Resistant starch in the diet increases breath hydrogen and serum acetate in human subjects

Abstract

The colonic fermentation of two diets differing in amounts of resistant starch (RS) was studied. High- and low-RS diets were fed to eight healthy subjects in three meals for 1 d. Breath hydrogen and two blood samples were collected over a 28-h period. The high-RS diet provided 59.1 ± 4.7 g (x̄ ± SE) RS and the low-RS diet provided 5.2 ± 0.4 g RS. Breath hydrogen and the average total serum acetate were significantly higher during the high-RS diet than during the low-RS diet: 34.1 ± 4.7 and 23.9 ± 3.9 ppm (P < 0.001) and 169.1 ± 12.8 and 118 ± 6.6 μmol/L (P < 0.01), respectively. Butyrate and propionate were also detected in serum samples. Although not statistically significant, there was a trend (P = 0.087) for butyrate to increase with the high-RS diet. Subjects reported greater gastrointestinal symptoms during the high-RS diet. These results suggest that RS may have effects comparable with those of some fermentable dietary fibers.