Steve Cooksey is really doing a bang up job meticulously testing resistant starch as a diabetic, and getting the word out to other diabetics.
His most recent post is to compare 30 days of overnight blood glucose readings pre resistant starch supplementation and then post. What he did was first to record 30 days of readings and chart them.
30 day BG no RS
It’s very well regulated, actually. So, then he took 4TBS per day of Bob’s Red Mill Potato Starch
for a month in order to acclimate to it before beginning another month long test of recording overnight readings to compare.
First 7 day comparison
Pretty neat. He says:
Here is my results in chart form, through day 7, (I’ll update this periodically)
The Blue Line is the overnight fasting blood sugar number before Resistant Starch.
The Red Line is the overnight fasting blood sugar number with Resistant Starch.
As you can see the chart favors the first 7 days of Resistant Starch … so far. :)
a) Out of 7 days, the RS numbers were lower except for two days. One was a tie and one was higher.
b) Notice the ‘flatter’ chart of the RS line, all the numbers are between 70-80. My body seems to really like this range.
c) Day 5, I actually had a 74 mg/dl reading … that’s the DAY AFTER a “Big Ole Potato Test“, where I shaved off 100 pts after eating a large potato.
Here’s the whole post. He continues to record low 70s overnight BG consistently.
I’m not a diabetic, but I (and my mother’s side of the family) have always had a problem with hypoglycemia. The lowest BG number I recorded during a doctor’s office blood test was ~58, IIRC. He sent another sample out, and it came back in the high 60s, so the first number was probably accurate.
Most doctors will tell you not to worry about it, just eat small meals throughout the day. But I’ve read that the constant overproduction of insulin can eventually lead to atherosclerosis, among other things.
I’m four weeks into my RS experiment (24 grams at night), and I think it does keep me on an even keel. Thinking back over the last month, I haven’t had any of the clammy, cold sweat symptoms I normally get when I go six or more hours between meals. And with potato starch, it’s easy to skip the snacking between meals to keep me feeling good!
I think I’ll buy a glucose monitor — why not add to the growing n=1 database.
FWIW, I ramped up pretty slowly on the potato starch, starting at 6 grams and increasing every 7 days. I’ve experienced some of the reported symptoms and side effects: incredible gas, abundant BMs, off-the-chart dreams rivaling my time on Reglan, bloat, and weight gain (5 lbs).
But, since I have nine bags in the house, I’m sticking with it!
I have the same data going back months. No idea how to graph and publish.
The overall bottom line is that RS, PS, keeps my FBG levels in line. And more rapid response after carb meals.
Hello Mr. Nikoley,
My cofounder and I are attempting to produce a baked good high in resistant starch, it is very difficult to find solid information online related to this. I know you have stated that potato based resistant starch turns into soluble starch when heated but then resistant starch reforms when cooled. Do you know if this holds true for oats as well? We are attempting to get our product ready for the transhumanism conference in Feb, and would love to send you a free sample to try once we get it perfected.
Your expertise would be greatly appreciated.
Romeo:
I asked Udi’s about RS value of their product. No response. Top ingredients are PS and TS. Typically, GF breads are frozen because they have to be shipped, time involved, etc. It would be wonderful to know how much retrograde RS3 is in GF baked goods that have been frozen and thawed for sale.
How about take up that challenge, get whatever testing needs doing and write it up and your startup has a blog post that will be seen by tens of thousands.
…Better make it taste good. :)
First post as I’m embarrassed to admit I ignored all the resistant starch stuff assuming it was just another angle on safe starches. It wasn’t until Steve Cooksey started posting on it that I looked into it and read all the posts (and nearly every comment) here at FTA. Great stuff.
I’m 52 and have been paleo/LC (~50 grams/day) for about a year. The results have been good, lost 40 pounds done to 175, BP dropped 20 points and lipids normalized. Pretty much reversed creeping metabolic syndrome that was getting worse each year. Two areas of disappointment were bowel habits (not regular with monthly diarrhea bouts) and my immune system seemed weak with a couple of colds. About three months after starting LC, I got a large wart on my leg. I couldn’t understand why I seemed so much healthier but my immune system could not fight off a simple viral wart.
