Three Types Of Starch - MIA (Missing In Action)
There are essentially three types of starch, but neither Cronometer, USDA or Nutrition Data break down their starch data to give this information! On Cronometer, we can see the fructose, glucose and sucrose components of sugars. We can see the values of the amino acid content in the protein. And at Nutrition Data, we can see which fats have 18-carbon chains! But NOWHERE, when we look at the starch in a food, such as potato, are we able to see the components of that starch! [Note: Starch essentially consists of two types of polysaccharides (glucose polymers), amylose and amylopectin.] If one were interested in approximating the Glycemic Index of a food for themselves, it would be imperative to have access to that information - along with the glucose, sucrose, fiber and other values. I hope Cronometer will endeaver to include this information in 2019 in their otherwise very valuable database.
Comments
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Hi Starchivore,
That's true - these sources have not analyzed the different types of starch and we currently don't have a source for the starch breakdown of foods to add to our database - something we can research sources for the future. Thanks for the suggestion!
Best,
Karen Stark
cronometer.com
As always, any and all postings here are covered by our T&Cs:
https://forums.cronometer.com/discussion/27/governing-terms-and-disclaimer -
My understanding is that STARCHES = TOTAL CARBS - FIBER - SUGAR, and these mostly already in the database.
It would be really nice if there was a field for RESISTANT STARCH, given those values are now widely available for many food types (e.g., https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32040399/). It could be set up like the SUGAR ALCOHOL field, so that if I put in 2 grams of resistant starch (e.g., cooked potato) it gets subtracted from the net carb calculation. I was looking for a place to make this suggestion as well.....
