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Free The Animal

Ex Navy Officer. Owner of Businesses. Digital Entrepreneur. Expat Living in Thailand. 5,000 Biting Blog Post on Everything since 2003.

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The Great Robb Wolf on Potato Starch

Confirmation Bias: Resistant Starch

January 21, 2014 148 Comments

There were only two options.

The first was for Tim & I to have our little gig in posts and comments and giggle in emails and keep it cloistered, or just put it out there and see what happens. Obviously we chose the latter. Since it’s gone Plaeoviral, there’s problems.

  • Wow, I ate that 30oz porterhouse and I don’t feel so good.
  • Wow, a quart of heavy cream per day and I’ve gained weight. Who knew?
  • I broke my leg the other day, and it was only a week since I started Paleo/LC.
  • I started low carb a week ago and I can’t stop peeing.
  • I started low carb a week ago and I’ve lost at least 5 pounds. This is a miracle.
  • Etc.

I would have expected Fred Hahn to be better than this, given that LC is a 2-week induction and weeks beyond that, with admonitions every step of the way. But PS is obviously a magic bullet, or it’s shit. Yep, feeding 3 billion year old gut bugs that number 100 trillion with a proven substrate studied over 30 years in numbers of studies that dwarf paleo and low carb studies combined is dismissible in a week, because Fred Farted, and gained 2 pounds, weight he’d scoff at with any LCer, on either side.

Shame, but it is what it is:

Screen Shot 2014 01 21 at 12 05 12 PM
 

Hell, I’m in since April (8 months) and even now doing more experiments with dosing, timing, fasting, etc. I’ve come to control flatulence in curious ways (bolus dosing 2-3 days, zero 2-3 days). I’m a chronic GERD sufferer since a teenager and this has made it better in time. But what does that matter? Low Carb essentially comes from a perch of knowing everything.

“We have no [resistant] starch deficiency.” So saith the Lord; so say we all.

Or, is Fred’s dismissal just an attempt to dismiss PS quickly, because it undercuts the mutherfuck out of LC dogma (the discovery of the import of the gut biome renders all previous pronouncements on metabolism as rather ancient) and puts them in short pants on a bunch of levels? You decide.

Side note: if you do insist on an LC diet qua “healthy lifestyle,” potato starch is ironically your potential salvation. You’re fucking welcome.

Recent stuff that makes a laughing stock of LC ignorance. I get this stuff every fucking day and any full text is but keystrokes away.

~ Microbiota-Generated Metabolites Promote Metabolic Benefits via Gut-Brain Neural Circuits. Published last week.

  • Propionate directly initiates portal-brain neural communication
  • Butyrate and propionate induce intestinal gluconeogenesis via different mechanisms
  • Intestinal gluconeogenesis provides a causal link for benefits of dietary fiber
  • Propionate and butyrate positively influence the host metabolism

Eat all the dietary fat you want, but all that above, you need to eat fiber and resistant starch to get, because that’s the way it is. They make it for you.

How many recall back in the early days, the most common Paleo/LC fancy term was gluconeogenesis? It was like, “huck, huck huck; I don’t need no stinkin’ carbs, and I don’t have a starch deficiency; i got gluconeonozgenesezez.”

Now, hear me clearly: they have a new kind of gluconeogenesis to account for and if you do not hold every LC guru to account for this and demand that they explicitly account for it, then you are part of the problem. Study summary.

Soluble dietary fibers promote metabolic benefits on body weight and glucose control, but underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Recent evidence indicates that intestinal gluconeogenesis (IGN) has beneficial effects on glucose and energy homeostasis. Here, we show that the short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) propionate and butyrate, which are generated by fermentation of soluble fiber by the gut microbiota, activate IGN via complementary mechanisms. Butyrate activates IGN gene expression through a cAMP-dependent mechanism, while propionate, itself a substrate of IGN, activates IGN gene expression via a gut-brain neural circuit involving the fatty acid receptor FFAR3. The metabolic benefits on body weight and glucose control induced by SCFAs or dietary fiber in normal mice are absent in mice deficient for IGN, despite similar modifications in gut microbiota composition. Thus, the regulation of IGN is necessary for the metabolic benefits associated with SCFAs and soluble fiber. [emphasis added]

I’ll probably get to some other interesting stuff in the study one of these days, unless a low carber, starving of glucose and enamored of all things neo and genesis in the realm, beats me to it. I’m sitting here, holding my breath because I know I’m going to see this on an LC blog any minute now.

~ GPR109a: The Missing Link between Microbiome and Good Health? Published last week.

A complex partnership between the host and the vast intestinal microbial ecosystem serves numerous biological activities including nutrition, immunity, and barrier function. In this issue of Immunity, Singh et al. (2014) demonstrate that microbial-derived butyrate mediated its protective activity against inflammation and colorectal cancer through GPR109a signaling.

Don’t look, low carbers. You need not apply because you don’t need to worry about it. And I’ll tell you why.

Now listen. This means something. Not a single one of your LC gurus has the slightest clue about this (and likely not to this day). They have never told you, never even suggested that it might be of concern. It’s all about carbohydrate, the food of so many who are not you.

That’s forgivable, because this at least is new. Therefore, you should expect them to be telling you that maybe LC might not be the cat’s meow any time, now. I’m holding my breath, again.

Jeff Leach, Human Food Project:

Yes, you can shift your gut microbiome (dramatically) with diet in a very, very short period of time. Below is my microbial composition – at the phylum level – after shifting my diet. In short, while maintaining a high fat / protein diet, I simply dropped out the plants and fiber. This, in theory, resulted in less fermentation in my colon which shifted to the pH to be more alkaline. Under these conditions, the genus Bacteroides within the phylum Bacteroidetes, was able to bloom as strains of Bacteroides are pH sensitive and don’t grow as well in acidic conditions created by the productions of short chain fatty acids and organic acids during fermentation of fiber/resistant starch (and fermentation of host-derived substrates. Take home message (IMO): acidity good, blooms of Bacteroides (which is driving the spike in the phylum Bacteroidetes in right-hand side pie), not so good.

He elaborated in a post I highlighted the other day, one that no LC gurus pointed you to because it makes them look, um, primitive.

~ Activation of Gpr109a, Receptor for Niacin and the Commensal Metabolite Butyrate, Suppresses Colonic Inflammation and Carcinogenesis. Published week before last.

Commensal gut microflora and dietary fiber protect against colonic inflammation and colon cancer through unknown targets. Butyrate, a bacterial product from fermentation of dietary fiber in the colon, has been implicated in this process. GPR109A (encoded by Niacr1) is a receptor for butyrate in the colon. GPR109A is also a receptor for niacin, which is also produced by gut microbiota and suppresses intestinal inflammation. Here we showed that Gpr109a signaling promoted anti-inflammatory properties in colonic macrophages and dendritic cells and enabled them to induce differentiation of Treg cells and IL-10-producing T cells. Moreover, Gpr109a was essential for butyrate-mediated induction of IL-18 in colonic epithelium. Consequently, Niacr1−/− mice were susceptible to development of colonic inflammation and colon cancer. Niacin, a pharmacological Gpr109a agonist, suppressed colitis and colon cancer in a Gpr109a-dependent manner. Thus, Gpr10a has an essential role in mediating the beneficial effects of gut microbiota and dietary fiber in colon.

~ Diabetes is predominantly an intestinal disease. Published three months ago.

This one bears some extensive fucking quoting.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a chronic, progressive, medically incurable disease and is poorly controlled in a vast majority, in spite of tremendous advancements in pharmacotherapy. Altered gut microbiome can predict diabetes. There is strong and consistent evidence regarding role of the gut and many gut hormones like incretins in energy and glucose homeostasis. Incretin group of agents including glucagon-like peptide (GLP-1) receptor agonists and dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP-IV) inhibitors are efficacious therapeutic agents in diabetes treatment. A growing body of evidence, however, appears to indicate that type 2 DM (T2DM) may be an operable intestinal illness—a novel revolutionary concept about an old disease. This may facilitate research that can better clarify our understanding of the etiology of the disease and provide a new opportunity to develop new and more effective therapies. Future research should focus on an approach to bypass the bypass, that is, to replace the gastric bypass by equally effective but less invasive treatments for majority of diabetics. [emphasis added]

Did you catch that reference? Well, I’m sure you’ve learned on all your LC forums and diabetes forums that type II is cured in the recovery room after gastric bypass surgery.