I’ve been on RS for about seven days at 4 TBS/ day. It’s amazing but since I started the wart has shrunk to almost nothing, It should be gone entirely in a few more days at this rate. It was pretty big, more than a quarter-inch across. I had tried compound W, a freezing kit, and duct tape without success. After RS it starts to shrink. Maybe it’s a coincidence, but WTF? My guess is that feeding the good bugs stimulated my immune system. I’ve been regular for the last five days too, so good things seem to be happening in the digestive tract. As others report, lots of fartage, but minimal odor.
@Jeff C
Jeff, you might be onto something. Some years ago I had big and extremely persistent warts (foot, hand finger) and NOTHING helped. It lasted more than 2 years. By chance I discovered a product containing dried mushroom powder (Pleurotus ostreatus), took 3 x 1 capsule /day and the warts started disappearing just in matter of days. It was incredible. At that time I understood it as a immuno-modulatory /stimulatory effect of complex polysaccharids (glucans or so).
@ Jeff C re: wart. Similar thing here. I had bad tinea for nearly 8 months. Most creams seemed to make it worse. After a month of RS there’s almost no evidence it ever existed. Totally unexpected result.
Several years ago, my wife was diagnosed with iron deficiency anemia (since fixed). Her only symptom was a constant craving and eating of ice chips. She was startled by the doctor’s question of: Do you eat dirt? (she didn’t). He was checking for Pica. Although many of us are merely experimenting with SBO and RS. For some, it’s a craving.
Cornell Chronicle
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Nov. 6, 2012
Study documents eating of soil, raw starch in Madagascar
By
Krishna Ramanujan
[email protected]
Pica — craving and intentionally consuming nonfood substances, such as earth — and amylophagy, eating raw starches — are widespread among people around the world, including the U.S. Some 180 species of animals are also known to engage in pica, possibly to rid themselves of toxins.
A study appearing Oct. 17 in the online journal Public Library of Science One provides the first population-level data of pica in Madagascar. It is one of only a few studies to assess the consumption of earths, raw starches, chalk, ash and other nonfoods across men, women and children.
Pica has been documented throughout history; it was first referenced by Hippocrates in 400 B.C. Since then, there have been hundreds of ethnographic descriptions of pica and dozens of epidemiologic studies, mostly among pregnant women, with a few studies among children.
In contrast to prior studies, this one in northeastern Madagascar found a high prevalence of pica and amylophagy among men, with some 63 percent of adult males engaging in the behavior among the 760 participants from the Makira Protected Area. Also contrary to other findings, this survey, made in 2009, found no peak in pica and amylophagy among pregnant women, though only four pregnant women were sampled. Local taboos against talking about pregnancy prior to birth may have led to underreporting, according to the authors.
The findings for men and pregnant women in Madagascar “fly against much of what I know in terms of distribution” among members of a population, said Sera Young, Ph.D. ’08, a research scientist in the Division of Nutritional Sciences and the paper’s senior author. Young is also the author of the book, “Craving Earth: Understanding Pica — the Urge to Eat Clay, Starch, Ice and Chalk” (2011). Christopher Golden, a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard University, is the study’s lead author.
Across the entire sample in the prior year, 53.4 percent engaged in geophagy, eating specific types of earth, including a fine white clay subsoil, fine sand and red river sediment; 85.2 percent ate such raw starches as raw cassava, raw sweet potato, uncooked rice and another local wild root; and 19 percent ate other items considered locally to be nonfood, including rock salt, used coffee grounds, charcoal, rice chaff, blackboard chalk and ash.
Pica has positive and negative consequences, making it an important public health concern, said Young.
