Hypolipidemic effect of resistant starch in hamsters is not dose dependent

Groups of young hamsters were fed diets containing 5, 10, 15 or 20% resistant starch (RS) for four weeks; these levels were achieved by increasingly replacing digestible starch (DS) in the diet with RS. Compared to the group fed only DS (control group), groups fed RS showed sizable reductions (7.1% to 21.4%) in serum total cholesterol (CH). RS-fed groups also showed a reduction in serum TG levels, but significantly so only in the group fed 20% RS (26.0% reduction). Reduction in total CH occurred due to reduction of both high-density-lipoprotein (HDL) CH and non-HDL CH. Collectively, the 5% RS diet affected these reductions as favorably as the 10%, 15% or 20% RS diets. The patterns of these reductions suggest that the hypolipidemic effect due to RS is not dose dependent. Copyright (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Inc.