I have a new report of results I’m posting about in advance of hitting up the topic of Resistant Starch next week, by means of some pretty interesting, well controlled and documented self experiments by two readers working in concert. For those just showing up or who haven’t been interested so far, here’s a list of my previous posts on the topic of Resistant Starch, in chronological order and current comment count—because there’s a wealth of info and self experimentation results in the comments.
- Prepare for the “Resistant Starch” Assimilation; Resistance is Futile (180 Comments)
- Resistant Starch: 4-Letter Word? Nope. Goal: Create Mashed Potatoes A Diabetic Can Eat Every Day (452 Comments)
- Resistant Starch: Now We’re Getting Somewhere (68 Comments)
- Resistant Starch: Now We’re Getting Somewhere, Part 2 (35 links to research) (127 Comments)
- The FTA Resistant Starch Trial: N=75 +++ (58 Comments)
- Beans and the Second Meal Effect: Resistant Starch (36 Comments)
- Low GI Mashed Potatoes! and the Resistant Starch Content of Foods (24 Comments)
So, the subject in this case is a woman, age 72, Type 2 for many years, overweight all of her adult life, on meds with supplemental slow and fast acting insulin, as needed. She maintains a very low carb diet that’s mostly paleo in terms of avoiding grains and processed foods. While she has pretty reasonable postprandial control (likely via the LC regime), fasting blood glucose has always been a problem (170-190 mg/DL upon rising).
She began using Bob’s Red Mill Potato Starch
(80% RS by weight) at the end of May and two weeks later, reported in email:
I have been on the potato starch since a couple of weeks ago. I just upped my daily intake to two tablespoons a day. So far no problems with excess gas. Last week I was able to reduce the amount of insulin by a small amount and today I was able to reduce again. I think combination of my being very careful with what I am eating and the potato starch.
For me, the best way to take it is to put in about two nice size gulps of water and down it. No taste no problem at all and very simple which I like. No preparation, no clean up.
It seemed the RS was helping with both postprandial response as well as baseline insulin requirements; but when I asked, not much going on in the fasting BG area. Still high; always high.
So, shortly after I published Beans and the Second Meal Effect, I suggested she try adding some beans to the mix. Before I share her results though, let’s review Dr. Michael Greger’s excellent 3.5 minute video that shows the result we might expect, both in terms of postprandial control and fasting glucose levels.
The full text of the first study he mentions—from 1982!!!—is right here:
Slow release dietary carbohydrate improves second meal tolerance
David J. A. Jenkins, D.M., Thomas M. S. Wolever, B.M., Rodney H. Taylor, MR. C. P., Christopher Grffiths, B.A., Kathleen Krzeminska, B.A., James A. Lawrie, B.A., Carolyn M. Bennett, David V. Goff, M.Biol., David L. Sarson, B.Sc., and Stephen R. Bloom, M.D.
ABSTRACT Breakfasts of lentils or wholemeal bread of identical carbohydrate content were taken by seven healthy volunteers. The lentils produced a significant 71% (p <0.001) reduction in the blood glucose area and flattened the plasma insulin and gastric inhibitory polypeptide responses by comparison with the bread. In addition, the lentil breakfast was followed by a significantly flatter blood glucose response to the standard bread hunch which followed 4 h hater (by 38%, p < 0.01). The blood glucose pattern was mimicked by feeding the bread breakfast slowly over the 4 h before lunch. Giving a bread breakfast containing a quarter of the carbohydrate reduced the breakfast glucose profile but resulted in a significantly impaired blood glucose response to lunch (168% of control, p < 0.01). These results, together with breath hydrogen studies, performed on a separate group of four volunteers, indicate that the flattened response to lentils is not due to carbohydrate malabsorption. Show release or “hente” carbohydrate foods such as lentils may form a useful part of the diets of those with impaired carbohydrate tolerance.
~~~
So, after a week of adding 1/4 to 1/2 cup of beans in the morning, here’s her report.
Thought I would let you know that since starting on the potato starch and then adding beans once a day, my morning BG is down from 170 to 190 to the high 130 to low 140. The beans I started with was leftover lentil soup. I just ate the lentils, not the meat, potatoes or carrots. Today I made my first pot of beans.
I have been eating about 1/4 to 1/2 a cup in the morning only.
I think starch-o-phobes, carb-o-phobes, and even paleo legume-o-phobes have some ‘splainin’ to do …To. My. Mom!
More in the coming days. In the meantime, another article you might be interested in: Eating More Legumes May Improve Glycemic Control, Lower Estimated Heart Disease Risk.
“These findings linking legume consumption to both improved glycemic control and reduced CHD risk are particularly important because type 2 DM is increasing most rapidly in the urban environments of populations in which bean intake has traditionally been high (e.g. India, Latin America, the Pima Indians of Arizona),” the authors conclude. “Support for the continued use of such foods in traditional bean-eating communities, together with their reintroduction into the Western diet, could therefore be justified even if the effect on glycemia is relatively small, given the magnitude of the problem and the need for acceptable dietary options, especially those options that may also have a BP and cardiovascular advantage.”
I’m gradually coming to suspect that a combination of RS via potato starch and some measure of properly prepared legumes per day—a cup or two, perhaps, in total—might be the closest thing to a blood sugar control silver bullet (with concomitant slow fat loss long term) we’re gonna find.
Brad 
moorerulz 
John 
tatertot 
Did she eat anything else in the morning besides the beans/lentils. Any other changes in diet during this time period?
Good video. I take my lentils orally at the moment. I am yet to try rectal administration of lentils.
Brad
Nope, still same LC except for 1/4 to 1/2 cup do lentils in the morning, plus the RS and I think she’s up to the 30g 4T of that daily, now. There is confounding going on, however, we can be sure the beans are causing zero probs and it’s more likely they are helping.
Did 2 Tbs of potato starch/day for two months—definitely a second meal effect and lowered bs spikes in general, which is good, but the voluminous gas never went away. Have since cut it back out for 2 weeks—gas stopped immediately, even with continued FODMAPs, sauerkraut, yogurt, etc.
I’m on board with RS and believe in the potential, but I’d like to figure out a way to integrate it with out massive, constant fartage.
Any idea if tapioca starch is just as good? The wholesale price of tapioca starch is about $500 per metric tonne. The potential for mark up as a supplement at the retail level looks good.
Graham
I’m going to tell my own story but the gist is that initially, the gas was so voluminous it rose to comic levels. I’m talking 20 second farts, over and over and over, like dozens an hour.
Then over Memorial Day weekend we went camping and I forgot my PS. Three days with zero, and we ate paleo, grilling meat and having salads. All of a sudden, best shits ever. Since then, I have mixed it up big time, 1-4 T per day, some days with zero, with and without food and zero gas issues since.
