Chronic Physical Activity Does Not Impact Metabolic Responses to Low or High Doses of Resistant Starch: A Crossover Trial

Abstract

Physical activity and resistant starch are known independently, to beneficially affect metabolic health especially in the gut. However, little is known about the combined effects of physical activity and resistant starch. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of physical activity at different dosages of resistant starch on gut and metabolic health, represented by breath hydrogen and blood glucose responses. Twenty young, healthy participants were stratified into two physical activity groups based on seven-day accelerometry data. Participants visited the lab twice in random order and consumed a meal with either 5 g or 25 g of resistant starch. Breath hydrogen and blood glucose were measured at baseline and serially for six and two hours after meal consumption respectively. Total area under the curve (AUC) for breath hydrogen and incremental AUC for blood glucose were not different between physical activity groups or resistant starch conditions. Thus, chronic physical activity status did not impact breath hydrogen or blood glucose responses to either low or high resistant starch meals.