Resistant Starches page 3

[sbhikes]

"Diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular diseases are interrelated, with diet being one factor that links them all together. Specifically, the current obesity epidemic has been suggested to be a result of increased carbohydrate intake [1], while dietary fat has frequently been touted as the primary dietary culprit in the cause of many deleterious metabolic conditions. As a nation, we increased carbohydrate consumption during the latter years of the past century as the obesity epidemic began to surge [1]. While it is laudable to try to change the behavior of individuals so they choose other foods, it might be more effective in the short term to address this nutritional issue by providing bioactive compounds that “behave” like traditional starch yet elicit more favorable metabolic outcomes (acutely and chronically). In other words, let people continue to choose some of the foods they prefer, but make those foods healthier by incorporating bioactive ingredients.

To that end, incorporating resistant starches into foods by substituting them for the typical starch has been shown to acutely decrease postprandial glucose and insulin [2]. There are five types of resistant starch, with RS types 2, 3, and 4 tending to be studied more frequently. Also, there are varieties of resistant starch within each type [3]. Gram for gram, some resistant starches have been reported to elicit minimal glucose and insulin excursions compared with similar amounts of dextrose [2] and are easily incorporated into regular food items with minimal aversion by consumers ..."

This sounds to me once more like trying to tamper with our food, to get us to eat super processed food, food so processed it is now nearly a drug. Trying to right a dietary wrong (the whole low-fat agenda that didn't work plus the whole food-manufacturer agenda that has been an even bigger disaster) with yet another untested, processed, food-manufactured wrong. No thank you. I'll just eat real food.

[cori93437]

There was a chart on those "resistant starches"... a banana contained more than cold potato did.

Guess which I'd rather eat.
That banana wins EVERY time.
Just the thought of a plain cold potato kinda makes me wanna hurl.
A plain banana however is actually pretty pleasant!
YMMV.

[otzi]

This sounds to me once more like trying to tamper with our food, to get us to eat super processed food, food so processed it is now nearly a drug. Trying to right a dietary wrong (the whole low-fat agenda that didn't work plus the whole food-manufacturer agenda that has been an even bigger disaster) with yet another untested, processed, food-manufactured wrong. No thank you. I'll just eat real food.

That is exactly what they are doing, and my point was to eat real food.

[otzi]

There was a chart on those "resistant starches"... a banana contained more than cold potato did.

Guess which I'd rather eat.
That banana wins EVERY time.
Just the thought of a plain cold potato kinda makes me wanna hurl.
A plain banana however is actually pretty pleasant!
YMMV.

I'd like to see that chart, really, because all the charts I've seen that mention bananas and resistant starch talk about either unripe bananas or plantains.

[otzi]

Ok, fair point about the retrogradation but does anyone really want to eat gelatinous starch? No thanks.

Vegetables make it to the intestine too. Why spuds and not broccoli? And what's wrong with the butyrate getting absorbed earlier in the process when ingested as butyrate laden butter. It all gets used regardless of when it gets absorbed.

From the back and forth of the Eades/C-S A articles it is pretty clear Eades made a typographical boo boo in saying 2.3 grams when he meant .23 grams. That does not invalidate the rest of his analysis. It just means he needs a better copy editor.

I love cold potatoes and rice. Especially sushi rice. I think if people are interested in getting resistant starch, which seems to be proven in the healthy department, it is more advantageous to eat cold rice or potatoes as the cooling increases the RS. That's all I'm saying. Kind of a more bang-for-your-buck deal, or a good excuse to have some sushi.

[cori93437]

All you had to do was click the "resistant starches" link paged from the wiki page that YOU provided.

Near the end of the "Retrogradation (starch)" wiki page... click where it says (see resistant starch)


And as far as the bananas being ripe or under ripe... I ONLY eat bananas that are under ripe. Darn near green. And never even all yellow. I prefer them that way. Ripe tastes rotten to me.
And I also prefer the tiny little apple bananas that are lower in sugar that the big production types.

I save ripe for black plantains, cooked to perfection. Much better than any banana ever dreamed of being.

[Owly]

Yeah, I think my daily banana is still looking pretty good here.

[otzi]

I just did some quick searches, and bananas indeed are high on the RS list, but they must be green or slightly green. So, if you are a banana eater--the greener the better! Thanks Cori!