Oh, wait. I know: they’re cured in anticipation of a lower carbohydrate intake!

More:

The connection between gut microbiota and energy homeostasis and low-grade inflammation contribute to dysregulation of normal glucose tolerance. In animals models, altered gut microbiota led to development of obesity, insulin resistance, and diabetes by altered fatty acid metabolism in adipose tissue and liver, modulation of gut peptide YY and glucagon-like peptide (GLP)-1 secretion, activation of the lipopolysaccharide toll-like receptor-4 axis, and modulation of intestinal barrier integrity by GLP-2.[1] Gut bacteria were recently proposed to contribute to differences in body weight, insulin sensitivity, glucose metabolism, and other cardiometabolic risk. A recent study by Karlsson et al., found that the gut microbiome with abundance of particular bacterial species in the gut could differentiate diabetic vs normal glucose tolerant individuals with a degree of accuracy similar to that of traditional predictive models. The bacterial species most predictive of T2D was not consistent across different ethnic groups.[2] In mice with substantial changes in their gut microbiome were unable to make fatty acid synthase (FAS) in the intestine developed chronic inflammation in the gut, a powerful predictor of diabetes. People with diabetes also have defects in FAS.[3]

The gut is the most exciting endocrine organ in the body with important neuroendocrine role of the gut in energy homeostasis, a finding consistent with evidence that many gut hormones are involved in glucose homeostasis.[4] Incretins are hormones released from the gut into the bloodstream in response to ingestion of nutrients in the food, and modulate the insulin and glucagon secretory response to food. The incretin effect accounts for at least 50% of the total insulin secreted after oral glucose. Incretin hormones are insulinotropic, that is, they induce insulin secretion at usual physiological concentrations seen in the plasma after food ingestion.[5] [emphasis added]

IT’S THE CARBS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IT’S JUST THE CARBS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I DONT HAVE A STARCH DEFICIENCY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GLUCONEOGENESISEZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Or, it’s complicated, and bringing one’s self to task (like I have, over months) involves asking questions.

  1. Have we accounted for the gut biome of 100 trillion chemical plants?
  2. How many drugs on the market have accounted for the 100 trillion chemical plants in our gut, and is this what the list of “potential side effects” that would read longer in any commercial than the commercial if read in a normal voice?
  3. Granting paleo and Low Carb their due, which I do, have they accounted for these 100 trillion chemical plants?
  4. And if not, it’s OK, because what’s important is who now does take account. Feel free to place a bet on which one will, and which one will struggle to ignore it.

In conclusion, here’s a comment I wrote this morning, and ended up being the motivation to do this post.

That’s interesting. In over 50 posts on RS with thousands of comments, hundreds of positive anecdotes with the principle one being both improved fasting BG as well as lowered spikes, and all I say is:

You might want to give this a try.

Then, some wench comes along, tells us a 3rd party single anecdote and tells you:

This is not for you.

Amusing.

“Wenchypoo” said via a 3rd party anecdote that someone they know got a higher A1C reading after taking PS (plus, with emphasis as though it helps her report, doing some other stuff).

But hell, it’s nothing. Fred, a gym guy, gained 2 pounds in a week. Bet that never happens in gyms, either way. I’ll bet there’s no protocols in gym settings where one looks to see what the diet was, hydration, etc., and what might have changed. And certainly, full results have to be in by a week’s time, just like anything ever done in a gym.

I think someone else said somewhere that somebody got a nosebleed. That one at least makes sense, because obviously, anything adverse that happens to you after the introduction of potato starch, regardless of anything else, it’s the potato starch. Even though: it’s really just food. Here’s Dr. Josh M, PharmD from that link:

We need more studies to be sure, but this is simply food. Not some exotic root extract or untested laboratory compound. This is real food and the easiest way to supplement it is with Bob’s Red Mill Potato Starch. This may be a critical component of the human diet that processed foods leave out.

…I’ve been at this for eight months with as much as 10T potato starch in a day, chased with beans…and only mix it up and eff with it even more, all while I kinda laf at breathless comments: ‘how much should i take?.’ I dunno, man. How many bites should you eat?

Recently, I’ve even incorporated a 100% paleo food: wild, raw honey.

More on that, later. But don’t listen to me. I’m sure all your Low Carb Gurus are going to be taking all of this up any minute, now.

Thankfully, self experimenters are coming out of the woodwork and some even taking up blogging about it. Michael’s link came to me at just the right time.

I’m shocked at the results so far, and yes they are totally anecdotal. Let’s just say that 2013 was not the year of my digestive system. As a result of my diet completely going off the rails, my digestive system really paid the price. Without going into too much detail of my bathroom activities, let’s just say they were often and not-firm. To make matters worse, I came down with the Shigella bacteria after a trip to Mexico in November. Things were very loose and liquid for an extended period of time. Sorry to gross you out.

I’ve been taking potato starch now for 7 days, and as of about 3 days ago, my digestive system feels like a brand new car. I now have a single bowel movement per day, and it’s the kind of movement that you would see in a text book. I can’t remember any point in my life where I have had such a standard excrement.

Well, there’s the downside to potato starch if you must, and I will side with you. Instead of just talking shit, like I do, people want to talk about their shit.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. EF January 21, 2014 at 16:25

    People need to realize that a number on the scale is not the final arbiter of health. Judas Priest, this guy cares more about two pounds than a healthy gut? Yikes.

    Reply
  2. Todd January 21, 2014 at 16:36

    I’ve been doing on average 2T PS/day for a little over a month. Started making garlic rice and traditionally soaked pinto beans, too. Both good and versatile meal foundations. I rotate which one I make from week to week. Everything else is pretty much the standard “paleo” lifestyle I’ve been doing for the past 4-5 years I’ve been “paleo.” I started this over the holiday where I didn’t hold back from the cookies, treats, and other feasts. I’ve lost–instead of gained–adipose tissue during this time. My sleep was really wonky before starting this regime, too. Sleep has become more sound than it’s been in a while, and I’ve been falling asleep sooner, which has ALWAYS been difficult for me to do. My mind has been a lot more relaxed lately as well–certainly less anxiety. I’ve always had acne on my back that’s persistently been an issue (even during strict paleo) clear up noticeably, too. Went to the doctor the other day and my BP was 130/74 with a pulse of 62. I’ve always been hypertensive (like 164/90) when I go to the doctor. But it has been a while since my BP was checked.

    Is it the potato starch? The increase in carbs? Is this all because I’ve suddenly adopted some new outlook on life that has put my mind more at ease? A lot of stuff has happened physically and mentally during this month since adding PS, rice, and pinto beans in a positive light. It would be nice to single out, if possible, what exactly the cause may be, but I’m not looking to rock the boat anytime soon with how I’ve been feeling.

    Reply
    • Richard Nikoley January 21, 2014 at 17:48

      Todd:

      You go, man. Thanks for keeping it real. in spite of suspicions, you’ve got all your variables in one sack, admit it, and accept it.

      Like me. I change to much shit all the time. Moving target.

  3. MAS January 21, 2014 at 16:40

    2 pounds is a rounding error

    Reply
    • Richard Nikoley January 21, 2014 at 17:48

      “2 pounds is a rounding error”

      And Fred knows this, which is not a rounding error.

    • cliff styles January 21, 2014 at 19:08

      +1

    • Justin January 21, 2014 at 20:48

      +1. Would gain 20 lbs if GI improved and still looking and feeling good.

  4. Ryan M January 21, 2014 at 17:21

    Another “paleo leader” who shall remain nameless (hint: coffee salesman) also mentioned on his podcast that he’s abandoning his RS experiment because of a little gas and the (false) belief that RS feeds the bad bacteria along with the good.

    Funny how those that have built careers around telling people to question everything in mainstream media are so quick to dismiss anything that rocks the boat.

    Fuckin’ hypocrites.

    Reply
    • Richard Nikoley January 21, 2014 at 17:54

      Oh, so that shoe has dropped, eh?

      I wonder if anyone asked which specific bad bacteria he knew he was feeding.

      Wonder if he’s aware that the RS is not the substrate causing farts, but other foods. Oh, consider that. Makes things a bit complex.

