Hi Maize

Hello,

Has anybody tried this product called Hi-Maize, apparently its a resistant starch and I was just wondering if it's comparable to the Tapioca recipe Evan suggested before?

Thanks,


G

Hi Gargamel

I've used a fair bit of Hi Maize. You can buy it as a supplement and it looks and tastes just like plain white flour. You add a bit to your cooking and it increases the fibre and, especially, the resistant starch. It is really high in resistant starch. My understanding of resistant starch is that it gets to your colon undigested, where the good bacteria eat it up and produce butytrate, which is then used by the colon wall as an energy source and to keep the colon wall healthy and inflammation free.

Here's a link on how it works and how it might benefit UC, although keep in mind that this information is published by the manufactures so isn't impartial!

http://www.resistantstarch.com/ResistantStarch/Health+Focus/

I've found that increasing fibre and resistant starch helps a little for my UC. If Horus is around, he might have a few things to say about resistant starch as he is a big fan of it and eats a lot. Resistant Starch is also found in beans and legumes. The oat bran in my signature is something I eat for the same reason - it massively increases butytrate production in the colon.

Here's the oat bran study where I got the idea from

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12769445&dopt=AbstractPlus

I started the oat bran at a time when I'd just had 3 months on pred for a flare and then flared within 6 weeks of coming off the pred - Dr thought my body was craving pred and we were starting the blood tests for Imuran. I started the oat bran and had 10 months of the most beautiful remission I've ever had. I think it was the oat bran - my Dr saw merit in boosting my butyrate levels so he was pleased I was doing it. I've flared a couple of times this year but I still do the oatbran. If oatbran was indeed behind my remission then I'm not sure why it stopped working. I tend to only flare 2-3 times a year so it is really difficult to tell what works and what doesn't. At any rate, oatbran is meant to be really good for you for all sorts of things (cholestrol, blood sugar) so I figure it can't hurt and is probably helping.

Tapioca flour is fairly high in oxalic acid which binds minerals like calcium and makes the kidney work hard to excrete it. Over long periods of time if you injest tapioca around the same time as a calcium supplement or calcium rich food then yes, it could be a problem.

Corn starch hi-maize and the bran are relatively low low in oxalic acid. Just rotate different fibers on different days into your diet.

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/detail.jsp;jsessionid=38B735EA8EF4D7E32D8C4B030FFA87B0?id=1587

http://store.honeyvillegrain.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&Prodid=640&HS=1



Personally I can't tolerate much oat bran. I've tried but it goes through me so fast it hurts. It' be great if I had constipation but that isn't my problem. I'm leary of things with high concentrations beta glucan in them like mushrooms and oat bran because of their effects on the immune system.