On the positive side, clay-based pica may be protective, by coating the intestines or binding directly to toxins and pathogens, thereby preventing them from entering the blood, Young added. Clay also acts as an anti-diarrheal. Such protections may be especially beneficial to vulnerable populations like pregnant women and children. Another potential benefit is that earth-based pica may act like a multivitamin, adding micronutrients like iron or calcium to the diet, which may help explain why men consume it. However, the bioavailability of these micronutrients has been shown to be very low.
On the negative side, earth, starch or other pica substances could bind to iron in the diet, leading to or worsening anemia. Also, some raw starches are high in calories but are not nutritious. And some substances may contain pathogens or harmful chemicals.
“It could be a really harmful behavior, which causes anemia, for example, or it could be a low-tech protective behavior,” said Young.
Future research will analyze nutrients and chemical properties of pica and amylophagy substances, examine which toxins occur in local diets, and distinguish between nonfood items that are craved versus items that are locally considered food or are used as medicines, Young said.
http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2012/11/study-documents-eating-soil-raw-starch-madagascar
@Romeo – For baked goods, you are pretty much stuck with Hi-Maize corn starch or one of the cross-linked RS4 frankenfoods like PenFibe potato RS http://www.fitinfiber.com/
The trouble with these products is that they are not suitable replacements for wheat flour in terms of consumer satisfaction, so they are getting added in miniscule amounts, like 3-5g per serving and labeled as ‘High RS’ or ‘High Fiber’ foods, which is BS.
I think you could make a decent gluten-free bakery product with Hi-Maize, but it will never provide the RS we need to fuel our gut bugs–it will just be a selling point. As far as I’m concerned, the only way to get enough RS is to supplement with it in the range of 20-40g/day.
I would love to see a gluten free product with 10g+ of RS per serving, that would impress me. Oats probably won’t come close to meeting that number. Potato starch won’t work. But I look forward to seeing what you come up with!
What is the name of your company?
@tatertot
Hi there, I use this bread mix here in DK: http://www.matas.dk/broedmix-glutenfri-lowcarb-broed-275-gr
It says 8.5g of fiber per slice. It is based on Hi-Maize, pea starch, etc.
@tatertot – raw oats have 17.6g RS per cup if you believe wikipedia. Our company doesn’t have a name yet but even if it did I wouldn’t advertise without Nickoley’s permission. I know when I ran a blog I wouldn’t have tolerated any advertising of anything I didn’t endorse.
@Richard Nickoley – thanks for the response. We won’t be able to afford a starch assay kit for a while, and will have to consult with some people on how to use it. But we’ll contact you if we do manage to make a tasty high RS snack.
@romeo – Here’s an idea. Sliced, dried, green plantains. In different flavors. 50% RS by weight.
@tatertot – Now that’s an awesome idea all by itself! We’ll see if this is feasible as a complimentary offering.
3 weeks in. My small hemorrhoid which has been on board for about 10 years is 50% reduced in size. I am hopeful for 100% resolution. I do believe that you have stumbled upon something great
I’ve found a potato flour in Denmark which says that it is 80% potato starch and 20% water. It is made from raw potatoes. Wouldn’t this be the best source of RS2? I assume that 70-80% of the starch is resistant starch, is that correct?
Best,
Hemming
Hemmming
That sounds like the stuff. It should be a pure, fine, white powder and if you put it in water is immediately sinks to the bottom and forms a sort of non-Newtonian fluid.
Thanks, it definitely looks like that.
I’ve written the company to hear if they boil the potatoes or not and if they can tell me the RS content. Hopefully its a viable product.
I found something similar here in Germany, also called potato flour (Kartoffelmehl). After some checking around, the consensus was that although it is called flour, it is actually starch. Whether it is unmodified or not is not specified. It is pure, fine and white, and makes that sort of crunchy noise when you tamp it down. In the end I just took a couple tablespoons mixed with plain water. It sinks to the bottom. Zero impact on blood glucose.
Yes, they label it flour (because people can relate to that) even though its starch.
Really interesting that it has zero impact on your blood sugar. How many grams does ‘a couple tablespoons’ approximate to?
I took 20g by weight, which equals roughly 2 tablespoons.
Thanks, Anna!