      I wonder if he unquestioningly assumes, for convenience, that an increases in farts are a bad thing rather than a good thing.

      So much for “Biohacking.” Well, when you have a purported $250K into it, I guess you have bills to pay and I see no way to sell Upgraded Potato Starch for twice what Starbucks would charge.

      Oh, and his coffee is dog piss. I’ll take my Italian and French dark roasts any day.

    • sootedninjas January 21, 2014 at 18:20

      he’s got nothing to sell with resistant starch angle. no money to make for him. nothing to upgrade because the materials needed are very easy to acquire. in as much as he does have some good knowledge it hate reading his newsletter because it is always an “upsell” to any of his products.

    • Richard Nikoley January 21, 2014 at 19:44

      I’ve never read it once. I was on his podcast, had dinner a couple of time with him.

      The last time, had to sit across from him with his rose colored glasses that do some shit or the other, but I can’t recall. I prefer regular folk with warts, y’know?

      🙂 I like Dave, though. I like everyone who touches a nerve in me and that makes me laf, as when I learned this French expression:

      si il n’existe pas il faudrait l’inventer

      If he didn’t exist, it would be necessary to invent him.

    • Justin January 21, 2014 at 20:35

      I’ll be first in line to buy mold-free bulletproof potato starch.

    • Vasil Karpachev January 22, 2014 at 02:47

      here is talk about RS..

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mpdnl_4atoM&feature=youtu.be&t=29m

    • Mike Ede January 22, 2014 at 05:21

      I think you are massively underestimating the money that can and will be made from this, potato starch is obviously adequate and effective for the overwhelming majority of people but it does cause a BG rise in a small proportion who try it (although I think pretty much everyone who sticks with it and moves to bigger doses reports this stops), some people don’t do well with nightshades and the biggest problem is that it is cheap (if you want to make £’s). Some people struggle to get over that little speed bump, people look at me as if I am insane when I talk to them about it but if they try it long enough to get over the fartage issue (onions + beans + PS still give me comedy wind) they seem to be sticking with it. (Thank you Tim and Richard for bringing it to my attention!)
      I posted this link on another thread but it bears repeating here:
      http://patents.justia.com/patent/20070196437

      Basically a designer starch that target different areas in the colon. You could do many things to incrementally improve or “upgrade” PS to generate enough differentiation to warrant a higher price. test for solanine (I assume that is what the nightshade folk struggle with?), more gentle processing to avoid damage to the starch granules membrane surface, testing to quantify non-resistant starch %, selecting species of spud with higher RS% etc. most of which will make f-all difference to the vast majority of “consumers” but some people always have to have the best even if the real world difference is practically non-existent.

    • EF January 22, 2014 at 08:59

      The coffee man is essentially Mercola Lite sharing a common marketing playbook.

      Step One: Educate the population on a huge problem that is killing them.

      Step Two: Provide the answer to all the problems.

      Step Three: Sell them the crap that will solve those problems.

    • DuckDodgers January 22, 2014 at 09:52

      @Mike. I doubt it’s solanine that causes a problem in PS. Solanine is very water soluble, and the water-intensive PS process would easily wash all of it away. More likely there is trace amount of calcitriol (which is found in nightshades) and that’s what causes the sore thumbs.

      Plus, Solanine causes a burning sensation in the back of the throat while it’s in your mouth, before causing digestive pain and diarrhea. PS has no taste and that’s the easiest way to tell that it doesn’t contain solanine. Take a bite of a green-skinned potato and you’ll instantly feel the solanine in the back of your throat followed by nasty digestive issues 6-12 hours later.

    • Mike Ede January 22, 2014 at 14:04

      Thanks DD, one of the things I like about this blog is how freely knowledge is shared. Really helpful.

    • DuckDodgers January 22, 2014 at 21:50

      @Mike, now I’m wondering if the rare sore joint/thumbs that some people experience is just a genetic disposition for some, or if there is some mechanism (calcitriol or perhaps something else) that is increasing calcium absorption, perhaps even into soft tissues. That wouldn’t be so great.

      Here is one study that looked at how raw potato starch affected calcium absorption (in rats):

      Effects of two fermentable carbohydrates (inulin and resistant starch) and their combination on calcium and magnesium balance in rats.
      Younes H, Coudray C, Bellanger J, Demigné C, Rayssiguier Y, Rémésy C.

      Resistant starch and inulin are complex carbohydrates that are fermented by the microflora and known to increase colonic absorption of minerals in animals. The fermentation of these substrates in the large bowel to short-chain fatty acids is the main reason for this increase in mineral absorption. The purpose of the present study was to examine the potential synergistic effect of a combination of these two fermentable carbohydrates. For this purpose, thirty-two adult male Wistar rats weighing 200 g were used in the present study. The rats were distributed into four groups, and fed for 21 d a fibre-free basal purified diet or diet containing 100 g inulin, or 150 g resistant starch (raw potato starch)/kg diet or a blend of 50 g inulin and 75 g resistant starch/kg diet. After an adaptation period of 14 d, the rats were then transferred to metabolic cages and dietary intake, faeces and urine were monitored for 5 d. The animals were then anaesthetized and caecal Ca and Mg absorption were measured. Finally, the rats were killed and blood, caecum and tissues were sampled. Ca and Mg levels were assessed in diets, faeces, urine, caecum and plasma by atomic absorption spectrometry. Our results confirmed that inulin and resistant starch ingestion led to considerable caecal fermentation in the three experimental groups compared with the control group diet. Moreover, both carbohydrates significantly increased the intestinal absorption and balance of Ca and Mg, without altering the plasma level of these two minerals. Interestingly, the combination of the studied carbohydrates increased significantly the caecal soluble Ca and Mg concentrations, the apparent intestinal absorption and balance of Ca, and non-significantly the plasma Mg level. In conclusion, a combination of different carbohydrates showed synergistic effects on intestinal Ca absorption and balance in rats. Further studies with other types of carbohydrate combinations should be carried out to extend these findings.

      That doesn’t sound alarming, but I wonder if it’s worth testing blood calcium levels. Mine were high normal before starting PS and I haven’t tested since then. What do you think?

    • Mike Ede January 23, 2014 at 01:56

      DD,
      Thanks for that, interesting paper.
      Complete paper here: http://bit.ly/KK4Q0o
      Interesting that they put PS @ 75% RS and adjust the inulin mass to match the amount of fermentable fibre.
      Already take inulin with my PS, 4TBS PS 1TBS Inulin and 1TBS Psyllium, would be nice if there was a paper using all three fibres, so now where near the ratio’s they used here.

      Has anyone got a handle on the significance of the other SCFA? Really interesting to see the synergistic propionate production with the two fibre sources.

      Amazing to see the fermentable fibre groups had a caecum that weighed about twice as much as the no fibre group.

      Thanks for that.

    • gabriella kadar January 23, 2014 at 04:00

      Mike, you go it. A no fibre diet results in colon atrophy. It doesn’t do anything well in that condition.

    • GTR January 23, 2014 at 06:38

      ” abandoning his RS experiment because of a little gas and the (false) belief that RS feeds the bad bacteria” – if so, then the reason is wrong. If one is cautious about bad bacteria then why not getting a test before the experiment and some regular ones during?

      Besides it’s not as if gut bacteria is optional – you need to have it anyway, thus feed it anyway, it’s just a decision how much food they get.

    • Linda January 23, 2014 at 09:01

      DD – thanks for the idea about high blood calcium levels and correlation with joint pain. My test levels show an upward trend but I haven’t tested since August. I will now test again. And I wouldn’t be surprised about a genetic disposition, as my mom had sore thumbs (but was much older than I am now when it got bad). I’ve been off PS and other nightshades since 12/31 and haven’t noticed significant changes.

    • DuckDodgers January 23, 2014 at 09:06

      Besides it’s not as if gut bacteria is optional – you need to have it anyway, thus feed it anyway, it’s just a decision how much food they get

      Bingo.

      Here’s why Asprey’s fear mongering is weak. Just look at the evidence (hat tip to Jeff Leach, of the American Gut Project).

