Resistant starch

Momoguy55

If we consume resistant starch in, say cooked and cooled potato and rice or green bananas, how is the carb content charted since the starches are supposedly resistant to digestion?

mfriend

I would guess it would depend on the type of resistant starch. Some foods that are "resistant" like cooled potatoes do eventually get digested and the carbs enter your system. Others are more like fiber that the gut bacteria break down but part of the carbs (like fiber) do not contribute to a glycemic load.

I am very wary about processed foods that have so called "resistant" starch. Several years ago I used to buy a special type of pasta (Dreamfield I think) that supposedly had resistant starch. The problem (at least for me as a diabetic) is that while it took longer than 'normal' pasta to release the carb, it eventually did resulting in a blood glucose spike an hour or two later than normal pasta (but still messing up my bG). They were eventually sued for false marketing .

fmcola

it seems that there is a big movement (pun intended) within the keto/paleo community to introduce resistant starch into the diet because it is so beneficial to our gut bacteria. And, it should not be counted toward carbohydrate/regular starch consumption because, by definition, it is is not digested (that is why it is called resistant!) and introduces almost zero calories (although, most natural foods that do have RS, also have regular starch). So, we need to have those amounts better defined on labels (and other nutritional analysis) AND have that as a category under carbos in our food tracking software... anyone else feel this way? How do we get the powers in charge to consider this modification?

Susan_RD_101

@fmcola

Thanks for your comment!

Unfortunately, it's unlikely to see companies reporting resistant starch anytime soon since it would be quite a costly endeavor for them.

One other challenge with this is that in a lot of natural foods, the amount of resistant starch present can vary based on preparation methods and the degree of ripening.

Kind regards,

fmcola

@Susan_RD_101

thanks for your quick response... maybe you could give a little more info about the role and importance of resistant starch in gut health, especially for people who may not be getting adequate amounts because of being on very low carbo diets (keto/paleo) ...

best wishes...

Susan_RD_101

@fmcola

That's a great idea! I'm thinking that it would make for a good blog post. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, I am sometimes leery of Precision Nutrition's articles (they tend to exaggerate study results), but do like this article: https://www.precisionnutrition.com/all-about-resistant-starch

Kind regards,

MBK

1 T. of Potato Starch by Bob's Red Mill is good for Resistant Starch. Calories-40. Carbs-10
Dr. Hyman suggests it energetically!

fmcola

@MBK yes, and this should show up on the nutrition info as very lo net carbs since the carbs are really resistant, which means they aren't digested... the whole point of this conversation is that an app that is used to track your food input should have a way to show this important nutritional ingredient!

Andromedus

This is a really good thread. Has there been any new developments on this topic? I recently heard that COLD potatoes are more resistant that warm.

Susan_RD_101

@Andromedus

There may be some truth to eating cold pasta/potatoes or those that have been cooked, cooled, then reheated.

It comes down to the structure of the starches... When these starches have cooled, it gives them a chance to rebuild their carb matrix making digestion slower (= lower glycemic index).

That said, I don't know how useful this finding is in the real world since you can lower the glycemic index by adding other foods that are high in protein/fibre.

Kind regards,

smurs

I posted this on another thread, I'm looking to get a field added to the carbohydrate calculation and I think it would be easy to implement (and users could update their own food items if they want to factor in resistant starch so no top-down overhaul necessary).

My understanding is that STARCHES = TOTAL CARBS - FIBER - SUGAR (and sugar alcohols).

Cronometer already allows for the deduction of carbs from sugar alcohol, I think allowing for the deduction of resistant starch could work exactly the same way. If you know 100g of potatoes has 3g of resistant starch, it would be awesome to be able to deduct that from the Total Carb and Net Carb calculations.

This is now a robust literature, and the RS values of many food items (raw, cooked, reheated) are readily available (e.g., https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32040399/).