Amylose-amylopectin ratio in a meal affects postprandial variables in male volunteers.

To study the postprandial effects of changing the amylose-to-amylopectin ratio (Am:Ap) in the starch fraction of a meal, male volunteers were given hot mixed lunches (13% of energy as protein, 24% as fat, 6% as mono- and disaccharides, and 57% as polysaccharides) in which Am:Ap was either 0:100 or 45:55. The increase in Am:Ap resulted in a change in the shape of the glucose and insulin responses in the blood with significantly lower initial responses but a small increase for glucose and a decrease for insulin if averaged over the 6 h of the study. The rises in the concentration of free glycerol and free fatty acid that occurred after an initial drop were stronger at low Am:Ap. High-Am:Ap meals induced more satiety up to 6 h postprandially. There was no effect of Am:Ap on postprandial triacylglycerol in the blood or on breath hydrogen except for a weak trend toward a higher concentration at 6 h after the high-Am:Ap meals.