What’s the Deal with Resistant Starch?
Carbs became cool again.
Not all carbohydrates are created equal. They’re all delicious, but only one of them can improve insulin sensitivity, lower blood sugar spikes, and even heal the gut.
Resistant starch is not a new phenomenon; nonetheless, very few people know how to use it correctly. It has a ton of real benefits and a couple that are exaggerated. Find out what RS can do for you!
What is Research Starch?
Resistant starch (RS) is a specific type of carbohydrate that, as the name implies, is resistant to digestion (1). This means that it quietly passes through the small intestine and only gets broken down in the large intestine.
RS has many similar characteristics to soluble, fermentable fiber. Just like any prebiotic, it feeds the good bacteria in your intestines and ups the production of short-chain fatty acids.
These starches are present in potatoes, rice, green bananas, and a few other high-carb plants. So far, all of this probably sounds awesome for sweet-tooth fanatics. However, learning how to properly preserve RS is an art in and of itself.
The problem is that not only are the benefits often exaggerated, but it also takes some trickery to get the resistant starch on your plate. Let’s figure out how to solve this puzzle and if it’s even worth it.
Fact vs. fiction
Most health benefits of fiber can be directly applied to resistant starch (2). From improving insulin sensitivity to lowering blood sugar levels to keeping the microbiome happy, RS does it all. In fact, these starches appear to be more prebiotic than regular fiber.
The main concern about such high claims is that much of the experimental work has only been done in animals. While promising, the science is not strong enough yet to guarantee weight loss or even significantly lower glucose levels.
Although benefits such as fullness and reduced calorie intake seem to be universal, RS may affect everyone differently. Furthermore, it’s crucial to make sure that the carbs that you’re eating can indeed be considered resistant.
Mastering resistant starch
Successfully preparing resistant starch and not regular starch is not an easy task. While most vegetables and grains contain some of it, many cooking methods reduce it or eliminate it completely. There are two big tricks when it comes to preserving RS: undercooking and cooling.
Frying, boiling, baking, or heating your food in any way will decrease the resistant starch content. As a matter of fact, raw potatoes are loaded with RS and have virtually zero impact on blood sugars.
Nevertheless, eating potatoes raw can very likely be a digestion nightmare. That would also be quite ironic, as one of the main reasons people consume resistant starch in the first place is to improve digestion. Therefore, it’s a lot safer to undercook your vegetables and to cool them overnight.
To get the most out of your carbohydrates, eating potatoes should remind you of chewing apples. Moreover, cooling cooked veggies brings back some of their RS. You can even reheat them in the morning since nearly all of the resistant properties should stay intact.
Takeaway
It takes time to master the art of properly preparing resistant starch. Just eating potatoes and rice, unfortunately, will not suffice. That said, if you undercook your carbs, cool them appropriately, and eat in moderation, then you will do your microbiome a favor.
RS is NOT a diet panacea. Instead, it can be a great way to diminish some of the negative effects of the inevitable cheat meal or two. It should not be an excuse to gorge on carbohydrates either.