      Jeff Leach wrote:

      When it comes to the health and well being of your gut microbes, nothing matters more than fermentable substrates (You can read about here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here – you get the idea). As the rules/tenants of basic microbial ecology go, a reduction in fermentable substrates derived from carbohydrates means less energy sources for the microbes – who depend on host-derived substrates as well, as in the case of mucin-degraders like Akkermansia. As fermentation drops, so to does the byproducts of fermentation which include short chain fatty acids (primarily acetate, butyrate, propionate), organic acids, and gases like hydrogen. All of this can and will dramatically shift the pH of the colonic environment. As it stands in a healthy or normal gut, the pH of the colon changes from proximal to distal end, being more acidic in the proximal (front) end than the tail end – mainly as a function of more rapid fermentation as food items empty from the small intestine. As the pH shifts to being more alkaline from less fermentation, a number of shoes begin to drop (or can).

      A less acidic environment means acid sensitive groups of bacteria, like those in the Phylum Proteobacteria, which includes a who’s who of bad guys like strains of E. Coli, Salmonella, Vibrio, Helicobacter, might bloom – not a good thing. You see the same blooms following antibiotic treatment. In addition, as pH shifts away from acidic, the genus Bacteroides can also bloom as well, gaining an ecological niche in this less acidic environment courtesy of a low carb diet. For those of you keeping score, many talk about the American gut in general being dominated by Bacteroides as a function of our high fat, high sugar diet. The reality is, it might have to do with what we are not eating – dietary fiber (of all kinds). The all-important butyrate producers Roseburia spp. and Eubacterium also drop in abundance as pH shifts away from acidic as well. A drop in fecal butyrate and butyrate producing bacteria was demonstrated in an elegant study comparing diets of varying amounts of carbs. Given the importance of butyrate in colonic health, any dietary strategy that potentially shifts pH away from acidity as a function of reduced fermentation, might contribute to various forms of IBD.

      So, low carb equals a less acidic colonic environment due to the drop in fermentation (and I presume harder, and less frequent stools as a function of reduced biomass from bacteria – or maybe not). As pH shifts, prospects for opportunistic pathogens increase, as does opportunities for gram-negative bacteria like Bacteroides and Enterobacter. When you add this up – and a lot of more shifts in the microbial ecology of the low carb gut – you most certainly have a classic case of microbial dysbiosis – as the name implies, an imbalance. This dysbiosis can lead to issues associated with IBD, autoimmune disease, metabolic disorders and so on. But again, a large cohort of low, low carb dieters has never been looked at using 16S rRNA methods. So the jury is still out – but will be fascinating to see.

      Click on those studies that Leach references — particularly the ones about pathogens disappearing when the pH shifts from alkaline from acidic.

      Now, consider that pathogens, like Candida, become benign in acidic environments and pathogenic in alkaline environments, and you begin to see the big picture.

      People who worry about RS feeding the bad microbes seem to be oblivious to the fact that it very likely doesn’t matter since the “good guys” bloom in an acidic digestive tract and the bad guys get crowded out and inactivated by those same acids.

    • Richard Nikoley January 23, 2014 at 11:07

      Duck:

      https://freetheanimal.com/2014/01/jeff-leach-wrote.html

    • DuckDodgers January 23, 2014 at 11:11

      Nice serve!

  5. Alex W. January 21, 2014 at 17:51

    I’d like to add a success story here. Last August, just a week after starting graduate school, I came down with an intense bout of IBS-D (to keep it clean). Not unusual, as I’ve had the flu before. But this ‘flu’ did not stop, and stranger things began to happen. I developed tinnitus, neuropathy, dizziness, fatigue, muscle twitches and my sleep was terrible. 6 weeks later, I had lost 25 pounds (that I didn’t need to lose) and I was barely able to get out of bed. A colonoscopy, endoscopy, stool examination, countless blood tests and specialists later and still no answers. I took a medical leave from my program, and had to return to my home in California because I was no longer able to take care of myself.

    It was around this time that I began experimenting with SCD and GAPS style diets. They did prove to help with some symptoms, but not all, and not with much speed. In fact, I would say that I got worse on these diets, as my sleep became a struggle, and that set everything back. Supplements like Vitamin C, Colostrum and DGL helped but were definitely not the answer, either. It was late December, and I had to make the call whether or not I was going back to school. I decided to go back out of desperation for wanting to be better, without really having made any progress. Not a wise decision, but I got lucky.

    It was just two weeks ago, just at the start of the semester, that I began to follow the advice of Dr. BG over at Animal Pharm blog on correcting SIBO, as well as the advice here about resistant starch. I am so, so glad to say that I am 90% back to normal. My tinnitus is almost gone, my muscle twitching is nearly gone, my sleep is incredibly better. I can finally go back to teaching and researching without fears of passing out in the middle of class. The two biggest factors in my success was the inclusion of properly prepared starches (in Perfect Health Diet amounts) and supplementing with potato starch and psyllium husk twice a day.

    I can’t speak for all the other successes and failures when it comes to variable carb intakes, potato starch supplementation and general paleo-style eating, but it worked for me. So thank you Tim, Rich, Grace and everyone else who’s been posting about this stuff. I’m not shitting you (har har) when I say that you saved my young life.

    Reply
    • Jason H January 21, 2014 at 19:10

      What kind of muscle twitching? I’ve had crazy calf twitching for close to a year now and I’ve tried all kinds of solutions. Two different doctors have said it’s not a big deal but I’d love it if RS put an end to it.

    • Alex W. January 21, 2014 at 21:04

      My muscle twitching was body-wide and was directly related to my digestive problems. I know muscle twitching can occur for any number of reasons, but as far as using RS as a possible solution, as Richard says, just give it a shot and see how it goes.

    • DuckDodgers January 22, 2014 at 08:52

      Not sure if this is related or not, but three weeks ago I got an eye tic. I guess I hadn’t been sleeping enough. Turns out that Tonic Water (which has quinine) has been shown in studies to relieve muscle cramps and people have anecdotally noticed that it can relieve eye tics and other spasms.

      So, I bought a high quality tonic syrup and added it to a little seltzer water. A good tonic water makes you feel really quite good. 24 hours later, my eye twitch disappeared.

      Maybe it will come back some day, but I’ll just try drinking another glass or two of tonic water and see what happens 🙂

    • Theresa January 22, 2014 at 15:37

      DD, when I had Restless Leg Syndrome, my doc suggested a few calf stretching exercises, plus tonic water for it’s quinine content. It worked, much to my shock and relief. Though I did notice that if I took Benadryl more than one dose in a day, I’d get the RLS that night, so I’m careful with that, too.
      By the way, I’ve been using the PS for about a week now and haven’t had the gas because I take it on an empty stomach, but more important, when I was a very strict LC paleo eater, I had almost daily diarrhea (which was very confusing since a few people have said LC gives them constipation). A week into the PS and the diarrhea is gone. I’m very happy about this as you can imagine. 🙂

    • gabriella kadar January 22, 2014 at 16:40

      Haven’t they reduced the amount of quinine to almost negligible amounts? The drug was blackboxed a few years ago due to cardiac toxicity. Chimay ale has lots of quinine and it helps with certain immune reactions. But the calories, the calories………not to mention it’s a high alcohol brew. And it makes for room clearing farts.

    • Theresa January 22, 2014 at 17:23

      Gabriella, I honestly don’t know about the quinine levels, but I used it for such a short time (perhaps two bottles of diet Canada Dry Tonic Water) and it, or the calf stretches, stopped the RLS. I don’t recall the ‘room-clearing farts’ 😉 but I was probably so exhausted from lack of sleep I didn’t notice much else…But I read what you wrote with great interest, so thanks for sharing! 🙂

    • DuckDodgers January 22, 2014 at 17:34

      Haven’t they reduced the amount of quinine to almost negligible amounts?

      Well…The FDA now discourages “off-label” quinine use, and many of the bigger labels have switched from the traditional Cinchona bark to Remijia, which is cheaper and weaker. But, you can still put tonic water under a black light and see the quinine glow (popular in bars with fancy drinks and black lights).

      I used John’s Tonic a premium small-batch tonic syrup that was made from steeped Cinchona bark. It’s delicious. You just add an ounce to a glass of seltzer water. I believe some people need a few glasses, but a single glass of tonic water was all it took for me.

