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.
BACKGROUND
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.


OBJECTIVE
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.


METHODS
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.


RESULTS
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.


CONCLUSIONS
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.
Sparti
A
A
Institute of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Lausanne, and the Nestlé Research Centre, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Milon
H
H
Di Vetta
V
V
Schneiter
P
P
Tappy
L
L
Jéquier
E
E
Schutz
Y
Y
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001682:Biological Availability; D001823:Body Composition; D002151:Calorimetry; D004032:Diet; D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D004063:Digestion; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006815:Hunger; D008297:Male; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010147:Pain Measurement; D019518:Postprandial Period; D013379:Substrate Specificity
D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates