Can someone explain resistant starches to me?

And how it relates to uc? It's something I just heard of today but don't think I get it. Cold starch is better than warm? There are different subtypes? What are some examples of good resistant starches to be eating? Thanks!

Just like how each of us tolerate different foods, finding which resistant starch works for you is a matter of trial and error.

Here is the thread on resistant starches:www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=38&m=2687863

The main idea is these are starches that escape digestion in the small intestine and ferment in the colon, leading to butyrate production and mucosal healing. There are four categories (as per wikipedia):

RS1 Physically inaccessible or digestible resistant starch, such as that found in seeds or legumes and unprocessed whole grains

RS2 Resistant starch that occurs in its natural granular form, such as uncooked potato, green banana flour and high amylose corn

RS3 Resistant starch that is formed when starch-containing foods are cooked and cooled such as in legumes, bread, cornflakes and cooked-and-chilled potatoes, pasta salad or sushi rice. The process of cooking out the starch and cooling it is called retrogradation.

RS4 Starches that have been chemically modified to resist digestion. This type of resistant starches can have a wide variety of structures and are not found in nature.

Here is the Dr.Oz Segment that's very informative and worth watching:
www.doctoroz.com/videos/4-resistant-carb-rules-fight-disease-pt-1
www.doctoroz.com/videos/4-resistant-carb-rules-fight-disease-pt-2
www.doctoroz.com/videos/resistant-carbs-fight-cancer

Personally, I'm taking it slow and trying out cooked+cooled potatoes and pasta, as these are foods that I can tolerate. aguywithuc is trying his luck with navy beans and it seems to be benefiting him to some degree. The idea is to get the butyrate production going so that healing takes place.

Post Edited (StealthGuardian) : 4/25/2013 6:45:30 AM (GMT-6)

laughingduck said...
It says whole grains, but sushi rice is not a whole grain, it is very refined, but that is still ok? Or would cooked and cooled brown rice be better? And then I saw some people talking about navy beans being better than black beans, any reason why? The more I read the more confused I get!

Ps. I recently quit coffee so forgive me if I am a bit slow this morning..

According to the article here, resistant starch crystals form when potatoes, rice and pasta are cooled.

www.realage.com/blogs/doctor-oz-roizen/rice-pasta-and-potato-salad-diet-food

"If you think filling up on leftover pasta straight from the fridge will shrink your waist, you're on top of the latest diet craze: resistant starch. This stuff is suddenly everywhere: In a headline-grabbing book (The Carb Lover's Diet), in a Japanese pounds-off plan (the Morning Banana Diet), even in the fiber advice of Australia's nutrition guidelines.

For once, though, a weight loss fad has science on its side. Resistant starch (RS for short) is a tasteless form of fiber in some high-carb foods that can help you lose weight and steady your blood sugar. Beans (a YOU Doc fave food) are RS-rich. So are nuts, seeds, and 100% whole grains (we love those, too). So are green bananas (we'll pass). And -- this is where the fad part comes in -- so are cold pasta, potatoes, and rice.

Your small intestine digests only a little RS and only very slowly (which helps you feel fuller, longer). Most of it makes a splashy exit because RS makes your poop bulky. Since you don't digest most RS, you don't get its calories.

Why eat starchy foods cold? When foods like pasta, potatoes, and rice are cooked and chilled, tight crystals of resistant starch form. Don't reheat them; you'll break up the crystals. Our take: Keep on eating healthful goodies like beans, lentils, whole grains, nuts, and seeds; all are RS sources. Enjoy reasonable portions of cold potatoes, whole-grain pasta salads, and sushi rice now and then. Don't even think of gorging on green bananas -- resistant starch is hot, but they're not."

protocolteck,

Is tapioca flour a resistant starch? I'm asking because I just bought some tapioca flour and it lists 0 fiber content.

@Stealth. Yes, Tapioca flour is a resistant starch(RS). Starch and fiber are not the same. Focus on the RS content, not the fiber.

@Probiotic There really is no RS craze. It has been around and talked about for a long time, recently on Dr Oz for weight loss. Also, recently it has been shown to help UC folks as the Sodium Butyrate has helped heal the colon.

As we all know, there is no perfect diet for all of us. You have to see what works for you. RS converting to sodium butyrate and healing the colon is music to my ears and I will do everything possible to see if this will work for me. IMHO, adding RS in any of its forms, is about the easiest thing I have heard of to do for this disease.

Do I think this is a Silver Bullet for UC? Probably not, but doing this over time is a no brainer.

Best...

Andrina,

Just go on Google and type in "list of resistant starch foods". There are many.