    • Richard Nikoley January 22, 2014 at 19:23

      “Restless Leg Syndrome”

      My dad had this and I believe Gin & Tonic was the cure too. 🙂

      For me, when it happens, rarely, I do isometric flexing of the leg muscles as intense as possible, while laying in bed. Works every time.

    • Richard Nikoley January 22, 2014 at 19:27

      “seltzer water”

      Please, please. Keep club soda alive. I make my own with one of those Soda Stream thingies. 1/2 MEASURED tsp of baking soda per liter. No comparison in taste and enjoyment.

    • junkgrl January 28, 2014 at 09:30

      I love, love, love my Sodastream. Giving up soda pop was hard but realized it was the fizz I really liked so voila–fizz at my command with lemon or orange, lime or crushed raspberries. I don’t like the junk they sell to flavor it.

    • Richard Nikoley January 28, 2014 at 18:49

      I use mine exclusively for club soda and in fact, some mornings I’ll get up and have a nice pint of throat burning carbonation and don’t even want coffee.

      Try doing club soda with exactly 1/2 tsp of baking soda. I put the BS in the bottle, add water, then charge it.

      I keep two Co2 bottles on hand so that I’m never out. The exchange for $15 is a pretty good deal.

  6. Ryan M January 21, 2014 at 18:13

    Upgraded potato starch…Hahhah. Awesome. I can see it now.

    Sadly, his interview guest was equally full of shit, so he didn’t get called out.

    Reply
    • GTR January 23, 2014 at 08:13

      She sells diet shakes.

      http://www.jjvirginstore.com/virgin-diet-all-in-one-shake

      But the idea of elimiation diet is a medically proven one, so the basis of her diet seem reasonable.

  7. sootedninjas January 21, 2014 at 18:32

    another “paleo” expert doing a webinar called “Resistant Starch Throw Down”

    Reply
  8. Jason H January 21, 2014 at 18:56

    I’m pretty new to RS (1 week now) and I’ve played with the dose but not the timing. Initially I had wicked gas but that has calmed down. Since I work at home this wasn’t a concern. Bloating was the gas copilot and comes and goes. The real issues for me so far have been on the toilet. I’ve had some constipation, less than stellar movement and it feels like I have a turd jackknifed in the transition from small to large intestine. When I first stumbled upon RS it was suggested that I should include psyllium husks. I have recently discontinued the psyllium and greatly increased my water intake. Even though I’m considered healthy I’m wonder if these symptoms indicate that my gut was out of whack. Are these common issues for newbs and is my plan to power through the right course? I’m really interested to see what this does for my energy levels and cholesterol over the long run.

    Reply
    • Tanya January 22, 2014 at 09:59

      @Jason H, I had constipation when I first started potato starch. I used extra C and magnesium to get things moving again and within a week that wasn’t necessary anymore. Reading here and the long thread at MDA, it seems like a lot of people get just fartage, but there’s a range of responses. Yours doesn’t sound at the extremely tricky to problem solve, but a little less common. I bought a bottle of Prescript Assist for my husband because he’s a bit farther into the “needs more problem-solving” category.

    • gabriella kadar January 22, 2014 at 16:37

      Jason, even though Spanish reports producing pythons, I usually produce nests of garter snakes but not daily. Well, two nests because I have a low flush toilet. It seems the entire colon empties when it does and then I miss a day. But it’s never hard or big which in my opinion is constipation. More like Bristol Stool Scale #4. I eat vegetables as well because that also seems to make the RPS have a better effect. Low carb, no vegetables, and RPS results in a less than stellar experience. I’ve experimented.

      I added a teaspoon of psyillium a couple of times and got bloated. One night (oh help me J) I mixed two tablespoons of psyillium plus 4 tablespoons of raw PS. My guts felt like overstuff sausages and produced thick logs of what felt like very lumpy oatmeal (as it made it’s way to the light of day). Not particularly pleasant. Don’t know what possessed me to OD on psyillium even though as I was mixing this up my ‘gut instinct’ was ‘don’t! don’t”……..and then ‘shouldn’t have!’

      Probably a scant teaspoon of psyillium added to the potato starch is not excessive.

  9. sootedninjas January 21, 2014 at 19:10

    here is a quote from the link about Gastric Bypass surgery that Richard posted on this blog post.

    “The key message is that after gastric bypass the intestine becomes the most important tissue for glucose use and this decreases blood sugar levels.”

    Reply
  10. sootedninjas January 21, 2014 at 19:11

    so funny LOL

    “Doctors are hopeful they can find a way to mimic the processes that lead to improvements for type 2 diabetics after gastric bypass without actually doing the surgery.”

    Reply
  11. sootedninjas January 21, 2014 at 19:13

    as usual they are looking for a drug as opposed to real food instead as the cure

    Reply
  12. Jackie January 21, 2014 at 19:13

    I really hope the nosebleed case described, wherein it sounded like the person was blaming RPS, wasn’t referencing my genuine request for input in your comments. I was digging because someone in your comments, months ago, mentioned dry eyes exacerbated by RPS, and I was curious as the nosebleeds and coughing up blood only started after I added RPS to my routine. I was curious, not laying blame.

    And yeah, I posted something on FB this week about how I am loving my resistant starch routine and a friend immediately posted a comment “educating” me that I should read with Mike Eads wrote about it. The only post I could find on his site was five years old. But I was stunned with the speed of the admonishing I got for self-experimentation. It took everything I had not to ask, “Who asked you?” (Next day, I posted about a smoothie with raw almond butter that I made and another friend immediately jumped in to tell me almond milk – which I didn’t even use – was “bad” for me. And these are both so-called libertarians!)

    Reply
    • Richard Nikoley January 22, 2014 at 07:36

      Jackie:

      No sweat, it wasn’t personal and I purposely did not look it up and call a name, just from memory. Stuff blazes past all day with stuff here, on FB, and Twitter and I can barely keep up with it. So, it was mainly a general comment.

      In terms of the Eades deal, check his blog for a post I think last couple of months, long comment thread where Mike admits he knows nothing about RS. So, that old post is completely irrelevant.

    • Jackie January 25, 2014 at 09:22

      I appreciate that, Richard. Thanks.

  13. Dan January 21, 2014 at 19:16

    The sad thing, well maybe not, is these pathetic attempts at critical thinking re resistant starch (I tried RS and my sisters neighbours dog died) is EXACTLY the same thing I encounter taking someone on the SAD/Food Pyramid and discussing Paleo.

    I used to use it as a barometer, if someone “gets” the logic that is an ancestral health outlook then they are smarter than the average bear, guess that needs a rethink….

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. EF January 21, 2014 at 16:25

    People need to realize that a number on the scale is not the final arbiter of health. Judas Priest, this guy cares more about two pounds than a healthy gut? Yikes.

    Reply
  2. Todd January 21, 2014 at 16:36

    I’ve been doing on average 2T PS/day for a little over a month. Started making garlic rice and traditionally soaked pinto beans, too. Both good and versatile meal foundations. I rotate which one I make from week to week. Everything else is pretty much the standard “paleo” lifestyle I’ve been doing for the past 4-5 years I’ve been “paleo.” I started this over the holiday where I didn’t hold back from the cookies, treats, and other feasts. I’ve lost–instead of gained–adipose tissue during this time. My sleep was really wonky before starting this regime, too. Sleep has become more sound than it’s been in a while, and I’ve been falling asleep sooner, which has ALWAYS been difficult for me to do. My mind has been a lot more relaxed lately as well–certainly less anxiety. I’ve always had acne on my back that’s persistently been an issue (even during strict paleo) clear up noticeably, too. Went to the doctor the other day and my BP was 130/74 with a pulse of 62. I’ve always been hypertensive (like 164/90) when I go to the doctor. But it has been a while since my BP was checked.

    Is it the potato starch? The increase in carbs? Is this all because I’ve suddenly adopted some new outlook on life that has put my mind more at ease? A lot of stuff has happened physically and mentally during this month since adding PS, rice, and pinto beans in a positive light. It would be nice to single out, if possible, what exactly the cause may be, but I’m not looking to rock the boat anytime soon with how I’ve been feeling.

    Reply
    • Richard Nikoley January 21, 2014 at 17:48

      Todd:

      You go, man. Thanks for keeping it real. in spite of suspicions, you’ve got all your variables in one sack, admit it, and accept it.

