Resistant Starch and Energy Balance: Impact on Weight Loss and Maintenance

Abstract

The obesity epidemic has prompted researchers to find effective weight loss and maintenance tools. Weight loss and subsequent maintenance are reliant on energy balance; the net difference between energy intake and energy expenditure. Negative energy balance, lower intake than expenditure, results in weight loss whereas positive energy balance, greater intake than expenditure, results in weight gain. Resistant starch has many attributes which could promote weight loss and/or maintenance including reduced prostprandial insulinemia, increased release of gut satiety peptides, increased fat oxidation, lower fat storage in adipocytes, and preservation of lean body mass. Retention of lean body mass during weight loss or maintenance would prevent the decrease in basal metabolic rate and, therefore, the decrease in total energy expenditure, that occurs with weight loss. In addition, the fiber-like properties of resistant starch may increase the thermic effect of food thereby increasing total energy expenditure. Due its ability to increase fat oxidation and reduce fat storage in adipocytes, resistant starch has recently been promoted in the popular press as a “weight loss wonder food”. This review focuses on data describing the effects of resistant starch on body weight, energy intake, energy expenditure, and body composition to determine if there is sufficient evidence to warrant these claims.

Impacts of resistant starch and wheat bran consumption on enteric inflammation in relation to colonic bacterial community structures and short-chain fatty acid concentrations in mice

“…A plausible explanation is that under conditions of enteric inflammation, mice generally gain less weight and have less efficient nutrient absorption due to cellular injury [48]. We observed that mice without acute enteritis that consumed a RS-enriched diet had higher final weights, and a longer colon; the increased body weight and length of the colon is consistent with an increase in the combined mass of the intestinal cells [49]. This may not only translate to enhanced anabolism, but improved mucosal repair, barrier function and enterocyte hyperplasia, contributing to an increase in colon length are well-recognized manifestations of mitigated intestinal inflammation [40].…”

Resistant starches differentially stimulate Toll‐like receptors and attenuate proinflammatory cytokines in dendritic cells by modulation of intestinal epithelial cells

“…TLR‐5 stimulation by Novelose® 330 is also very interesting as TLR‐5 stimulation is not only involved in immune regulation but also in maintaining metabolic control and could play a role in the reported reduction in postprandial glycemia and increased insulin sensitivity of some types of starches . Vijay‐Kumar et al.…”

Resistant starches for the management of metabolic diseases

“…In 2014, Higgins provided a comprehensive review concerning the impact of RS on energy balance, body weight, and body composition [14**]. Since then, Nichenametla and colleagues published a human crossover, dietary intervention comparing effects of RS4-enriched flour with regular flour in healthy individuals and subjects with metabolic syndrome.…”

“…RS remain intact until reaching the distal small and large intestines—here, they can be fermented by the microbiota, ultimately modulating both microbial composition and activity [18–23]. Consequently, the gut microbiota has been proposed as a key component in mediating the metabolic benefits of RS [5*;14**]. …”