Here's a good article: Resistant starch

Historically starch has been thought to be 100% digested to glucose in the small intestine. Research over the last few decades has found that a significant portion (about 10%) is not digested in the small intestine and passes into the large intestine where it is a substrate for bacterial fermentation. This starch is called resistant starch (RS) and many nutritionists think that it should be classified as a component of dietary fibre.
The bacteria in the large intestine produce short chain fatty acids from the RS which may help maintain the health of cells lining the colon (colonocytes) and prevent bowel cancer. These fatty acids are also absorbed into the bloodstream and may play a role in lowering blood cholesterol levels. A new study suggests that RS may also help with weight loss.

A study by Higgins et al, published in October 2004 issue of Nutrition and Metabolism showed that replacing 5.4% of the carbohydrate content of a meal with resistant starch increased fat oxidation by 23% in a sample of 12 study subjects. This increase is apparantly sustained throughout the day, even if only meal contains RS and the increased fat oxidation is sustained if one keeps eating RS on a daily basis. It appears that the RS changes the order in which the body burns food. Usually carbohydrates are used first, but when RS is present, dietary fat is oxidised first into energy before it has a chance to be stored as body fat. This study suggests that including foods high in RS in your daily diet may help with weight management.

Where is RS found?
intact wholegrain cereals/seeds/nuts (unprocessed) e.g oats, rye, wheat, barley, semolina, corn, linseed, sesame
processed starchy foods e.g some breakfast cereals (like cornflakes), white bread, rice, pasta
processed starchy foods with added RS called Hi-Maize derived from corn e.g some breads, cereals
legumes e.g lentils, baked beans (legumes have the highest content of RS)
unripe fruit, especially banana
Cooking and cooling the food can also increase the RS content
cooked cold rice (e.g sushi rice), cold pasta salad, cold boiled potato salad

So why is some of the starch resistant to digestion and what does cooking and cooling do to starch?

Starch is made up of glucose molecules linked together to form amylose and amylopectin. Amylose has a linear molecular structure and can stack to form tighly packed granules which is insoluble and hard to digest whereas amylopectin has a branched structure and thus cannot form tighly packed granules and and is thus easier to digest.

Most plants contain about 20-25% amylose. But some, like pea starch have 60% amylose and certain species of maize starch have 80% amylose (e.g. Hi-Maize(r)) - these plants are therefore very high in RS.

The physical and chemical composition of starch determines whether starch is digested in the small intestine or whether it ferments in the colon. There are several reasons why starch may not be digested:

Some starch may be physically trapped inside intact plant cells as in wholegrain foods like muesli and grainy bread. This starch is therefore inaccessible because digestive amylases are unable to penetrate or break down the cellulose cell walls.
The higher the amylose content of starch the greater its resistance to digestion because they form tighly packed granules in cells. Raw potato, green bananas, pulses and high amylose maize starch have a high amylose content.
When starch is heated, starch granules swell and are disrupted. This process, known as gelatinisation, makes the starch much more accessible to digestive enzymes. Starch with a high amylose content and starch which is inaccessible due to the physical structure in which it is located, are less susceptible to gelatinisation and hence are more resistant to digestion.
When starch that has been heated, is cooled, retrogradation occurs converting some of the gelatinised starch to a crystalline form which is resistant to digestion. Foods, such as bread, cornflakes, cold cooked potato, rice and pasta, contain retrograded starch which is resistant to digestion.

How much resistant starch is required for good health?
Some resistant starch is measured when total dietary fibre is measured. However, there is currently no official analytical method for measuring the resistant content of foods. It has been estimated that resistant starch intake in Australia is around 5-7 grams/person/day. Approximately 20 grams a day is recommended to obtain the beneficial health benefits of resistant starch.

[gopintos]

I just did some quick searches, and bananas indeed are high on the RS list, but they must be green or slightly green. So, if you are a banana eater--the greener the better! Thanks Cori!

I always try to buy the greenest ones, trouble is (at least here in the Midwest) they don't stay that way for very long A cold tator, OTOH, stays cold until you warm it up Not saying I like to eat them that way all the time, but once in awhile it's okay. Especially if you are hungry enough like first thing after IF.

Thank you Otzi for your continued efforts in finding new information And to all the others with intellectual feedback. I am just like a little bird, just give me the regurgitated info, that's about all my brain can process

[Sabine]

...cooked and cooled such as in legumes...

"Pease porridge hot, pease porridge COLD!"