      Like me. I change to much shit all the time. Moving target.

  3. MAS January 21, 2014 at 16:40

    2 pounds is a rounding error

    Reply
    • Richard Nikoley January 21, 2014 at 17:48

      “2 pounds is a rounding error”

      And Fred knows this, which is not a rounding error.

    • cliff styles January 21, 2014 at 19:08

      +1

    • Justin January 21, 2014 at 20:48

      +1. Would gain 20 lbs if GI improved and still looking and feeling good.

  4. Ryan M January 21, 2014 at 17:21

    Another “paleo leader” who shall remain nameless (hint: coffee salesman) also mentioned on his podcast that he’s abandoning his RS experiment because of a little gas and the (false) belief that RS feeds the bad bacteria along with the good.

    Funny how those that have built careers around telling people to question everything in mainstream media are so quick to dismiss anything that rocks the boat.

    Fuckin’ hypocrites.

    Reply
    • Richard Nikoley January 21, 2014 at 17:54

      Oh, so that shoe has dropped, eh?

      I wonder if anyone asked which specific bad bacteria he knew he was feeding.

      Wonder if he’s aware that the RS is not the substrate causing farts, but other foods. Oh, consider that. Makes things a bit complex.

      I wonder if he unquestioningly assumes, for convenience, that an increases in farts are a bad thing rather than a good thing.

      So much for “Biohacking.” Well, when you have a purported $250K into it, I guess you have bills to pay and I see no way to sell Upgraded Potato Starch for twice what Starbucks would charge.

      Oh, and his coffee is dog piss. I’ll take my Italian and French dark roasts any day.

    • sootedninjas January 21, 2014 at 18:20

      he’s got nothing to sell with resistant starch angle. no money to make for him. nothing to upgrade because the materials needed are very easy to acquire. in as much as he does have some good knowledge it hate reading his newsletter because it is always an “upsell” to any of his products.

    • Richard Nikoley January 21, 2014 at 19:44

      I’ve never read it once. I was on his podcast, had dinner a couple of time with him.

      The last time, had to sit across from him with his rose colored glasses that do some shit or the other, but I can’t recall. I prefer regular folk with warts, y’know?

      🙂 I like Dave, though. I like everyone who touches a nerve in me and that makes me laf, as when I learned this French expression:

      si il n’existe pas il faudrait l’inventer

      If he didn’t exist, it would be necessary to invent him.

    • Justin January 21, 2014 at 20:35

      I’ll be first in line to buy mold-free bulletproof potato starch.

    • Vasil Karpachev January 22, 2014 at 02:47

      here is talk about RS..

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mpdnl_4atoM&feature=youtu.be&t=29m

    • Mike Ede January 22, 2014 at 05:21

      I think you are massively underestimating the money that can and will be made from this, potato starch is obviously adequate and effective for the overwhelming majority of people but it does cause a BG rise in a small proportion who try it (although I think pretty much everyone who sticks with it and moves to bigger doses reports this stops), some people don’t do well with nightshades and the biggest problem is that it is cheap (if you want to make £’s). Some people struggle to get over that little speed bump, people look at me as if I am insane when I talk to them about it but if they try it long enough to get over the fartage issue (onions + beans + PS still give me comedy wind) they seem to be sticking with it. (Thank you Tim and Richard for bringing it to my attention!)
      I posted this link on another thread but it bears repeating here:
      http://patents.justia.com/patent/20070196437

      Basically a designer starch that target different areas in the colon. You could do many things to incrementally improve or “upgrade” PS to generate enough differentiation to warrant a higher price. test for solanine (I assume that is what the nightshade folk struggle with?), more gentle processing to avoid damage to the starch granules membrane surface, testing to quantify non-resistant starch %, selecting species of spud with higher RS% etc. most of which will make f-all difference to the vast majority of “consumers” but some people always have to have the best even if the real world difference is practically non-existent.

    • EF January 22, 2014 at 08:59

      The coffee man is essentially Mercola Lite sharing a common marketing playbook.

      Step One: Educate the population on a huge problem that is killing them.

      Step Two: Provide the answer to all the problems.

      Step Three: Sell them the crap that will solve those problems.

    • DuckDodgers January 22, 2014 at 09:52

      @Mike. I doubt it’s solanine that causes a problem in PS. Solanine is very water soluble, and the water-intensive PS process would easily wash all of it away. More likely there is trace amount of calcitriol (which is found in nightshades) and that’s what causes the sore thumbs.

      Plus, Solanine causes a burning sensation in the back of the throat while it’s in your mouth, before causing digestive pain and diarrhea. PS has no taste and that’s the easiest way to tell that it doesn’t contain solanine. Take a bite of a green-skinned potato and you’ll instantly feel the solanine in the back of your throat followed by nasty digestive issues 6-12 hours later.

    • Mike Ede January 22, 2014 at 14:04

      Thanks DD, one of the things I like about this blog is how freely knowledge is shared. Really helpful.

    • DuckDodgers January 22, 2014 at 21:50

      @Mike, now I’m wondering if the rare sore joint/thumbs that some people experience is just a genetic disposition for some, or if there is some mechanism (calcitriol or perhaps something else) that is increasing calcium absorption, perhaps even into soft tissues. That wouldn’t be so great.

      Here is one study that looked at how raw potato starch affected calcium absorption (in rats):

      Effects of two fermentable carbohydrates (inulin and resistant starch) and their combination on calcium and magnesium balance in rats.
      Younes H, Coudray C, Bellanger J, Demigné C, Rayssiguier Y, Rémésy C.

      Resistant starch and inulin are complex carbohydrates that are fermented by the microflora and known to increase colonic absorption of minerals in animals. The fermentation of these substrates in the large bowel to short-chain fatty acids is the main reason for this increase in mineral absorption. The purpose of the present study was to examine the potential synergistic effect of a combination of these two fermentable carbohydrates. For this purpose, thirty-two adult male Wistar rats weighing 200 g were used in the present study. The rats were distributed into four groups, and fed for 21 d a fibre-free basal purified diet or diet containing 100 g inulin, or 150 g resistant starch (raw potato starch)/kg diet or a blend of 50 g inulin and 75 g resistant starch/kg diet. After an adaptation period of 14 d, the rats were then transferred to metabolic cages and dietary intake, faeces and urine were monitored for 5 d. The animals were then anaesthetized and caecal Ca and Mg absorption were measured. Finally, the rats were killed and blood, caecum and tissues were sampled. Ca and Mg levels were assessed in diets, faeces, urine, caecum and plasma by atomic absorption spectrometry. Our results confirmed that inulin and resistant starch ingestion led to considerable caecal fermentation in the three experimental groups compared with the control group diet. Moreover, both carbohydrates significantly increased the intestinal absorption and balance of Ca and Mg, without altering the plasma level of these two minerals. Interestingly, the combination of the studied carbohydrates increased significantly the caecal soluble Ca and Mg concentrations, the apparent intestinal absorption and balance of Ca, and non-significantly the plasma Mg level. In conclusion, a combination of different carbohydrates showed synergistic effects on intestinal Ca absorption and balance in rats. Further studies with other types of carbohydrate combinations should be carried out to extend these findings.

      That doesn’t sound alarming, but I wonder if it’s worth testing blood calcium levels. Mine were high normal before starting PS and I haven’t tested since then. What do you think?

    • Mike Ede January 23, 2014 at 01:56

      DD,
      Thanks for that, interesting paper.
      Complete paper here: http://bit.ly/KK4Q0o
      Interesting that they put PS @ 75% RS and adjust the inulin mass to match the amount of fermentable fibre.
      Already take inulin with my PS, 4TBS PS 1TBS Inulin and 1TBS Psyllium, would be nice if there was a paper using all three fibres, so now where near the ratio’s they used here.

      Has anyone got a handle on the significance of the other SCFA? Really interesting to see the synergistic propionate production with the two fibre sources.

      Amazing to see the fermentable fibre groups had a caecum that weighed about twice as much as the no fibre group.

      Thanks for that.

    • gabriella kadar January 23, 2014 at 04:00

      Mike, you go it. A no fibre diet results in colon atrophy. It doesn’t do anything well in that condition.

