I asked Dr. Amy Nett, MD, to contribute this guest post. Amy initially completed her medical training in radiology at Stanford University Hospital, but wanted to work more directly with patients, helping them to prevent and reverse chronic disease and truly transform their health. Combined with her passion for nutrition she decided to pursue a career in Functional Medicine. You’ll be hearing more from Amy in the future!
Over the past several years there has been an exponential increase in the number of studies linking imbalances or disturbances of the gut microbiota to a wide range of diseases including obesity, inflammatory bowel diseases, depression and anxiety (1,2,3,4,5). One of the best ways to establish and support a healthy gut microbiome is by providing the right “foods” for your gut bacteria. These “foods” are called prebiotics.
Why you should add resistant starch to your diet. #healthydiet #resistantstarch #gutdisgestion
Prebiotics are indigestible carbohydrates, or at least indigestible to us, that reach the colon intact and selectively feed many strains of beneficial bacteria. Prebiotics are generally classified into three different types: non-starch polysaccharides (such as inulin and fructooligosaccharide), soluble fiber (including psyllium husk and acacia fibers), and resistant starch (RS). Each of these types of prebiotics feeds different species of gut bacteria, but among these, RS is emerging as uniquely beneficial.
The distinctive benefits of RS seem to be unequivocally recognized, even amongst advocates of a low carbohydrate diet.
What Is Resistant Starch?
Resistant starch is a type of starch that is not digested in the stomach or small intestine, reaching the colon intact. Thus, it “resists” digestion. This explains why we do not see spikes in either blood glucose or insulin after eating RS, and why we do not obtain significant calories from RS.
There are four types of resistant starch:
RS Type 1: Starch is physically inaccessible, bound within the fibrous cell walls of plants. This is found in grains, seeds, and legumes.
RS Type 2: Starch with a high amylose content, which is indigestible in the raw state. This is found in potatoes, green (unripe) bananas, and plantains. Cooking these foods causes changes in the starch making it digestible to us, and removing the resistant starch.
RS Type 3: Also called retrograde RS since this type of RS forms after Type 1 or Type 2 RS is cooked and then cooled. These cooked and cooled foods can be reheated at low temperatures, less than 130 degrees and maintain the benefits of RS (6). Heating at higher temperatures will again convert the starch into a form that is digestible to us rather than “feeding” our gut bacteria. Examples include cooked and cooled parboiled rice, cooked and cooled potatoes, and cooked and cooled properly prepared (soaked or sprouted) legumes.
RS Type 4: This is a synthetic form of RS that I’m including for completeness, but would not recommend. A common example is “hi-maize resistant starch.”
Once RS reaches the large intestine, bacteria attach to and digest, or ferment, the starch. This is when we receive the benefits of RS.
How Resistant Starch Impacts Our Health
The normal human gut has hundreds of bacterial species, some good and some not so good. The overall number and relative quantity of each type has a profound effect on our health and well being. Resistant starch selectively stimulates the good bacteria in our intestines, helping to maintain a healthy balance of bacteria (7).
These good bacteria “feed” on RS and produce short chain fatty acids (through fermentation), the most significant of which are acetate, butyrate, and propionate. Of these three short chain fatty acids (SCFA), butyrate is of particular importance due to its beneficial effects on the colon and overall health, and RS appears to increase butyrate production more when compared with other soluble fibers (8).
Butyrate is the preferred energy source of the cells lining the colon, and it also plays a number of roles in increasing metabolism, decreasing inflammation and improving stress resistance, as described in more detail below and previously in this great article by Stephan Guyenet.
Resistant Starch Helps to Lower Blood Glucose Levels and Improve Insulin Sensitivity
Insulin resistance and chronically elevated blood glucose are associated with a host of chronic diseases, including metabolic syndrome. Several studies have shown that RS may improve insulin sensitivity, and decrease blood glucose levels in response to meals (10, 11, 12). In one study, consumption of 15 and 30 grams per day of resistant starch showed improved insulin sensitivity in overweight and obese men, equivalent to the improvement that would be expected with weight loss equal to approximately 10% of body weight (13).
Further, RS has been shown to exert a “second meal effect.” This means that not only does RS beneficially decrease the blood glucose response at the time it’s consumed, but, somewhat surprisingly, blood glucose and insulin levels also rise less than would otherwise be expected with the subsequent meal (14).
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Why the Popular Press Has Touted Resistant Starch as a “Weight Loss Wonder Food”
RS appears to have several beneficial effects that may contribute to weight loss, including decreased blood insulin spikes after meals (as discussed above), decreased appetite, and decreased fat storage in fat cells. There may also be preservation of lean body mass, though further studies in humans are needed to confirm if there is a significant impact in overall body weight (15).