Kinda miss the fun, though.
Moorerulz, all investigation so far by Tatertot and I seems to indicate the tapioca (cassava) starch works just as well – and my increased farting seems to support that. I’m taking about 2 tbsp/day of it. In Brazil cassava root is called Mandioca, or sometimes Aipim, and the raw starch is called “polvilho”. Question: why would anyone buy a marked up supplement when they can easily and cheaply buy the bulk powder by way of potato or cassava starch?
Oh, I’m also eating 2-3 slightly green bananas every day or two as well, so that may be having an additional effect.
Those are some pretty exciting results, Richard. Looks like resistant starch and beans such as lentils could help a lot of people with blood sugar issues.
Also, have you had your mom look into iron levels? There’s a lot of observational evidence that high iron could be one of the causes of diabetes and insulin resistance. More importantly, the randomized clinical trials that implemented iron reduction via phlebotomy have shown improved glucose tolerance and restored insulin sensitivity. Chris Kresser talked about this in his AHS presentation, starting at the 9:30 mark- http://chriskresser.com/iron-behaving-badly-the-role-of-iron-overload-in-metabolic-disease
Here’s a direct link to one of the studies here- http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7015/10/54
Might be worth having an iron panel done to test ferritin and transferrin saturation.
re: Cassava/Tapioca starch;
It seems to be almost exactly the same RS content as potato starch, the studies I’ve seen put it between a low of 44% and a high of 80%; potatoes range from 66-79% in the studies. I would say it is just as good or better than potato starch.
Funny enough, I just bought some today at local health food store, haven’t tried it yet but it looks exactly like the potato starch.
Just a short comment about mandioca starch, there are two types of it, at least here in Brazil: one obtained by heating up the mandioca, thus transforming all RS into regular one, and the other RS rich one where no heat is used is called Polvilho Doce (sweet starch), even though it is not sweet and it tastes just like potato starch.
So, make sure you buy the right polvilho (sweet) and not the Azedo one (sour) since they look and taste the same.
In case any of you want to start a business importing polvilho, which is really cheap, make sure to test it for gluten for some brands here contain some of it.
re: Farts
I, too, have been amazed and amused at often times hyper-flatulent conditions. Days on end with none and then the 20 second variety for a day or two, or even just a couple hours.
Here’s a good article on gas: http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/gas/
It says 13-21 per day is normal. Even on my worst days, I probably am pretty close to that range. The real problem may be not enough farting on lower carb paleo due to restriction in carbs/fiber.
Another thing, I know it sounds cliche, but my farts don’t stink. Used to be on the SAD, I could clear a room. I know they say a skunk can’t smell it’s own spray, but I knew when I was being malodorous.
I think these things show your farts are normal:
– 15-30/day
– Not excessively smelly
– No painful bloating
– No excess burping
to Richard and tatertot: any idea for the best time to down the potato starch and water? Twice a day before or after a meal? Once a day? Last thing at night? Before breakfast? 30 minutes before each meal? The studies you’ve linked to don’t appear to show how it is consumed, and all I can see on that score is anecdotal. I imagine there are ways to optimize the beneficial effects. Thanks!
These things, and prob more, are reported to be good at reducing gas. It would be interesting to know results if anyone tries adding any of these to your diet while taking raw starch to see if farts are reduced…
ginger
fennel
cardamom,
caraway,
coriander
marjoram
anise
garlic
dandelion
parsley
probiotics (eg. Kefir)
@Brad, I have been doing this for 2 months. Potato starch without kefir – MAJOR gas. Potato starch WITH Kefir, no (or very very minor) gas.
Just my two cents…
What in the beans other than RS makes “the combination” so great? Can you achieve the same by just eating a little more potato starch?
Hey Tater, given you’ve been looking into beans more lately, have you read anything from this Ray Peat guy? He’s got some interesting stuff. I took Corey’s advise and read some of this writings – though my head was already outside of my ass. This quote struck me..
“Special preparation is needed to reduce the toxicity of seeds, and in the case of beans, these methods are never very satisfactory.”
Just one man’s opinion?
EF, I don’t know the exact answer but just apply a little logic. The amount and variety of critters living in your gut is huge. It’s logical that since there is more than one variety that they may thrive on different types of material which reaches their location – digestible starch, soluble fiber, resistant starch, lipids, etc.
EF – Like Brad said, beans seem to be a perfect blend of all the fibers. They contain soluble, insoluble, rapidly digestible, slowly digestible, fermentable, non-fermentable, and resistant starch types 1,2,and 3.
I was reading a study http://fusion.infiniteplane.com/lactic-acid-bean-fermentation.pdf where they checked all the fiber fractions in fresh vs fermented beans. What they found was that fermenting them caused huge changes in the structure of the fiber (and everything, really). Look at tables 2 and 3, the far right column shows the change of each component. Pretty wild!
I have to wonder what populations eat lots of beans and are they fermenting them? Canned beans are not fermented. The Mexican restaurants around here don’t ferment them, in fact, they use only canned beans (I asked). I’m not saying that non-fermented beans are worthless, in fact they may be better in some instances, but the real magic in the beans seems to come out with a simple overnight soak. Two days even better.
Most vegans make beans the base of their food pyramid because of the protein content. I have always said that I thought the perfect diet would end up being a blend of hard core vegan and hard core paleo…maybe the commonality is the bean.
I actually made my own natto (successful) and so I am encouraged by this. I will look into fermenting other beans.
the way I prepare my beans are by soaking over night, rinsing very well, one more additional soak, more draining and rinsing. Then I pressure cook them (boil them in the winter), then I freeze them, because I make large quantities. They make delicious “ice cream” with stevia and flavoring (vanilla, or express powder, etc). Have not done this in a while since I went LC. But now I think I will add this to my diet, but just it Low Calorie.
Evey, how do you make natto? (not that I want to. I buy it.)
All this bean thing: Chinese baked goods have some stuff that’s got bean filling with a pastry crust. I really like this but didn’t realize it’s not such a bad thing to eat. Now I’ve got an excuse when I’m shopping and have the munchies. 🙂
about bean fermatation- I read that it decreases RS? fermentation “decreases α-galactooligosaccharides (raffinose, stachyose and verbascose) contents, soluble fibre and resistant starch, the main flatulence-producing factors in legumes.”
http://fusion.infiniteplane.com/lactic-acid-bean-fermentation.pdf
So is bean fermentation not the way to go if we are wanting to increase our intake of RS for healthy colon? Or is bean fermentation the way to go, because it introduces desired microbes? Anyone?