Best...

Protocolteck- I agree, easy and pretty safe thing to self-experiment with. I was just wondering if there is any data on human subjects. All I can find in pubmed are studies on pigs, rats, etc.. It's a start though.

My understanding is there are many human studies going on right now. In terms of data on RS and UC, this is as good as your going to get for this no cure disease.

As with anything, you need to stick to it, over time. This is clearly a very positive development in UC research and sodium butyrate has already proven to heal the colon. I will be "all in" with RS and Sodium Butyrate over the long term.

Best...

protocolteck said...
My understanding is there are many human studies going on right now. In terms of data on RS and UC, this is as good as your going to get for this no cure disease.

As with anything, you need to stick to it, over time. This is clearly a very positive development in UC research and sodium butyrate has already proven to heal the colon. I will be "all in" with RS and Sodium Butyrate over the long term.

Best...

Ya I for sure agree there is no magic cure. I have had quite a bit of success with various alternative treatments so far. Not remission success yet but getting there. Every little bit helps!

Yes beans seem to be the best source, particularly black beans and navy beans. From what I gather, resistant starch foods are pretty much the same thing as low glycemic foods! The only "new" thing for me was learning about how cooling gelatinizes the starch so it is lower glycwmic index. Also, bread sucks, unless it is sprouted grain bread (like Ezekiel, which my local store carries and I love). And cooled white rice is lower gi/ higher rs than warm white rice, but still not the best choice, legumes are the best choice. I think that about sucks it up for me. Eat more beans!


Here is a bit more info:

From http://www.examiner.com/article/health-benefits-of-eating-resistant-starches-beans-and-legumes

Resistant starches are healthier than high glycemic processed foods because resistant starches don't suppress your immune system the way high-glycemic foods do. Why increase the risk of cancer with foods that shove down your immune system? High-glycemic foods are white bread, croissants, bagels, pasta, cakes, cupcakes, pancakes, and any other foods made with white flour that have been linked to different cancers in studies. Resistant starches in black beans don't suppress your immune system......

A big slice of white bread will spike your blood sugar. Whole wheat bread also will raise your blood sugar. See, "Whole Wheat Bread Causes Blood Sugar Rise." Whole wheat and white bread have essentially the same impact on blood sugar.

You might as well be eating a big spoonful of sugar. Another way of saying this is that most bread has a high Glycemic Index. You need to find high-fiber whole sprouted grains, even flourless breads, and no-yeast breads.

From: http://www.foodprocessing.com/articles/2006/162.html

As the crystalline structure of starches became better understood, the characteristic of certain fractions of high-amylose starch was redefined as “resistant.” Such starch could come from high-amylose grain or other starches that had been either chemically treated or cooked and allowed to retrograde (crystallize). Since then, four types of resistant starch have been defined:
RS1 (resistant starch that is physically encased by whole grains)
RS2 (a granular resistant starch)
RS3 (nongranular, retrograded or crystalline resistant starch)
RS4 (a manufactured resistant starch)
This makes resistant starch somewhat of a moving target. How foods are prepared, how starches are processed and how they relate to fiber is important. For instance, a cold, boiled potato contains about 13.5 percent resistant starch of the RS 3 type, while the same boiled potato served hot contains about 6.7 percent resistant RS3 starch. Whole-meal bread may contain 1.6 percent RS3, and lentils (cooked and cooled) contain 16.4 percent resistant starch in combined RS1 and RS3 types.






Resistant Starch Foods:

Sprouted grain breads
Flour less breads
No-yeast breads

Legumes

black beans, northern beans, navy beans, red kidney beans, lentils, split peas, black-eyed peas,

Grains

brown rice, rolled oats, millet, corn, black rice, buckwheat, quinoa

Good stuff in this thread. Resistant starches are also "prebiotics", which promote bacterial growth in the colon -- though it remains to be seen if these bacteria are good or bad. It sort of flies in the face of SCD and paleo, but then again there is no one size fits all diet. I truly believe that diet is based on one's genetics and ancestry.

Beans are very difficult for many here so it's worth starting slow and seeing if the more tolerable resistant starches help. Cooking and cooling rice and potatoes would probably be a good start.

Personally, I think it's hit and miss. I know that there's no way I'd be able to tolerate beans now, but maybe there's a chance that some of these other resistant starches heal the colon.

It really can't hurt to try some of the diet modifications suggested here. My colon may be beyond repair but others here just might be able to change their fates.

Post Edited (StealthGuardian) : 4/25/2013 3:49:36 PM (GMT-6)