Further, several studies have shown alterations in the gut microbiome in association with obesity, which subsequently change towards that seen in lean individuals with weight loss (16, 17). For example, one study demonstrated that the relative composition of the gut microbiota of two predominate beneficial bacteria, Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes, varied considerably in association with body composition.
Specifically, obese individuals often have a higher proportion of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes, which may be reversed with weight loss, gastric bypass surgery, or treatment with prebiotics (3). However, not all studies confirm a significant or measurable change in the composition of the microbiome in obese compared to lean individuals, and further studies are needed (18, 19).
Butyrate Plays an Important Role in Gut Health and Decreasing Inflammation in the Gut and Other Tissues
As mentioned above, RS intake allows for increased production of butyrate by our gut microbes. Butyrate acts as a powerful anti-inflammatory agent for the colonic cells, and functions to improve the integrity of our gut by decreasing intestinal permeability and therefore keeping toxins in the gut and out of the bloodstream. (20, 21).
The SCFAs that aren’t utilized by the colonic cells enter the bloodstream, travel to the liver, and spread throughout the body where they exert additional anti-inflammatory effects.
Resistant starch is also associated with decreased risk of colorectal cancer, thought to occur through several different mechanisms including: protection from DNA damage, favorable changes in gene expression, and increased apoptosis (programmed cell death) of cancerous or pre-cancerous cells (22, 23).
Adding Resistant Starch to Your Diet
Some common food sources of RS include green (unripe) bananas, plantains, properly prepared cooked and cooled parboiled rice or legumes, and cooked and cooled potatoes. See this link for a more complete list of RS quantities in food.
However, if you are on a low carbohydrate diet or don’t tolerate those foods well, you can add RS to your diet without adding digestible carbohydrates.
Bob’s Red Mill Unmodified Potato Starch (NOT potato flour) is one of the best sources of RS with approximately eight grams of RS in one tablespoon. Potato starch is generally well tolerated even by those who react adversely to nightshades.
Plantain flour and green banana flour are also excellent sources of RS, and there may be benefit to including all three of these sources (specifically alternating your source of RS rather than relying on a single one).
These are relatively bland in flavor and can be added to cold or room temperature water, almond milk, or mixed into smoothies. But to maintain the benefits of RS, these should not be heated above 130 degrees.
Tim Steele (Tatertot) has written about some of the research on RS supplementation, and in particular the potential further benefit of combining potato starch with psyllium husk fiber to even further increase butyrate production in the colon.
Take It Slow
Studies indicate that the benefits of resistant starch may be seen when consuming around 15 to 30 grams daily (equivalent to two to four tablespoons of potato starch). This may be too much for some people to tolerate, particularly in the setting of gut dysbiosis, and going above this amount is not necessarily beneficial.
If you experience marked GI distress with even small amounts of RS, this may be an indication of SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth) or microbial dysbiosis, and you may need to consider working with a healthcare practitioner to establish a more balanced gut microbiome through the use of herbal antimicrobials and probiotics before adding RS or other prebiotics.
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Starches are long chains of glucose that are found in grains, potatoes and various foods.
But not all of the starch we eat gets digested.
Sometimes a small part of it passes through the digestive tract unchanged.
In other words, it is resistant to digestion.
This type of starch is called resistant starch, which functions kind of like soluble fiber
Many studies in humans show that resistant starch can have powerful health benefits.
This includes improved insulin sensitivity, lower blood sugar levels, reduced appetite and various benefits for digestion.
Resistant starch is actually a very popular topic these days. In the past few months, hundreds of people have experimented with it and seen major improvements by adding it to their diet.
I have a rather unique perspective on the question of resistant starch fiber. I am a diabetic of over 20 years. Started out as type two, but lost the weight and am now normal weight, no longer insulin resistant and no trouble keeping the weight off. I am 76 years old and in perfect health other than my old pancreas doesn’t make quite enough insulin anymore so I take a little to make up for the shortfall and get almost all my carbohydrates from fruits and vegetables.
I attribute enduring my good health even with diabetes, to
resistant starch fiber. Hi maize 260 to be exact. Hi maize 260 is made from non GMO corn especially hybridized (the bees and humans do it). Hi maize 260 is not the chemical form of resistant starch fiber, although a chemical form is made. The Australians developed the non chemical form.
I found Hi maize 260 in 2007 and have been doing my own research on it ever since. I can keep my weight down, my blood sugar down and my digestion ship shape. Since I tested my blood because I am diabetic, I was able to see the relationship of the Hi maize 260 resistant starch fiber to my weight and blood sugar. I also test inulin made from chicory root. It has benefits too, but can cause gas if used in liquids.
