Resistant Starch
I didn’t know this and just read it as a part of an article on Ezine:
Everyone needs to add natural fiber to their diet. Research has shown that certain types of fiber such as resistant starch can increase fat metabolism by up to 30%. Resistant starch is formed when foods such as potatoes, grains and beans are cooked and allowed to cool down. Such foods should not be re-heated as it would transform them. They are called resistant starch because they are resistant to quick digestion. Therefore such foods give the feeling of fullness and curbs hunger.
Since resistant starches are resistant to digestion they are also not broken down and stored as fat. Instead what happens is that they get fermented as they get to the large intestine creating small fatty acids called butyrates which inhibit metabolism of carbohydrates. Since the body is deprived of breaking down carbohydrates it breaks down fat instead. A good choice would be to consume at least 20-30 grams a day of such resistant starch daily. This would roughly correspond to about half cup of potato, rice or cereal plus half cup cooked vegetables or one cup of cooked beans and 1 slightly unripe banana.
Jim
It is not accurate to state that 20-30 grams of resistant starch would correspond to half cup of potatoes or any of the other quantities listed in the article. The RS content of foods was published in the January 2008 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association. While the testing methods are not very precise, a slightly unripe banana probably contains between 4 to 8 grams of resistant starch. One study measured a cooked and cooled potato as having up to 12% resistant starch – but it’s still a minor component of potatoes or cooked and cooled rice. Cereal has even less – perhaps 1-2%. Cooked beans are one of the better sources. To be clear – 20-30 grams of RS would be a lot of food. Another way to get it would be to use natural Hi-maize resistant starch from high amylose corn. It has 6-7 grams of resistant starch per tablespoon and is available from King Arthur Flour. The vast majority of the research on natural resistant starch used Hi-maize because it is such a concentrated source and it’s easy to cook with.
Comment by Rhonda Witwer — May 9, 2009 at 5:40 am