    • GTR January 23, 2014 at 06:38

      ” abandoning his RS experiment because of a little gas and the (false) belief that RS feeds the bad bacteria” – if so, then the reason is wrong. If one is cautious about bad bacteria then why not getting a test before the experiment and some regular ones during?

      Besides it’s not as if gut bacteria is optional – you need to have it anyway, thus feed it anyway, it’s just a decision how much food they get.

    • Linda January 23, 2014 at 09:01

      DD – thanks for the idea about high blood calcium levels and correlation with joint pain. My test levels show an upward trend but I haven’t tested since August. I will now test again. And I wouldn’t be surprised about a genetic disposition, as my mom had sore thumbs (but was much older than I am now when it got bad). I’ve been off PS and other nightshades since 12/31 and haven’t noticed significant changes.

    • DuckDodgers January 23, 2014 at 09:06

      Besides it’s not as if gut bacteria is optional – you need to have it anyway, thus feed it anyway, it’s just a decision how much food they get

      Bingo.

      Here’s why Asprey’s fear mongering is weak. Just look at the evidence (hat tip to Jeff Leach, of the American Gut Project).

      Jeff Leach wrote:

      When it comes to the health and well being of your gut microbes, nothing matters more than fermentable substrates (You can read about here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here – you get the idea). As the rules/tenants of basic microbial ecology go, a reduction in fermentable substrates derived from carbohydrates means less energy sources for the microbes – who depend on host-derived substrates as well, as in the case of mucin-degraders like Akkermansia. As fermentation drops, so to does the byproducts of fermentation which include short chain fatty acids (primarily acetate, butyrate, propionate), organic acids, and gases like hydrogen. All of this can and will dramatically shift the pH of the colonic environment. As it stands in a healthy or normal gut, the pH of the colon changes from proximal to distal end, being more acidic in the proximal (front) end than the tail end – mainly as a function of more rapid fermentation as food items empty from the small intestine. As the pH shifts to being more alkaline from less fermentation, a number of shoes begin to drop (or can).

      A less acidic environment means acid sensitive groups of bacteria, like those in the Phylum Proteobacteria, which includes a who’s who of bad guys like strains of E. Coli, Salmonella, Vibrio, Helicobacter, might bloom – not a good thing. You see the same blooms following antibiotic treatment. In addition, as pH shifts away from acidic, the genus Bacteroides can also bloom as well, gaining an ecological niche in this less acidic environment courtesy of a low carb diet. For those of you keeping score, many talk about the American gut in general being dominated by Bacteroides as a function of our high fat, high sugar diet. The reality is, it might have to do with what we are not eating – dietary fiber (of all kinds). The all-important butyrate producers Roseburia spp. and Eubacterium also drop in abundance as pH shifts away from acidic as well. A drop in fecal butyrate and butyrate producing bacteria was demonstrated in an elegant study comparing diets of varying amounts of carbs. Given the importance of butyrate in colonic health, any dietary strategy that potentially shifts pH away from acidity as a function of reduced fermentation, might contribute to various forms of IBD.

      So, low carb equals a less acidic colonic environment due to the drop in fermentation (and I presume harder, and less frequent stools as a function of reduced biomass from bacteria – or maybe not). As pH shifts, prospects for opportunistic pathogens increase, as does opportunities for gram-negative bacteria like Bacteroides and Enterobacter. When you add this up – and a lot of more shifts in the microbial ecology of the low carb gut – you most certainly have a classic case of microbial dysbiosis – as the name implies, an imbalance. This dysbiosis can lead to issues associated with IBD, autoimmune disease, metabolic disorders and so on. But again, a large cohort of low, low carb dieters has never been looked at using 16S rRNA methods. So the jury is still out – but will be fascinating to see.

      Click on those studies that Leach references — particularly the ones about pathogens disappearing when the pH shifts from alkaline from acidic.

      Now, consider that pathogens, like Candida, become benign in acidic environments and pathogenic in alkaline environments, and you begin to see the big picture.

      People who worry about RS feeding the bad microbes seem to be oblivious to the fact that it very likely doesn’t matter since the “good guys” bloom in an acidic digestive tract and the bad guys get crowded out and inactivated by those same acids.

    • Richard Nikoley January 23, 2014 at 11:07

      Duck:

      https://freetheanimal.com/2014/01/jeff-leach-wrote.html

    • DuckDodgers January 23, 2014 at 11:11

      Nice serve!

  5. Alex W. January 21, 2014 at 17:51

    I’d like to add a success story here. Last August, just a week after starting graduate school, I came down with an intense bout of IBS-D (to keep it clean). Not unusual, as I’ve had the flu before. But this ‘flu’ did not stop, and stranger things began to happen. I developed tinnitus, neuropathy, dizziness, fatigue, muscle twitches and my sleep was terrible. 6 weeks later, I had lost 25 pounds (that I didn’t need to lose) and I was barely able to get out of bed. A colonoscopy, endoscopy, stool examination, countless blood tests and specialists later and still no answers. I took a medical leave from my program, and had to return to my home in California because I was no longer able to take care of myself.

    It was around this time that I began experimenting with SCD and GAPS style diets. They did prove to help with some symptoms, but not all, and not with much speed. In fact, I would say that I got worse on these diets, as my sleep became a struggle, and that set everything back. Supplements like Vitamin C, Colostrum and DGL helped but were definitely not the answer, either. It was late December, and I had to make the call whether or not I was going back to school. I decided to go back out of desperation for wanting to be better, without really having made any progress. Not a wise decision, but I got lucky.

    It was just two weeks ago, just at the start of the semester, that I began to follow the advice of Dr. BG over at Animal Pharm blog on correcting SIBO, as well as the advice here about resistant starch. I am so, so glad to say that I am 90% back to normal. My tinnitus is almost gone, my muscle twitching is nearly gone, my sleep is incredibly better. I can finally go back to teaching and researching without fears of passing out in the middle of class. The two biggest factors in my success was the inclusion of properly prepared starches (in Perfect Health Diet amounts) and supplementing with potato starch and psyllium husk twice a day.

    I can’t speak for all the other successes and failures when it comes to variable carb intakes, potato starch supplementation and general paleo-style eating, but it worked for me. So thank you Tim, Rich, Grace and everyone else who’s been posting about this stuff. I’m not shitting you (har har) when I say that you saved my young life.

    Reply
    • Jason H January 21, 2014 at 19:10

      What kind of muscle twitching? I’ve had crazy calf twitching for close to a year now and I’ve tried all kinds of solutions. Two different doctors have said it’s not a big deal but I’d love it if RS put an end to it.

    • Alex W. January 21, 2014 at 21:04

      My muscle twitching was body-wide and was directly related to my digestive problems. I know muscle twitching can occur for any number of reasons, but as far as using RS as a possible solution, as Richard says, just give it a shot and see how it goes.

    • DuckDodgers January 22, 2014 at 08:52

      Not sure if this is related or not, but three weeks ago I got an eye tic. I guess I hadn’t been sleeping enough. Turns out that Tonic Water (which has quinine) has been shown in studies to relieve muscle cramps and people have anecdotally noticed that it can relieve eye tics and other spasms.

      So, I bought a high quality tonic syrup and added it to a little seltzer water. A good tonic water makes you feel really quite good. 24 hours later, my eye twitch disappeared.

      Maybe it will come back some day, but I’ll just try drinking another glass or two of tonic water and see what happens 🙂

    • Theresa January 22, 2014 at 15:37

      DD, when I had Restless Leg Syndrome, my doc suggested a few calf stretching exercises, plus tonic water for it’s quinine content. It worked, much to my shock and relief. Though I did notice that if I took Benadryl more than one dose in a day, I’d get the RLS that night, so I’m careful with that, too.
      By the way, I’ve been using the PS for about a week now and haven’t had the gas because I take it on an empty stomach, but more important, when I was a very strict LC paleo eater, I had almost daily diarrhea (which was very confusing since a few people have said LC gives them constipation). A week into the PS and the diarrhea is gone. I’m very happy about this as you can imagine. 🙂

    • gabriella kadar January 22, 2014 at 16:40

      Haven’t they reduced the amount of quinine to almost negligible amounts? The drug was blackboxed a few years ago due to cardiac toxicity. Chimay ale has lots of quinine and it helps with certain immune reactions. But the calories, the calories………not to mention it’s a high alcohol brew. And it makes for room clearing farts.