Hi maize 260 is a soluble fiber. It keeps cholesterol in check as soluble fibers are known to do. I run a diabetes support group and the participants test Hi maize 260 with the same results as mine. It really helps with weight loss and. diabetes drugs are lowered. I use two to three tablespooons per day
raw. You can cook and bake with It too, but it is more effective raw. At least that is what I found. I have figured out many ways to use it both raw and in cooking and baking.
I have been using the Hi maize 260 daily for 8 years. I have no health problems at all. Oh yes it cures constipation real well too.
How do you take it raw? Do you put on food or in a liquid?
I’m doing a very low calorie diet. Mix raw potato starch and generous helping of oat bran through meal replacements and vegetable soups [veg soups are simply vegetables cooked, with some curry spices, then blended into a smooth soup]. Works a treat.
when do u take your tablespoon doses in relation to meals? or u mix it in food?
Hi there all..
A few questions..
If resistant starch is so vital how would people have got it in to their diet prior to the days of being able to eat potato starch? Just trying to understand how a vital part of good gut health would have been accessible to our ancestors?
Plus, I am a little confused about different recommendations such as resistant starch, soluble fiber, un-soluble fiber
etc…
Feel a little like head is exploding..
Which do you need and how much and what foods are they in and which are ok/not ok if you have compromised gut/immune system?
So, if one is dealing with gut dysbiosis, candida and possibly SIBO plus CFS, (fatigue is my main symptom including adrenal fatigue), is it ok to add RS to the diet?…(currently on a relaxed version of GAPS) … without any adverse affects? What can one expect in terms of symptoms? Worse before better etc and will there be progress in the long run?
Some have said a period of keeping these out is helpful but how long is not stipulated…
Then I read about foodmaps which adds additional confusion to the mix!
Also, with these situations it is all a bit chicken and egg and is hard to know which symptom to deal with. I have seen Drs who say once the immune system functions better, (through healing the mitochondria…Dr Myhill has lots of vital info on this). That is, once the CFS and ME is better, the gut will have the ability to sort itself out. Others say that until you heal the gut the ME/CFS will remain a problem… Jesus… See my problem??!
I appreciate fully that the answer to a lot of this will be ‘we don’t know yet’… I am sure 50 yrs from now we will be sorting these things out in a matter of weeks… Hope for our children right? However, if anyone out there has information or expertise that can clear up some of the confusion it would be so great to hear from you.
Oh, one other thing… I am sure I need betaine HCL. Took it for 3 days last year with amazing results on digestion but as I have IC, it caused a flare that lasted 6 months…. At least I think it was that. Assuming I hence cannot take it, what would you recommend to assist low HCL?
Many thanks,
Karen.
P.s. This is the first time I have ever posted anything on-line, being a technophobe and pretty ill last 5 yrs so I consider this progress! 🙂
P.P.S. I am in the UK in case this affects info or recommendations.
Great first post. Welcome to the internet!
Let me just give my 2 cents where I can…
“If resistant starch is so vital how would people have got it in to their diet prior to the days of being able to eat potato starch? Just trying to understand how a vital part of good gut health would have been accessible to our ancestors?”
– Our ancestors ate loads of RS and other fibers, the modern diet is nearly devoid of them. Prior to the invention of cooking, we ate raw plants out of necessity. Our gut bacteria evolved for millions of years as we ate tubers, roots, seeds, leaves, etc… all full of RS and fiber. Even after we started cooking, we still ate loads of RS and fibers. As man marched out of Africa, he sought out starches such as sago, cattail, potato, rice, taro, corn, and more. Much was eaten raw, much was cooked, much was cooked and cooled…each way of eating providing different sources and types of fiber and RS. It’s only been in the past few hundred years that our fiber intake has gotten to critically low levels. Even eating grains roughly milled as they were when we first started farming provided ample fiber. Our modern preoccupation with soft, white bread and everything eaten hot and freshly cooked took most of the fiber out of our bellies.
“Plus, I am a little confused about different recommendations such as resistant starch, soluble fiber, un-soluble fiber.”
– It’s a difficult concept, I’ll agree. If you are eating several servings of beans, whole grains, and cooked and cooled starches daily, in addition to several servings of fruit and veggies, you are probably getting enough “fiber”. If you don’t eat beans, grains, and little fruit or veggies, you could do with supplemental fiber. Most people find that raw potato starch is a good, cheap RS source. Start with a small spoonful and work your way up to a couple spoonfuls a day. Maybe a spoonful with each meal. Mix it in yogurt, milk, water..whatever. Just don’t heat it! Some people hate potato starch…no problem. Buy some inulin powder, psyllium husk, flax seeds, pectin, glucomannan, or any other normal fiber supplement sold in stores. I’d stay away from any that have strange ingredients or are mostly cellulose. And actually, a mixture of several different fiber types is best and emulates ancestral eating much better than one fiber type, such as potato starch.
