Have you heard about “resistant starch” yet? It’s a relatively new buzz word when it comes to nutrition — but it refers to foods you’ve been eating all your life.
What is resistant starch? It’s a type of fiber found in carbohydrate-rich foods like potatoes, grains, and beans. The fiber is particularly prominent in these foods when cooked and then cooled. Resistant starch is so called because it resists digestion.
Dieters and health experts alike are celebrating resistant starch because:
- It increases your body’s ability to burn fat — you aren’t digesting the starch, so you’re burning other things for fuel. When resistant starches break down in your digestive system, they turn into beneficial fatty acids like butyrate, which may have the ability to block your body’s ability to burn carbs. If you aren’t using carbs for fuel, your body will consume stored and recently eaten fat instead.
- It fills you up — starchy foods tend to “stick to your ribs” and leave you feeling less hungry. Resistant starches signal your body to pump out hormones that make you feel full. You may actually be eating less if you start to eat more resistant starches.
- Studies are showing that resistant starch can help improve blood sugar control and boost immunity, too. Resistant starches may promote the growth of probiotics (good bacteria) in your digestive system. And because they bypass your regular digestion process, resistant starches can lead to lower blood sugar and insulin levels after meals.
- The beneficial fatty acids created when resistant starches break down (like butyrate) may help protect the lining of the colon and make it more resistant to colon cancer. Resistant starches may also help boost absorption of calcium and block the absorption of cancer causing substances.
All in all, it sounds pretty good to me! I love carbs. Resistant starch superstars include beans, potatoes, yams, barley, brown rice, and corn.
To make sure you get resistant starches in your diet, just let your cooked foods cool. Cooking causes starch to absorb water and expand; as it cools, it forms a crystallized structure that resists digestion. (Don’t reheat your food after it cools, though — that will break the crystals.) You can also look for products that include Hi-maize, a resistant starch powder made from corn.