shown to have no impact on subjective satiety and no impact on subsequent food intake.

• Lipid oxidation: Resistant starch may help burn fat and may lead to lower fat accumulation. One clinical trial with high amylose corn resistant starch showed that it increased fat oxidation after a meal. These findings suggest a possible metabolic effect of resistant starch that may affect body weight.

• Fat storage: Resistant starch from high amylose corn has been shown to improve fatty acid metabolism within adipose tissue. A human clinical trial found increased levels of lipases (hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL), lipoprotein lipase (LPL), and adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL)) which may indicate increased adipocyte differentiation within the adipose tissue.

• Improves metabolism: An animal study has demonstrated that resistant starch independently altered metabolism in ways that prevented weight re-gain in a high fat diet