Potato starch may be more filling than fiber, a showdown in an artificial colon indicates. The finding may challenge the idea that the worldwide obesity epidemic is a side effect of eating starchy foods rather than the high-fiber plants human ancestors evolved with.
The results are “interesting, but not ready for direct application to people,” says David Ludwig, a pediatric endocrinologist at Boston Children’s Hospital. The artificial colons are missing many pieces — such as a brain, immune system and endocrine system — that work together to control eating habits and body weight, he says. For instance, the test tube system used in the study didn’t factor in the hormone insulin, which Ludwig and others think is a major player in regulating body weight.