potato starch

Hi Scott, I started taking the potato starch a year and half ago and have not given up. I am also on Enbrel and irronically enough I started both at the same time. I am on Enbrel through there safety net foundation and get it for free. This year they didnt give it to me due to the fact that they can get more money from selling it. Seems like the Enbrel helped me alot and am so afraid of getting off of it. So I decided to keep up with the potato starch in case it would work. I will be finding out here soon. Are you still taking it Scott? Its been 16 months that I have been on both. I never heard anything from Don, he started it to. I am very interested to see if it actually helped.

Hi constantpain,
Yes, that's me. It is great that you still take the potato starch. Are you taking enough? After 16 months, you should definitely feel improvement by now, as long as you are taking enough.

Another critical aspect of colon health is hydration. You can be dehydrated without feeling thirsty. An easy way to determine this is the consistency of the stool. Soft is good, hard is bad. Hard stools are the result of your body extracting water from the colon to maintain electrolyte balance in the blood. Much water is lost during sleep from the lungs when we exhale. The first thing that I do when I wake is to drink one liter of water (and a cup of coffee). Within an hour, I always make a stool. It is like clockwork. I also take the potato starch at the same time every day (9 PM). Transit time through the gut is about 36 hours for me.

The colon is much more than simply a tube for waste removal (most of the stool is actually bacteria, living and dead). The colon serves critical roles in 1) water retention, 2) moderating blood-glucose levels, and 3) regulating blood-fat levels. The medical community has dropped the ball in this regard.

I am not surprised that they are not giving you the Enbrel for free anymore. Most people on biologics (e.g. Entyvio for UC) fail to realize that insurance companies will eventually stop subsidizing these costly meds. It is not political and does not matter which political party is in charge. It is economics. Best wishes to you!

Hi jeanneac,
I take about 150 grams of the dry powder (a coffee mug filled about 3/4 full) and then add cold water to the top. Initially, it is a little difficult to stir, but keep stirring. It does not dissolve. It is a "suspension". It will settle to the bottom again in a few minutes. So, drink within 1 minute. It is tasteless for the most part.

If you are just starting, expect to get diarrhea for a few weeks, maybe a month. I do not know why this happens, but I have some theories (I am a scientist). I believe that this diarrhea is the beginning of a "cleansing" process. I am not talking about these "colon cleanse" schemes advertised on some blogs. Those are a scam. I will try to explain this in terms of pH across the digestive tract. First, the stomach is quite acidic (pH 1 - 2). The pH changes dramatically as it enters the small intestine, which is pH 6. The pH gets progressively more basic in the small intestine and maxes out at about pH 8 just before the large intestine. This is where most drugs with "basic" amino groups are absorbed (e.g. antidepressant drugs, and many others). Now, this is where the problem arises. The pH of the large intestine (colon) should be slightly acidic (pH 6.5 is perhaps optimal). Why? Most "bad" bacteria are gram negative which thrive in a slightly basic medium (pH 7.5 or slightly higher). This is where resistant starch (potato starch) alters that pH. The fermentation of RS by "good" bacteria produce products which are slightly acidic (butyric acid, propionic acid, and acetic acid). This shifts the pH to slightly acidic and the "bad" bacteria cannot survive. I suspect that this shift from slightly basic to slightly acidic causes the diarrhea flush.

As for the gas, it can be quite significant in the beginning. Do not let that deter you. The bacteria in the colon are not there by chance. This is a symbiotic relationship. You feed them and they feed you with butyric acid (the energy source for colonic cells and a natural anti-inflammatory agent in high concentrations). The process of fermentation produces the acidic products mentioned above along with gases, primarily carbon dioxide. If you are not producing gas, you are not fermenting. The Hazda tribe of Tanzania eat 300 - 500 grams of "potato starch" every day. They do not have a problem with diabetes or heart disease, and their stools are big and soft.

I read on the UC forum occasionally about people getting their colons removed. This is a medieval medicine in the 21st century. They might as well apply leaches as well.

As a final point, resistant starch is not fiber. I avoid fiber, especially wheat bran. Metamucil is okay because it is a "soft" fiber (but it is not ferment-able and largely worthless), but many others are like sandpaper to the epithelium of your intestines and promote inflammation.

I hope that this helps. Do not forget to stay hydrated as well (previous post). It is so important that people start taking care of their own health and stop relying on immuno-suppressant drugs. The drugs only treat the symptoms and not the underlying cause.

Scott, Why are you trying to get off the potato starch? I remember your family taking it as well. What do you mean by all the changes that are going to happen with politics and such. Anyways I still take it everyday and drink plenty of water through out the day. I googled potato starch and dont really have much except most sites say It doesnt help in the long run. I hope its not true and want to belive in the stuff. Since I am forced off the Enbrel, we will see what will happen. I am only on Plaquenil with the Enbrel. Do you have any sites that you know of that I can research some more on subject. Thank you

Scott, I mentioned this , because in your first post you stated that when you stop taking the starch the pain comes back. You were just asking in general so thats when I seen it and responded to you. Otherwise, have you noticed weight gain form the potato starch or do you think it could be the Enbrel. Since I started both at the same time, dont know who the culprit as I have heard that Enbrel causes belly fat.

"Nature" is the most prestigious scientific journal in the world with the highest standards of rigor for publication. This article came out 2 years ago: "Gut microbial metabolites limit the frequency of autoimmune T cells and protect against type 1 diabetes" https://www.nature.com/articles/ni.3713
Type 1 diabetes, in case you did not know, is an autoimmune disorder. Here is the abstract:

"Gut dysbiosis might underlie the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes. In mice of the non-obese diabetic (NOD) strain, we found that key features of disease correlated inversely with blood and fecal concentrations of the microbial metabolites acetate and butyrate. We therefore fed NOD mice specialized diets designed to release large amounts of acetate or butyrate after bacterial fermentation in the colon. Each diet provided a high degree of protection from diabetes, even when administered after breakdown of immunotolerance. Feeding mice a combined acetate- and butyrate-yielding diet provided complete protection, which suggested that acetate and butyrate might operate through distinct mechanisms. Acetate markedly decreased the frequency of autoreactive T cells in lymphoid tissues, through effects on B cells and their ability to expand populations of autoreactive T cells. A diet containing butyrate boosted the number and function of regulatory T cells, whereas acetate- and butyrate-yielding diets enhanced gut integrity and decreased serum concentration of diabetogenic cytokines such as IL-21. Medicinal foods or metabolites might represent an effective and natural approach for countering the numerous immunological defects that contribute to T cell–dependent autoimmune diseases."

This is a "landmark" publication in the history of medicine. How long is it going to take for the medical community to take notice and alter their approach in the treatment of autoimmune disorders?

Post Edited (Scott RS) : 3/10/2019 6:42:05 AM (GMT-6)

Yes, the 150 grams is based on a couple items. First, the Hazda tribe of Tanzania eat about 300 grams of raw potatoes every day. They do this for their entire lives beginning at about age 3.
The human colon is 3 meters long and contains about 100 trillion bacteria (human cells number 30 - 70 trillion). So, you need to feed all of those bacteria for the entire length of the colon. I just estimate 150 grams, but I take 300 grams on some days. I have even taken as much as 500 grams in a single day. Stay hydrated as well.
You can buy Bob's Re Mill, but it may be a bit more expensive. Any brand will suffice.
My entire family (wife, son, daughter) take this as well every day.

You can buy 4 lb bags of potato starch from Amazon for 14. 99

Just wanted to add, for anyone following this n=1 protocol — do not add potato starch to hot coffee. You’ll end up with a mug full of hot coffee pudding, 😉