Evey – In that paper you linked, look at tables 2 and 4. You’ll see that fermenting the beans raises the RS by 13%, but then cooking these fermented beans decreases the RS by 97%. Since you can’t eat raw beans, you have no option but to cook them.
Cooling them will raise the RS by about 50-100%. in practical terms, most beans have about 10g RS per cooked cup, and 15-2og RS cooked and cooled, even reheated.
Also note fermenting lowers raffinose by 88% then another 37% of what’s left when cooked, that’s nearly all the raffinose. This is a good thing! Raffinose doesn’t seem to do any good for any gut bugs, like we aren’t meant to eat it. Fermenting takes care of it.
@Mart – I really don’t think timing is very important. If you are looking to reduce the glycemic impact of your meals, then take it with meals, or even a couple hours before, but I think for long-term health and ease, just take it with meals. Almost all of the studies had the people taking it with meals. I can’t recall any that involved people chugging straight potato starch–they always mixed it with ice cream, yogurt, or baked goods in the case of Hi-Maize. In the studies looking at second meal effect, they took the RS in the morning.
I made some dried plantain chips two weeks ago from 8 big plantains and have been snacking on these throughout the day and also have been lucky finding really green bananas. I haven’t had any potato starch at all for quite some time, but last night, I dug up some fresh potatoes and had them for dinner–I mixed 2TBS of potato starch in with the sour cream.
I think the ultimate goal should be to aim for about 20g of resistant starch per day, try to get it from real food, but when you can’t–use some potato starch.
A green banana for breakfast, a cold potato with lunch, and a big serving of fermented beans at dinner would be more RS than most anyone ever gets in a day.
I’m also in the mindset that a day (or even a couple weeks) with just low amounts of RS are probably fine, too. Just eating regularly, and including beans, rice, and potatoes, it’s really easy to get 5-10g/day. A few minor tweaks, such as fermenting the beans, not quite cooking the potatoes through, and eating potatoes/rice cold will easily get you in the 10g+ range.
Considering the SAD average is under 5g and the LC paleo is nearly zero, I think it’s a pretty good argument for beans, rice, and potatoes as a normal part of healthy eating.
If someone was really stuck on low carb, then straight potato/tapioca starch would be about the only option.
@Brad – I read lots and lots of Ray Peat and Danny Roddy a couple years ago. A lot of what I read sent up red flags. For instance, Peat says: http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/hypothyroidism.shtml
“Healthy and intelligent groups of people have been found to have an average resting pulse rate of 85/minute, while less healthy groups average close to 70/minute. ”
Ray Peat and Danny Roddy both recommend taking T3 or T4 meds for hypothyroidism, even if you are not hypothyroid, just to get the heart rate and temp up. Advice like that is just crazy. I think they both also like LSD, which explains a lot! http://www.dannyroddy.com/main/things-are-getting-trippy-serotonin-and-lsd
Just this one statement has so much wrong with it!
Anyway, Paul Jaminet took on Ray Peat a while back here: http://perfecthealthdiet.com/category/diets/ray-peat-diet/
Tater, green bananas, if very green taste absolutely awful. Some kinda coating on the outside (the part that contacts the peel) that is extremely dry, bitter, and gag making. One day later of self-ripening and it might taste fine. Hard to tell just looking at the ouside of the banana though. I’ve found slightly green bananas, as apposed to solid green, taste fairly good. How are you eating your GB’s? Mixing with yogurt/kefir or something else? Are they solid green in color?
Brad – I think they call that coating ‘latex’. I have been buying 4-5 solid green bananas. The first 2-3 days, they are so hard I have to peel them with a knife! I cut the whole thing into quarters and roll the meat out of the peel, rinse it well in cold water, and eat in small bites while drinking coffee. Yes, they are nasty, but it kind of grows on you, like eating baking chocolate or cocoa nibs.
By Day 4, they are soft enough to peel normally and taste better. I think you could blend the hard green ones in a smoothy and not know they were there.
Not sure what the exact RS content is, but I can imagine it dropping 10-20% per day until in is very soft.
My Indian friend tells me that in her ethnic community beans are traditionally cooked with turmeric to reduce wind issues
Richard,
This is totally off topic, please accept my apologies, but I’ve read and commented here for quite a few years along with doing the same on Arthur De Vany’s site. I think that you know Art and wonder if you know if anything is wrong with him – A few months ago his website changed such that members could no longer post messages and since then he himself has stopped posting – his last post was in May.
Cheers – Mark
Haven’t heard a thing, Mark. I did know he went back to the open blog, stopped in every now & then, but don’t have a lot of time to poke around unless someone points something out.
I suspect he just got tired of it. Have you googled for any info?
I always felt bad for Art. The paywall made a footnote out of him. Such a catastrophic decision.
It was like watching a favorite uncle liquidate his retirement fund to bet it all on Beanie Babies.
The real footnote is that he’s a professor of economics and though rather libertarian, not classical Austrian or even Chicago school, but basically mathematical modeling.
He does not understand people and economics is a social science.
Art is an academic. I personally think he struggled with real world variables when he left the coddled world of academia. The real thinkers in this world are the entrepreneurs – people who make other people’s lives (and their own too of course) better by implementing ideas rather than running thought experiments all day.
No offence to academics but you are correct. Trying ten dozen approaches to a problem will ALWAYS net a better solution than imagining why one and only one is the answer due to its elegance or apparent reliance on truims you believe in. Those Truths may be true – but just as likely there will be 50 variables you don’t account for in your head.
An interesting interchange re fermenting beans
http://www.permies.com/t/18250/fermentation/Fermenting-Refried-Beans
Art De Vany has gotten flak from all sides since his book was published and just in this thread he has been slurred as a “footnote” and an “academic” …. I don’t get it. Do you know many 75 year old men with his level of health and fitness?
Kayumochi
I’ll bet you most people even, even those with detracting comments wish Art really well.
I’m also one of those who thinks that his decision to go behind a paywall was catastrophic.
As we’ve all seen, comments and blog posts are shared and a conversation is carried around various topics
when you hear from lots of people. This builds community and also lots of disparate viewpoints are shared. This is how intellectual exploration has happened (really well) in the ancestral nutrition community. Art decided to shut himself off from all this rather than engage, because he figured he could drown out the trolls and bad advice and just have a cocooned conversation with his favorite people.
This is the first time I have seen criticism regarding the paywall. The criticism I have seen previously has ranged from how he promoted his book to the way he lifts weights to his stance on diet. Art’s response is, “Come back and see me when you are 70.”
Kayumoch, you and Art should go and see Clarence Bass right now. I doubt either of you are fitter than he is – even if you’re not 70.
