X-Message-Number: 13857
Date: Wed, 7 Jun 2000 02:44:03 -0700 (PDT)
From: Doug Skrecky <>
Subject: amylopectin starch is toxic to rats

Title
  Amylopectin starch induces
  nonreversible insulin resistance in rats.
Source
  Journal of Nutrition.  126(2):410-5, 1996 Feb.
Abstract
  Starches that are high in amylopectin are
  digested and absorbed more quickly than starches with a high
  amylose content and produce insulin resistance in rats during long-term
  feeding. The aim of this study was to determine whether
  amylopectin-induced insulin resistance could be prevented or
  reversed by a period of high amylose feeding. We employed a randomized design
  in which two groups of rats were fed either the high amylose and then the
  high amylopectin diet for two consecutive 8-wk periods or
  vice versa (high amylopectin and then high amylose). Four
  other groups were fed either a high amylose or a high
  amylopectin diet for 8 or 16 wk. All rats were fed two 10-g
  meals per day (300 kJ/d), and insulin sensitivity was assessed by intravenous
  glucose tolerance test (IVGTT) after 8 or 16 wk of feeding. We found no
  difference in glucose tolerance between any group at any time point. Insulin
  responses, however, were 50% higher (P < 0.01) after 16 wk of high
  amylopectin feeding [area under the plasma insulin curve
  (AUC) = 18.1 +/- 1.4 nmol.L-1 x 15 min] compared with high amylose feeding
  (AUC = 13.0 +/- 1.2 nmol.L-1 x 15 min). The two groups which received both
  diets developed a similar degree of insulin resistance, equivalent to that
  after 16 wk of high amylopectin feeding. The findings
  suggest that amylopectin-induced insulin resistance cannot
  be reversed or prevented by either a subsequent or previous period of amylose
  feeding. Taken together, the data suggest that the nature of
  starch in the Western diet influences the development of
  noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus in humans.

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