A high-fat diet temporarily accelerates gastrointestinal transit and reduces satiety in men

Abstract

High-fat (HF) diets of 2 weeks have been shown to accelerate gastrointestinal (GI) transit and decrease satiety. However, the effects of HF diets on GI transit over longer periods than 2 weeks are unknown. We hypothesize that over 4 weeks, GI transit of a HF test meal will accelerate. The study was a repeated measures design with 10 male volunteers completing a 1-week HF diet intervention and 7 completing a 4-week HF diet intervention with testing once a week on the same day throughout the 4 weeks. Gastric emptying (GE) was measured using the ¹³C-octanoic acid breath test and mouth-to-caecum transit time (MCTT) using the inulin H₂ breath test. Satiety was analysed using visual analogue scales and an ad libitum buffet meal. Body mass increased by 1.3 kg over the 4 weeks (p = 0.036). GE latency time decreased from 45 ± 8 to 41 ± 10 min (p = 0.047) over 1 week but there were no changes in any GE parameters over the 4 weeks. MCTT was accelerated over 1 week (p = 0.036) from 308 ± 43 to 248 ± 83 min. However, over the 4-week period, there was no change. Volunteers became more hungry and desire to eat became greater after 1 week (p = 0.01). Changes in satiety were also evident over the 4 weeks. Satiety was reduced in the primary weeks and then returned to baseline towards the end of the intervention. GI adaptation to a HF diet occurred over a 1-week period and returned to pre-diet levels at the end of 4 weeks.

Keywords::

• Gastric emptying
• mouth-to-caecum transit time
• satiety
• fat

Declaration of interest: The authors gratefully acknowledge the Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology (IRCSET) for their support of this project. Inulin was donated by Orafti, Belgium. The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.