I have been experiencing some joint pain in my knees especially the right one, since starting potato starch and eating more potatoes. I hate this as I was really liking the potato starch in a plain glass of water. I am intrigued by the bean idea by would like to know more about which beans are less toxic or better for the resistant starch than others. I really love potatoes though and thought I had found nirvana. I also didn’t think that peeled potatoes and/or cooled ones had the “nightshade” effect.
Cathy – thanks for sharing this. I have heard similar stories, but I just find it very hard to believe that what you are experiencing is from the potato starch–although I don’t doubt it’s possible. The biggest reason I say this is because the nightshade intolerance seems to be linked to the proteins in the nightshades, not the starches.
When people talk of nightshade intolerance, the symptoms are usually allergic reactions, not joint pain. As described at Livestrong:
” Your body mistakes the proteins from the nightshade vegetables as a harmful substance and attempts to fight them off. Within minutes of consuming a nightshade vegetable, your body begins to create specific antibodies that are engineered to destroy the nightshade vegetable proteins, according to MayoClinic.com. The introduction of the IgE antibodies into the blood causes the production of histamine in soft tissue throughout the body, mainly affecting the lungs, skin and nasal passages.
Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/320713-allergies-to-nightshade-vegetables/#ixzz2bn0ZMMiE”
You might want to try supplementing with tapioca starch, which seems to have almost the same percentage of RS as potato starch, but comes from a completely different plant (cassava) that’s not a nightshade. Bob’s Red Mill sells tapioca starch, too. It’s also called tapioca flour.
I’d be curious to see if your symptoms go away supplementing gram for gram with tapioca starch.
I suspect Richard will be blogging a long time about beans, so hopefully we will learn lots about best ones, etc… but it seems just about any legumes you choose are fine. The RS is intensified by fermenting (soaking) the beans at least over night, 24-48hrs if possible and cooking (usually by gently simmering 2-4hrs). Make a big batch and freeze the leftovers–the RS is again increased by freezing.
Good luck!
I have developed severe joint pain (knees/hip) where as previously to Unmodified Potato Starch, I never encountered. I am giving it up as of today to see if I experience improvement. I am hoping this will reverse my condition. I am athletic and not walking for an hour leaves me in extreme pain. Going to stop PS now and see if it reverses.
Prior to RS, I was running for that amount of time. My eating is super clean besides this.
Evey, when my guts get upset, same thing happens. But not from the PS. I do a lot of stairs so I know. It takes a few days to get better.
Update, day 9 of PS free. No joint pain whatsoever. Am able to be active again, squatting to pull weeds, pain free. Biking, pain free.
I also lost 9 lbs with extremely clean eating and decreasing calories. Raw or steam LC vegetables, no fruit, no coffee. Just green tea, eggs in coconut oil, full homemade yogurt, “taco salads” with my own chili from scratch. Lots of green tea, ACV tea, lemon water. No snacking in between meals and doing intermitten fast for about sixteen hours.
I am seriously considering PS enema maybe. I don’t want to regain weight and I did initially on PS.
I miss RS. I loved the quality of my poop and my unstinky gas–and the idea of my gut bacteria being happy. I am not sure PS caused the sever joint pain. When I stopped RS, I also took activated charcoal on day one. Soaked in Epson salt and made my own MSM/Magnesium Sulfate lotion fro my knees. Maybe all of that helped me. Whatever it was, I feel so darn good now, I am so motivated to eat this clean and this low cal every day with not snacking…for ever. I am at 125 now and wanting to reach 110 to 114 lbs to keep minimizing impact on joints (took ahead to when I age and I never want to have achy joints ever).
“Taco salads from scratch…”
The spices used in mexican dishes are often very high in nightshades.
???
Tatertot. Reactions to nightshades aren’t due to ‘allergies’. Livestrong is VERY unreliable source when it comes to anything health related.
Nightshades cause problems because of the calitrol in them, which if one doesn’t get enough calcium in the diet, then calcium is pulled from the bones, causing joint problems.
http://www.westonaprice.org/food-features/nightshades
Rebecca, how do you explain the millions of Irish who lived almost exclusively on potatoes and experienced a population explosion (until the famine, of course)?
I think it was Duckie who excerpted from the writings of a British observer who commented that the Irish did not cook their potatoes right through (leave the stone inside), so the outer part was cooked but the inner part was still raw.
Cathy:
Couple of weeks ago I ended up virtually lame in my right foot. I ignored it. Went away.
have zero idea what caused it.
This is the 3rd summer I have watched mosquitoes feast on my legs getting fat with my blood and never once get a single red bump or experience any itching. I have zero idea what causes it.
Since being roughly Paleo, when I get a mosquito bite, if I even notice it and if it even itches, it’s gone in about 30 minutes.
@Tatertot and @Richard — many thanks for the link to nightshades and its allergic symptoms and the heads up about the tapioca starch. I don’t have any of the symptoms that Livestrong describes, I always thought that the arthritis like joint pain was from potatoes in particular the skins. But Livestrong only mentioned rhinitis and hives like stuff or asthma. So I will go back to drinking my potato starch.
@Richard, yeah my left foot (I think we may have a matching pair) was very painful but it went away and my right knee has been off and on achy since I went to my nephew’s wedding and twisted it on the kneeling bench. Religion!! Blaming it on my love of all things potato seemed the thing to do.
@tatertot — I read the link to the bean article from jd moyer and he made reference to kidney beans being very toxic. I may need to readjust my thinking about what is and is not toxic. I do recall Kurt Harris blogged that he found all legumes except peanuts neutral in his diet revamp. Ah well, I will anxiously await the next lesson so I can do more self experimentation.
To further reduce fartage, add baking soda and/or ginger into your cold soaking water. Also change the water once, twice or three times. I have gotten my beans to the point of zero fartage. If you have to use canned beans, cold soak with baking soda and/or ginger for as long as you can and that should help.
If you want to live to 123, drink from a clean stream (high mineral content), take a mild stimulant regularly (can caffeine substitute for chewing coca leaves?), eat low cal, eat barley, cold potatoes, beans, and grass fed mutton. Note all the SAD things he does not eat….
If you want to live to 123, drink from a clean stream (high mineral content), take a mild stimulant regularly (can caffeine substitute for chewing coca leaves?), eat low cal, eat barley, cold potatoes, beans, and grass fed mutton. Walk a lot above 10,000 feet and never go to the dentist or doctor.
Note all the SAD things he does not eat….
Good one, Brad!
“As Flores spoke, peasants prepared chuno, or dehydrated and chilled potatoes, and tilled the soil with ox-driven plows. Donkeys brayed and sheep and cattle grazed.