    • Theresa January 22, 2014 at 17:23

      Gabriella, I honestly don’t know about the quinine levels, but I used it for such a short time (perhaps two bottles of diet Canada Dry Tonic Water) and it, or the calf stretches, stopped the RLS. I don’t recall the ‘room-clearing farts’ 😉 but I was probably so exhausted from lack of sleep I didn’t notice much else…But I read what you wrote with great interest, so thanks for sharing! 🙂

    • DuckDodgers January 22, 2014 at 17:34

      Haven’t they reduced the amount of quinine to almost negligible amounts?

      Well…The FDA now discourages “off-label” quinine use, and many of the bigger labels have switched from the traditional Cinchona bark to Remijia, which is cheaper and weaker. But, you can still put tonic water under a black light and see the quinine glow (popular in bars with fancy drinks and black lights).

      I used John’s Tonic a premium small-batch tonic syrup that was made from steeped Cinchona bark. It’s delicious. You just add an ounce to a glass of seltzer water. I believe some people need a few glasses, but a single glass of tonic water was all it took for me.

    • Richard Nikoley January 22, 2014 at 19:23

      “Restless Leg Syndrome”

      My dad had this and I believe Gin & Tonic was the cure too. 🙂

      For me, when it happens, rarely, I do isometric flexing of the leg muscles as intense as possible, while laying in bed. Works every time.

    • Richard Nikoley January 22, 2014 at 19:27

      “seltzer water”

      Please, please. Keep club soda alive. I make my own with one of those Soda Stream thingies. 1/2 MEASURED tsp of baking soda per liter. No comparison in taste and enjoyment.

    • junkgrl January 28, 2014 at 09:30

      I love, love, love my Sodastream. Giving up soda pop was hard but realized it was the fizz I really liked so voila–fizz at my command with lemon or orange, lime or crushed raspberries. I don’t like the junk they sell to flavor it.

    • Richard Nikoley January 28, 2014 at 18:49

      I use mine exclusively for club soda and in fact, some mornings I’ll get up and have a nice pint of throat burning carbonation and don’t even want coffee.

      Try doing club soda with exactly 1/2 tsp of baking soda. I put the BS in the bottle, add water, then charge it.

      I keep two Co2 bottles on hand so that I’m never out. The exchange for $15 is a pretty good deal.

  6. Ryan M January 21, 2014 at 18:13

    Upgraded potato starch…Hahhah. Awesome. I can see it now.

    Sadly, his interview guest was equally full of shit, so he didn’t get called out.

    Reply
    • GTR January 23, 2014 at 08:13

      She sells diet shakes.

      http://www.jjvirginstore.com/virgin-diet-all-in-one-shake

      But the idea of elimiation diet is a medically proven one, so the basis of her diet seem reasonable.

  7. sootedninjas January 21, 2014 at 18:32

    another “paleo” expert doing a webinar called “Resistant Starch Throw Down”

    Reply
  8. Jason H January 21, 2014 at 18:56

    I’m pretty new to RS (1 week now) and I’ve played with the dose but not the timing. Initially I had wicked gas but that has calmed down. Since I work at home this wasn’t a concern. Bloating was the gas copilot and comes and goes. The real issues for me so far have been on the toilet. I’ve had some constipation, less than stellar movement and it feels like I have a turd jackknifed in the transition from small to large intestine. When I first stumbled upon RS it was suggested that I should include psyllium husks. I have recently discontinued the psyllium and greatly increased my water intake. Even though I’m considered healthy I’m wonder if these symptoms indicate that my gut was out of whack. Are these common issues for newbs and is my plan to power through the right course? I’m really interested to see what this does for my energy levels and cholesterol over the long run.

    Reply
    • Tanya January 22, 2014 at 09:59

      @Jason H, I had constipation when I first started potato starch. I used extra C and magnesium to get things moving again and within a week that wasn’t necessary anymore. Reading here and the long thread at MDA, it seems like a lot of people get just fartage, but there’s a range of responses. Yours doesn’t sound at the extremely tricky to problem solve, but a little less common. I bought a bottle of Prescript Assist for my husband because he’s a bit farther into the “needs more problem-solving” category.

    • gabriella kadar January 22, 2014 at 16:37

      Jason, even though Spanish reports producing pythons, I usually produce nests of garter snakes but not daily. Well, two nests because I have a low flush toilet. It seems the entire colon empties when it does and then I miss a day. But it’s never hard or big which in my opinion is constipation. More like Bristol Stool Scale #4. I eat vegetables as well because that also seems to make the RPS have a better effect. Low carb, no vegetables, and RPS results in a less than stellar experience. I’ve experimented.

      I added a teaspoon of psyillium a couple of times and got bloated. One night (oh help me J) I mixed two tablespoons of psyillium plus 4 tablespoons of raw PS. My guts felt like overstuff sausages and produced thick logs of what felt like very lumpy oatmeal (as it made it’s way to the light of day). Not particularly pleasant. Don’t know what possessed me to OD on psyillium even though as I was mixing this up my ‘gut instinct’ was ‘don’t! don’t”……..and then ‘shouldn’t have!’

      Probably a scant teaspoon of psyillium added to the potato starch is not excessive.

  9. sootedninjas January 21, 2014 at 19:10

    here is a quote from the link about Gastric Bypass surgery that Richard posted on this blog post.

    “The key message is that after gastric bypass the intestine becomes the most important tissue for glucose use and this decreases blood sugar levels.”

    Reply
  10. sootedninjas January 21, 2014 at 19:11

    so funny LOL

    “Doctors are hopeful they can find a way to mimic the processes that lead to improvements for type 2 diabetics after gastric bypass without actually doing the surgery.”

    Reply
  11. sootedninjas January 21, 2014 at 19:13

    as usual they are looking for a drug as opposed to real food instead as the cure

    Reply
  12. Jackie January 21, 2014 at 19:13

    I really hope the nosebleed case described, wherein it sounded like the person was blaming RPS, wasn’t referencing my genuine request for input in your comments. I was digging because someone in your comments, months ago, mentioned dry eyes exacerbated by RPS, and I was curious as the nosebleeds and coughing up blood only started after I added RPS to my routine. I was curious, not laying blame.

    And yeah, I posted something on FB this week about how I am loving my resistant starch routine and a friend immediately posted a comment “educating” me that I should read with Mike Eads wrote about it. The only post I could find on his site was five years old. But I was stunned with the speed of the admonishing I got for self-experimentation. It took everything I had not to ask, “Who asked you?” (Next day, I posted about a smoothie with raw almond butter that I made and another friend immediately jumped in to tell me almond milk – which I didn’t even use – was “bad” for me. And these are both so-called libertarians!)

    Reply
    • Richard Nikoley January 22, 2014 at 07:36

      Jackie:

      No sweat, it wasn’t personal and I purposely did not look it up and call a name, just from memory. Stuff blazes past all day with stuff here, on FB, and Twitter and I can barely keep up with it. So, it was mainly a general comment.

      In terms of the Eades deal, check his blog for a post I think last couple of months, long comment thread where Mike admits he knows nothing about RS. So, that old post is completely irrelevant.

    • Jackie January 25, 2014 at 09:22

      I appreciate that, Richard. Thanks.

  13. Dan January 21, 2014 at 19:16

    The sad thing, well maybe not, is these pathetic attempts at critical thinking re resistant starch (I tried RS and my sisters neighbours dog died) is EXACTLY the same thing I encounter taking someone on the SAD/Food Pyramid and discussing Paleo.

    I used to use it as a barometer, if someone “gets” the logic that is an ancestral health outlook then they are smarter than the average bear, guess that needs a rethink….

    Reply

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I'm Richard Nikoley. Free The Animal began in 2003 and as of 2020, has 5,000 posts and 120,000 comments from readers. I blog what I wish...from lifestyle to philosophy, politics, social antagonism, adventure travel, nomad living, location and time independent—"while you sleep"— income, and food. I intended to travel the world "homeless" but the Covid-19 panic-demic squashed that. I've become an American expat living in rural Thailand where I've built a home. I celebrate the audacity and hubris to live by your own exclusive authority and take your own chances. [Read more...]

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