Gastrointestinal Assessment of Three Novel RS4

Summary

The rates of chronic diseases like obesity, diabetes, and heart disease are rising across the world. This is especially true in industrialized countries like Canada and the USA. Even though there are many possible causes for these increases. One prominent cause is our refined diet, which greatly lacks dietary fiber. This 'fiber gap' between the amount of fiber actually eaten and the amount that should be eaten is likely promoting these diseases.

It is known that a high fiber diet can benefit health and the health of the gut bacteria. It is also know that these gut microbes can help cause and prevent diseases. When fiber is eaten, it gets broken down not by us, but by our gut microbes. During this process by-products called short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) are made. These SCFA have been shown to promote health. Therefore, it is thought that fiber changes the gut microbes to produce more SCFA, which may improve overall health.

In order to aid our microbes and improve our health we need to find ways to reduce this 'fiber gap'. One possibility is to add fiber to our refined diet. To do so we must first learn how different fibers perform in our gut. This includes how our gut tolerates increasing amounts of fiber, and how our microbes respond. The purpose of this study is to learn how different types of resistant starch perform in our gut, including gastrointestinal tolerance. By doing so we will determine the ideal dose and type of these fibers to use in future studies.

Conditions

• Diet Modification

Interventions

OTHER

Resistant Starch Type 4 Supplementation

Ten participants will supplement their normal dietary intake with RS4 daily for four consecutive weeks, with each week the amount of RS4 provided being increased (10 g, 20 g, 35 g and 50 g/day).

OTHER

Resistant Starch Type 4 Supplementation

Ten participants will supplement their normal dietary intake with RS4 daily for four consecutive weeks, with each week the amount of RS4 provided being increased (10 g, 20 g, 35 g and 50 g/day).

OTHER

Resistant Starch Type 4 Supplementation

Ten participants will supplement their normal dietary intake with RS4 daily for four consecutive weeks, with each week the amount of RS4 provided being increased (10 g, 20 g, 35 g and 50 g/day).

OTHER

Digestible Starch Supplementation

Ten participants will supplement their normal dietary intake with digestible starch daily for four consecutive weeks, with each week the amount of starch provided being increased.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Alberta

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Jens Walter, PhD · University of Alberta

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

OTHER

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

50 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2017-09-01

Primary Completion

2018-02-28

Completion

2018-12-22

Countries

• Canada

Study Locations