Read more: ”
I think we briefly discussed chuno here before. It’s basically raw potato starch. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chu%C3%B1o
Chuño is pretty delicious. I used to have it as a kid in stew. The real deal stopped by natives, dehydrate in the altiplano.
Hi TTT, your comment about a perfect diet being a combination of hard core vegan and hard core paleo….wondering what the meals would look like?
Mrs MGcdy
Meat, fish fowl vegetables (including potatoes), fruits, ….and legumes (properly prepared).
This may be a stupid question but I am going to ask it. Does the amount of resistant starch in black beans and/or lentils change in the same ways as potatoes depending on how hot or cold. Should I be eating my black beans and/or lentils cold to increase the resistant starch. Something was mentioned about freezing. Should I be freezing them also?
@Allison – Yes, it follows the same patterns. Very high RS in raw bean starch, about 90% less once cooked. Freezing returns about 20% of it. Don’t eat beans undercooked! They do have some chemicals that need to be cooked out of them to be safe.
I think the best way to go about beans/legumes/lentils is to soak them in water 12-48 hours, rinse at the end, then slow cook until tender. Freeze the leftovers, heat them minimally or eat cold for biggest RS blast.
Another thing with beans, they seem to be a really healthy food in terms of all fiber–not just RS, so enjoy them for all their benefits and get a bit of RS in the process. As a sole source of RS, there are better alternatives, but as a good food that tastes good and is pretty good for you, beans are great.
Most of the paleo gurus like beans/legumes/lentils etc… if properly prepared, but admit it is such a pain to do so that most people won’t take the time needed to properly prepare them, so they recommend avoiding most beans. I still avoid beans in Mexican restaurants, from a can, at a picnic, and in chili. I have been eating lots of soaked pintos and then making refried beans from frozen leftovers smeared on a corn tortilla.
Way back on the very first RS post, I suggested using starch blocker to get the same results, but with any starchy food. No one picked up my thought at all.
My interest in RS is primarily to reduce Fasting Blood Glucose. Mine’s not too bad, but above ideal. So, I did my bag and a half of Bob’s, over time, not much difference, now FTA is into beans. Beans I like. And you eat them, you don’t have to remember to mix and swill and patronize Whole Foods.
I’ve done a lot of research on amylase inhibitors, starch blockers, over the years, and used them, too.
Before someone starts screaming about unnatural things in my gut, as someone did over at Mark’s years ago, the inhibitor is a protein extracted from white beans. Hmmmm……..beans…..you know, the musical fruit? As in, maybe you fart with bean consumption because the BUILT IN AMYLASE INHIBITOR helps ensure an undigested journey to the colon?
AI’s work because they shut off the production of amylase, the enzyme made be the pancreas to break down the starch molecules into glucose. (Starch is just long chain glucose.) One gram, two capsules of good product shuts off 90-95% of the amylase.
I’m sorry I did not take the time over the years to compile a long list of online papers on the subject, including how using AI can lead to substantial weight loss, most of it belly fat. Up to about 7 pounds a month against a control group.
I do indulge in yellow rice, potatoes, beans, and plantains. When I’m going to carb splurge I do three or four capsules. Farts to follow.
I buy Natrol “Carb Interceptor” because of the strength and price combination. Be sure to look for AI’s with “Phase 2” designation. It is a proprietary product, the important part being its known consistency. The lab that makes it sells it to anyone who wants to incorporate it into a retail product.
As I read these RS posts of the months, one word keeps popping up in my head: “Orthorexia.” Wow, stop fretting so much! Yes, Dorothy, once in awhile a couple of pills will do the job. And you can eat any starchy food, hot, no less.
Been searching through the comments on the resistant starch posts, and done some googling. Does tapioca work like potatoes, in that after being cooked, the RS levels rise once cooled? I’m wondering if something like tapioca pudding, since you eat it cold, would have any RS benefit?
Hey, pzo,
I remember you mentioning carb blockers and have to say I never looked into it. Glad you found something that worked.
This whole RS ‘thing’ we’ve been going on about really has nothing to do with weightloss or any specific health claim, really. It is more about RS as a neglected part of healthy eating. I like to think of it as my contribution to the paleo world, much like Weston A. Price put Vit K in the spotlight.
Once people see that RS actually is a beneficial nutrient, then things like beans, potatoes, rice, and other starchy foods become less taboo and we find better ways to eat that may be a tad better than a low-carb paleo platform.
RS ties so intimately in with gut health it’s impossible to talk one without talking the other. At the present, the terms starch, fiber, and gut flora have all been misrepresented to the public and have been used to entice us to eat more ‘healthy’ grains. All this has done is solidify our spot as the obese generation.
My main goal with RS is to spread the word that it is a healthy food choice and can be found outside of a loaf of bread with added Hi-Maize.
There’s really no fretting or orthorexia, the tons of comments show me that people are interested in the subject and my hope is that when resistant starch is a household word, much like the word ‘probiotics’, people will realize there are better ways to get resistant starch without eating more grain.
That’s all it is and all it’s ever been.
@devin – Tapioca starch is a good alternative to potato starch, very similar RS amounts. Unfortunately, tapioca starch must be consumed in it’s raw state. Cooked and cooled doesn’t really apply to raw starches.
Tater,
Doesn’t the initial processing (manufacturing) of any of the starches, potato, tapioca, etc, include cooking at high temperature thereby blowing out the starch? Thx
@Perry – That is the reason we always stress ‘unmodified’ starch. If starch is heated at all, it will gel. There are starch products, known as ‘pre-gelatinized’ starches that contain minimal or no RS. As long as the starch molecules are intact, the RS is there. This is easily tested by mixing with cold water and seeing that the starch settles out after being stirred. Pre-gelatinized or modified starches will dissolve in the water and not settle out.
@ tatorto, wait a minute! How long do you have to wait to gel. Because I swear when I mixed mine in cold water it settled unless I drank it fast, maybe? I would stir the glass violently to keep the particles suspended.
Bob Mill unmodified PS is what I used. All that stupid weight gain initially would make sense now. Sigh. I am tempted to make my own RS with out the skins and see if that gives me zero joint pain.
Digging through the archives, eh? Good job!
The best way to test a starch is to compare it with a known in side-by-side comparison.
Potato starch is very easy to make. You need a blender. Chop, grind, and pulse in blender a few times. Not too fine. Then strain through cheesecloth, allow to settle and pour water off. You can easily get 4 TBS from 1 pound of potato.
tatertot, I’m aware that weight loss is not the primary reason to try RS. As I said, for me, it’s trying to keep my FBG down. But starch blockers are absolutely proven to assist in weight loss for obvious reasons. (For those whom it may not be obvious. it’s because the starch never gets digested for energy in the small intestine.) Side benefit, eating a potato or a cup of rice certainly helps satiety.
