Effect of diets high or low in unavailable and slowly digestible carbohydrates on the pattern of 24-h substrate oxidation and feelings of hunger in humans

• Published in: The American journal of clinical nutrition 2000-12, Vol.72 (6), p.1461-1468
• Main Authors: SPARTI, Andrea, MILON, Hubert, DI VETTA, Véronique, SCHNEITER, Philippe, TAPPY, Luc, JEQUIER, Eric, SCHUTZ, Yves
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Analysis of Variance; Biological and medical sciences; Biological Availability; Body Composition; Calorimetry; Carbohydrates; Diet; Dietary Carbohydrates - administration & dosage; Dietary Carbohydrates - metabolism; Dietary Carbohydrates - pharmacokinetics; Digestion; Energy Metabolism; Feeding. Feeding behavior; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Hunger; Male; Metabolism; Oxidation; Oxidation-Reduction; Pain Measurement; Postprandial Period; Substrate Specificity; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems
• ISSN: 0002-9165; 1938-3207
• DOI: 10.1093/ajcn/72.6.1461

The pattern of substrate utilization with diets containing a high or a low proportion of unavailable and slowly digestible carbohydrates may constitute an important factor in the control, time course, and onset of hunger in humans. We tested the hypothesis that isoenergetic diets differing only in their content of unavailable carbohydrates would result in different time courses of total, endogenous, and exogenous carbohydrate oxidation rates. Two diets with either a high (H diet) or a low (L diet) content of unavailable carbohydrates were fed to 14 healthy subjects studied during two 24-h periods in a metabolic chamber. Substrate utilization was assessed by whole-body indirect calorimetry. In a subgroup of 8 subjects, endogenous and exogenous carbohydrate oxidation were assessed by prelabeling the body glycogen stores with [(13)C]carbohydrate. Subjective feelings of hunger were estimated with use of visual analogue scales. Total energy expenditure and substrate oxidation did not differ significantly between the 2 diets. However, there was a significant effect of diet (P: = 0.03) on the carbohydrate oxidation pattern: the H diet elicited a lower and delayed rise of postprandial carbohydrate oxidation and was associated with lower hunger feelings than was the L diet. The differences in hunger scores between the 2 diets were significantly associated with the differences in the pattern of carbohydrate oxidation among diets (r = -0.67, P: = 0. 006). Exogenous and endogenous carbohydrate oxidation were not significantly influenced by diet. The pattern of carbohydrate utilization is involved in the modulation of hunger feelings. The greater suppression of hunger after the H diet than after the L diet may be helpful, at least over the short term, in individuals attempting to better control their food intake.