I really do think that the many, many posts and fretting about this or that, are definitive of “orthorexia,” or “right eating.”
Don’t know if you or Richard picking up in the research articles, but “they” can tell how active the colon bacteria is by measuring hydrogen in the eater’s breath. After a meal with amylase inhibitor, and enough time for the food to get to the colon, the hydrogen doubles.
It took a LOT of research to find out real data on time of AI ingestion. Some scientists, most, in fact, consume the AI with the meal. Some have used fifteen minutes or more, in advance. Which is logical, shut down the pancreas’ amylase production. One, after eating. Anyway, the answer is thirty minutes ahead, and it stays active for up to two hours.
I think it is safe to say that beans and/or amylase inhibitor with other starchy foods have reduced my FBG by 20 to 25 points, typically. Not earth shaking, but of value and especially w/o medications.
As a TMI FYI, my stools are much more stable and what they should be. I have to take 100mg Doxicyclin for my rosacea, and it plays hobs with my gut. And yes, I’ve tried downing huge quantities of yogurt, buttermilk, kefir, and probiotics. The Beans Plus seem to work at least as well, probably better.
pzo – damn you! You made me go and type ‘amylase inhibitor’ in my Google search engine. Now I have something else to boggle my mind.
I’m glad you’ve kept up with this, I think you may be on to something pretty big.
http://www.nutritionj.com/content/10/1/24
Just one paper I found on the subject. I just had a quick read through, and plan on goung back over it and doing a bit more digging, but I think the amylase inhibition may be the key to the glycemic control found from eating beans and may be a clue to why potato starch works for some also.
I’m wonder if amylase inhibitors ingested along with beans might be better than the extracts. It seems like one of those things that somebody figured out a way to market it in pill form, but isn’t necessarily better than the real thing. Kind of like Hi-Maize vs Potato Starch.
I’ll get back to you on this thread when I have read a bit more, might not be til next week.
Thanks
One more thing I forgot…the amylase inhibitors prevent amylase from being injected into the small intestine. This stops starch from being digested in the small intestine, and allows it to get to the large intestine where it serves as food for gut bacteria. Essentially, it turns regular starch into resistant starch, and amylase inhibitors are a naturally occuring substance–not a man-made frankenfood.
I’m really interested in the dosing and how much starch a certain dose allows to bypass small intestine digestion.
It seems this stuff is nature’s way to ensure we feed our gut bacteria since actual RS does seem pretty hard to get from actual foods. I’m curious where else AI’s are found.
I started researching and putzing with AI’s 4 years ago. Like so many things in matters of diet and supplements, I’d use ’em and then stop for no particular reason. I even bought an out-of-print book, The Starch Blocker Diet, I think. But even though written by a physician, I could not find an answer to my most burning questions:
1. Are the AI’s dose dependent? IOW, does one need to take more when eating more starch? The answer is NO. A satisfactory dose will shut off the amylase production, so the amount of starch eaten is of no concern.
2. When is the best time to consume the AI? Experiments, as I mentioned, were all over the ballpark and the aforementioned book said fifteen minutes.
Here is a paper that didn’t even exist when I started my AI quest, and it covers just about everything. A meta-study and more: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21414227
Amylase inhibitors are found in all legumes and many or all grains, I don’t know. Some researchers got their’s from wheat…..run! Ha ha. Seems like white beans are the favored source.
Can’t see any reason to try to make your own or some other DIY path. Here is what I’ve been using: http://www.amazon.com/Natrol-Intercept-Controller-120-Capsules/dp/B00027D80A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377197400&sr=8-1&keywords=Natrol+starch As I mentioned, the Phase 2 branded AI is consistent. No reason not to.
Two capsules 3 minutes before a meal, if you are really gonna hit the mashed potatoes or yellow rice, three or four. While that is probably overkill, I figure, there’s no downside other than cost.
I take the AI with all starches and beans.
So how does a newborn get Mom’s gut bacteria? Through the milk, but they don’t know how yet:
http://www.sciencecodex.com/breast_is_best_good_bacteria_arrive_from_mums_gut_via_breast_milk-117985
Fact is more amazing than fiction.
Very interesting article on breast milk bacteria…how the heck does it get there–so much we don’t know!
Regarding AIs; not really a whole lot written on them. There are also plants that contain a compound that inhibits glucose absorption:
From wikipedia:
Alpha-glucosidase inhibitor action.,[1][2]
For example, research has shown the culinary mushroom Maitake (Grifola frondosa) has a hypoglycemic effect.[3][4][5][6][7][8] The reason Maitake lowers blood sugar is because the mushroom naturally contains an alpha glucosidase inhibitor.[1] Another plant attracting a lot of attention is Salacia oblonga
So, plants have chemicals that limit digestion of starch and glucose, and these compounds are easily isolated and available OTC.
One of the links you posted had a whole sidebar of studies related to beans and glucose control.
I just don’t know what to think, honestly. At least with RS, the studies pretty clearly showed a relationship with RS ingestion and the fostering of beneficial bacteria types. What happens when you flood the large intestine with undigested regular starch and sugar? I couldn’t find any references to gut bacteria modulation with undigested starch and sugars.
I have been reading about the Potatoe Hack and decided to try it, especially since I heard that you are using RS in treating your mom. This morning I ate a potato (cooked, cooled with only vinegar, salt and garlic powder) for the first time in years. I have been either VLC or ZC for over four years, and Type 2 Diabetic.
After my normal fasting blood glucose of 86 this morning, and hour after the potato it is 177! Does this mean this does not work for me, or am I doing something wrong?
Thanks for your help!
@ Rebecca:
See this comment on another thread from a T2:
https://freetheanimal.com/2013/08/resistant-starch-content-of-foods-other-anecdote-and-miscellania.html#comment-534444
“I have to say a big THANK YOU to Tatertot for that RS list. Somehow or another I stumbled onto this site and all the information concerning RS. I am a Type II diabetic and found it very interesting. I started earlier this week using potato starch anywhere I could, such as mixed in yogurt, a glass of milk, or even in canned black beans that I had. It is amazing at the difference this has made in my blood sugar levels. I do not eat a paleo diet, actually closer to the SAD (I know, I know, the flogging may commence!). But, I just wanted to share my 2¢ about the starch and how it helps. I’m eating more things cold that would contain RS (e.g. pastas, even pizza). The numbers don’t lie; my sugars are consistently lower than if I would eat the same foods piping hot. I truly do appreciate all the effort you guys have been putting into this subject. It is quite fascinating!”
Cooling potatoes is not really going to do it. This is what we thought at first, but too little RS. What you need to do is supplement with the potato starch, i.e., unmodified potato starch, not potato flour.
Thanks for the reply! Is the main purpose of using potato starch to lower fasting blood glucose? Because, as long as I eat very low carb or zero carb, my blood glucose, whether fasting or after eating, is normal, averaging in the 80s. I do not need potato starch to lower my blood glucose. From what I was reading, people are using it to burn fat. I have some stubborn body fat that will just not go away, and I wanted to use the Potato Hack to lose it. Is that a valid use of the PH? Or can I not do it because it raises my blood sugar? Thanks again!
I bet this would work really well with acorn starch. You can buy it at asian markets and it’ supposedly very filling.
Rebessa:
It’s more about regulation than lowering. Tends to even things out, so one gets less of a spike when eating other things. IOW, one may be able to relax from eating strict LC or VLC, not particularly natural or optimal diets for non-diabetics in my view, but more of a short term thing for weight loss or just to mix things up for a while.
@rebecca – It sounds like you are confusing two independent entities; potato hack and resistant starch.
RS can be used for control of BG in people who don’t want to live VLC. Being VLC actually CAUSES insulin resistance, which is OK as long as you stay VLC, but any excursion (cheat meals, special events) from VLC will result in huge spikes in glucose. Many are finding it is much better to eat moderate amounts of carbs daily (still VLC when compared to SAD) but in the 100-200g/day range. It’s best done by eating real foods such as beans, potatoes, and rice and not really targeting any specific carb amount–just eat it like a normal food. Some days or some meals may have no carbs, so days or some meals may be nearly all carbs.
By adding some resistant starch to the mix, you ensure healthier gut flora which leads to many health related benefits; glucose control, vitamin production, mineral absorption, less prone to ‘leaky gut’, cholesterol normalization, and more.
If you want to try a pure ‘Potato Hack’ for weightloss, eat mainly potatoes until you have lost the weight. Your macros during these days will be like 85-10-5 (carb-prot-fat) or even 95-5-0, with the protein coming only from the potato.
If you want to be a ground-breaker, try combing the potato hack diet with RS. Eat just potatoes, but take a TBS of potato starch mixed in water with each meal. Should provide the weightloss desired and limit BG spikes. I plan on trying it myself here in a month or so, just for giggles and because I will have about 500 pounds of fresh potatoes in my garage.
@Tatertot-
Bob’s Red Mill Tapioca Starch(Flour) lists zero fiber.Is that relavent?
Of course it’s relevant. It’s not fiber. It kicks fiber’s ass. It’s like saying to gut bacteria, do you want to eat this fiber shit, or do you want a candy bar? They’re bacteria, so of course they’ll go for the candy bar.
Thanks Richard
Take home message is simply good food for the right bacteria.
@John – That’s the strange thing about RS, no one considers it ‘fiber’. When cooked, potato and tapioca starch are pure rapidly digestible carbs, when raw it is very pure resistant starch.
Check out this product I learned about yesterday–resistant starch for bodybuilders! It’s been around for years, pretty close to what SuperStarch is, but they actually admit it’s RS.
http://www.getrippednutrition.com/Thermicarb_p/thermocarb.htm
Product description:
In human trials, the unique modified resistant starch in ThermiCarb™ has been shown to increase fat oxidation and energy expenditure (+70%) compared to equal amounts of the digestible starch that is commonly known as “waxy maize”. These stunning metabolic effects went hand in hand with physiologically relevant reductions in the postprandial glucose and insulin response, which means that you no longer have to sacrifice pump, performance and precious muscle tissue on the altar of low-cabohydrate dieting! *
• Lower body fat levels
• Fuller, harder and more explosive muscles
• Greater strength and endurance
…inside and outside of the gym. With ThermiCarb™ the worlds’ first dual action carbohydrate source, you can achieve all that without metabolic penalties! Why would you ever settle for less?*
Key Features and Benefits Built Into ThermiCarb™
Contains a fast absorbing, slow digesting resistant starch that was developed based on the latest innovations in carbohydrate engineering.*
Compared gram for gram against waxy maize, ThermiCarb™ produces significant and sustained increases in energy expenditure (70%) and fat oxidation and lower blood glucose and insulin responses for up to four hours after ingestion.*
Inhibits the release and reduces the circulating levels of the fat storage promoting bioactive gut peptide glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide (GIP).*
Generates an exceptionally long-lasting production of short chain fatty acids in the colon which stimulate the specialized enteroendocrine cells in the gut to release GLP-1 and Peptide YY, two powerful metabolic signaling molecules, which have been shown to increase fatty acid oxidation in the liver and thus spare the precious muscle glycogen you need to fuel your workouts.*
Increases endurance for longer, more productive workouts that can exponentially increase your gains and accelerate fat loss.*
Stimulates and fuels muscular glycogen repletion for fuller, harder and more explosive muscles, before, during and after your workouts.*
Thanks Tatertot-
Also.I have been reading “An Epidemic of Absence” and it appears that fruit and vegatable carbs and fiber,along with with RS can change the gut microbiome for the better,and perhaps modulate the immune response to allergens and autoimmune issues(in leiu of,or along with Helminth thearpy,which can be a bit dicey,I would think)
Tatertot, thank you for all the awesome info! Hope you see this, if not – will try to hit you up on MDA:-) I have 2 questions:
1) Do we know if either Potato starch or Tapioca Starch powder (which I just got) will impact blood insulin, like ragular starch in food?
2) If we leave it fermenting overnight, do you think it will mitigate the possible anti-nutrient content (not sure if there is any) and its Glycemic Impact, as well as make it more bioavailable?
Thnx in advance!
Tatertot, sorry – forgot to ask you: what do you think of Acacia Fiber as a source of RS?
@Kira – Potato and Tapioca starches have almost zero impact on blood sugar, the spike they make is negligible, like 5pts maybe. Commenter Marie and I have done tons of our own research, lots of starch, lots of finger pricking, and found that the raw starch will not spike blood sugar and will not knock one out of ketosis.
Not sure about leaving it to ferment overnight. If you mixed it with yogurt or kefir and left it on the counter for 6-8 hours it would probably make the bacteria in the kefir/yogurt better able to survive as it would be engulfed in the starch granules. Mixing it with just water would probably be pointless. Not sure how safe it is to leave kefir/yogurt unrefrigerated that long since it might get infected with things you don’t want to ingest–sorry for the long way of saying ‘don’t know’.
However, there is no ‘anti-nutrient’ component to these starches, the only thing special is that when eaten, they don’t get digested by stomach or small intestine and go to the large intestine where the beneficial microbes live.
Acaia Fiber – Had to Google that one, but it looks like it is a good prebiotic, meaning it stimulates mainly beneficial bacteria. It’s not RS, but it is resistant to digestion and would help sustain healthier gut microbes. As to dose, I don’t know– a couple grams per day? Probably depends on how expensive it is. That’s what we really like about potato and tapioca starch, dirt cheap. The going consensus seems to be about 20-30g per day of prebiotics with most coming from RS for healthiest guts. If you are taking multiple supplements, I’d try not to exceed 30-40g/day as it will have no greater impact and will probably lead to bulkier stools as there is a greater turnover of bacteria with so much fermentable fiber. Somewhere in the 10-30g range is probably best long term, with as much from real foods as possible. It’s hard to get more than 10g from real foods without eating LOTS of food, so I think a few prebiotic supplements like acacia, psyllium, along with 1-3TBS of a raw starch is really good. And it probably is best to take a few days off here and there just to stir things up as Richard mentioned a few times…I like that idea.
Here’s a few hits on acacia as a prebiotic:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22969230
“Our data suggest that composite yogurt enriched with acacia fiber and B. lactis has greater therapeutic effects in patients with IBS than standard yogurt.”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3705355/
“To date, all known and suspected prebiotics are carbohydrate compounds, primarily oligosaccharides, known to resist digestion in the human small intestine and reach the colon where they are fermented by the gut microflora. Studies have provided evidence that inulin and oligofructose (OF), lactulose, and resistant starch (RS) meet all aspects of the definition, including the stimulation of Bifidobacterium, a beneficial bacterial genus. Other isolated carbohydrates and carbohydrate-containing foods, including galactooligosaccharides (GOS), transgalactooligosaccharides (TOS), polydextrose, wheat dextrin, acacia gum, psyllium, banana, whole grain wheat, and whole grain corn also have prebiotic effects.”
Wonderful, thank you Tatertot!
I can share my experience: I left Tapioca starch mixed in with Kefir overnight for the last two days and have been adding it to my crazy morning smoothie (crazy bcs it already had 100 different ingredients, LOL), to meat meals etc, and for the last two days I have noticed improvement in my digestion. Probably 2 tbs of Tapioca Starch a day.
Plus 1 tbs of Acacia.
RE: Safety, I have never had problems with fermenting things in Kefir and leaving it out for 12-24 hours – I did that with Sweet Potato before, and I leave the Chia Seeds with Acacia soaking in KEfir overnight all the time. On the taste note – starch that has been sitting in Kefir is delicious! at least to me it is 😉
Kira I would suggest you vary that. Drink immediately sometimes, and sometimes at different intervals. No way of knowing how much of the starch might have already been consumed by the time you drink.
Hi Richard:-)
Just to clarify, when you say:
“No way of knowing how much of the starch might have already been consumed”, do you mean the beneficial starch components of Tapioca starch may consumed by the Kefir bacteria I am fermenting it in? Thank you!
Yep, exactly, they don’t care about your gut, only their appetite. That’s why I’d vary the time they get to munch before you down it.
Great, makes sense – we have no clinical lab data, and variety in fermentation time/daily intake amount will cover the basis of the “unknown”…
Does cooking or heating the potato starch decrease the total resistant starch permanently? In other words if you put it in the fridge after cooking does the starch once again become resistant? In even more words, would gluten free flour with potato starch be all that bad?
Sarah – Raw potato starch has about 8g RS per TBS. Cooked, it will have about 0g. Cooled, it may regain 1 or 2g, if that’s any help.
Unfortunately, a such a small number of people who are ‘self experimentally reporting’ does not a study make, nor does a study (or two) in isolation from the larger body of scientific studies, carry much weight of evidence. When we have 10-50 well conducted studies (including some that have inconsistant results) then we can start to move closer to better understanding causal associations.
Let us not forget that scientific study is rarely clear cut and attempting to apply the results of a larger population study to any one individual is fraught with peril (eg just because you ‘know’ the temperature and pressure of a mole of gas, doesn’t even begin to tell you about the energy of a particular molecule).
So let’s start with intelectual honesty before all else.
Jon:
Actually, several hundred have been doing this for months (at least 300 have purchased potato starch via my Amazon link and many have reported in comments that they acquired elsewhere). So far, in hundreds and hundreds of comments on the various RS posts I’ve done, nobody has reported a BG spike. Quite the opposite:
1. PS alone: zero effect on GB.
2. PS with any meal: important blunting of glucose
3. Normalization of fasting BG levels, especially for LCers with physiological insulin resistance.
This one might be more to your liking, at it shows the blunting with two subjects in a controlled way:
“Resistant Starch Ingestion Has No Effect on Ketosis But Blood Glucose Blunting Effects are Highest in A Normal Diet”
https://freetheanimal.com/2013/10/resistant-ingestion-blunting.html
Thanks Tatertot – i’ll stick to using it in a smoothie rather than cook and cool. I’ve also been using it as a resistant starch to feed bifido bacteria in a yoghurt I make from coconuts. I use a probiotic that contains bifido bacteria as the culture.
Jon: definition of Scientific Method
noun
“a method of procedure that has characterized natural science since the 17th century, consisting in systematic observation, measurement, and experiment, and the formulation, testing, and modification of hypotheses.”
Sounds like scientific method at work here to me.
Speaking of starch-blocker tablets, can anyone remember why they went out of favor? Was it lectins? Or maybe just not helping sufficiently with weight loss?
As far as “properly prepared” legumes, does that refer to reducing the lectin content by fermenting or soaking? Or is a can of beans prepared well enough? Would soaked or fermented beans have reduced resistant starch?
My apologies, but you can see I’m confused here.
I’ve been consuming potato starch between 1-4 tbsp (rotating) for more than a month, at first I was finaly feeling wonderfull, but now I’m having hives all over my hands and leggs. Took me a while to figure out that it could be the starch. I was wondering should I still take RS and hope the hives to go away or just that my gut biome is do beyond repair that I can’t supply it with starch or should I replace it with tapioca? Besides Bulletproof exec does anyone else had hives experience?
Agne – You know what the answer is! Quit taking it and see if they go away. Dave Asprey said he did better with Hi-Maize corn RS, maybe give that a try if the hives go away upon stopping PS.
Thank you for reply!
Agen I’ve had a lumpy rash (is that hives?) under one arm that appeared a couple of weeks after I first tried potato starch, and although it seems to flare up randomly even when I’m off the starch, it does correlate with that more than anything else. For example I stopped starch for 5 weeks and the rash nearly went away, then came back badly when I re-started.
I’m waiting for it to die down and will then try some plantain starch that I bought.