“is it ok to add RS to the diet?…(currently on a relaxed version of GAPS) … without any adverse affects? What can one expect in terms of symptoms? Worse before better etc and will there be progress in the long run?”
– It’s impossible to give advice that pertains to everyone except, “be kind to your gut flora!” Try starting slow with fibers that make sense to you, and make you feel better. A diet devoid of fiber is not healthy in the long-run, even if adding fibers makes you feel worse in the short-run. 1 spoonful of potato starch doubles or triples most people’s fiber intake for a day! If you are used to 3-5g/day of fiber, adding 8-10g will be noticeable. But your gut flora should quickly adapt and you’ll find you may even want to add more, and more diverse fiber types.
“…once the CFS and ME is better, the gut will have the ability to sort itself out. Others say that until you heal the gut the ME/CFS will remain a problem…”
– It is going to be completely individual how you respond. Adding fiber/RS is a new twist on all of this. The gut is so vitally important, it doesn’t make sense to me to delay adding fibers in any scenario unless your gut is so dysbiotic that any added fibers give you terrible gastric upset. In the cases where people respond poorly to extra fiber, it usually means they have gut bacteria that is completely wrong for a human. In this instance, the only way to get to the root cause is gut testing and through trial and error of fiber intake/dietary tweaks.
“I am sure I need betaine HCL. Took it for 3 days last year with amazing results on digestion but as I have IC, it caused a flare that lasted 6 months…. At least I think it was that. Assuming I hence cannot take it, what would you recommend to assist low HCL?”
– IC…Interstitial Cystitis? Betaine HCL, a supplement to increase stomach acid?
Have you been diagnosed low stomach acid? I wouldn’t mess with stomach acid unless there was a really good reason. Doctors love putting people of meds that lower stomach acid (PPIs) with often terrible long-term outcomes. Interstitial cystitis has largely unknown causes. Maybe auto-immune, but not always. Sometimes it just “goes away”. But I would think that getting the gut in order through a very healthy, fiber-filled diet resulting in a healthy gut pH and healthy gut flora would aid in keeping IC under control.
How did I do?
Tim
Great post, Tim.
Hi Karen, IC .. It is my belief that IC is not a autoimmune disease of unknown origin but a chronic embedded bacterial infection. Urine testing is so antiquated and inadequate that it is believed that over 70% of infections are not picked up, in the early stages allowing bladder biofilms to develope. I help run a support group in the UK For ladies with the condition who are under the two Doctors in the country who believe this is what IC is … They are getting people better everyday . Contact me if you want to know more
Lottie xx
Lottie,
Not sure how to reach you…re the I.C. My son has something like that, among other symptoms. He can’t pee when he needs to, striated bladder wall, tight sphincter. We do believe it’s bacterial or fungal as most things seem to be. He has been on antibiotics for Lyme and Bartonella and antifungals for mold/fungi but none of that is helping his bladder so far.
Thanks for any thoughts.
Zizi
Yes Tim , I’ve posted below about “IC”, the bladders equivalent of IBS ie there is something wrong but we haven’t a clue as to what but let’s give it a name anyway. Improving ones gut health is imperative in fighting of this infection, and my personal belief is that it is poor gut health which allows this infection to take a hold in the first place.
Lottie x
I’m interested in your IC remedies as my granddaughter had been diagnosed. Please send me any information. I would deeply appreciate it.
LDN is remedy to IC, you just have to find a doc, who is willing to prescribe it, you can find more info on LDN-sites in internet.
Hi Daisymouse, Ancient ancestral sources of RS included such foods as tiger nuts, marama beans, marama legume tubers, ekwa legume tubers, false banana pith, African yams (Dioscorea), palm tree pith (Hearts of palm aka sago, palm cabbage, ubod), Bulrushes, Cattails, Chestnuts, Water chestnuts, Eskimo potatoes (Claytonia tuberosa and Hedysarum alpinum), and Siberian potato (Sarana). These ancestral foods tend to get overlooked in Paleo and LC circles. A famous more recent traditional UK source of RS is “pease porridge cold, nine days old.” 🙂
Whether a fiber or microbiota accessible carbohydrate (MAC) is soluble or not is less important than whether it is fermentable. Caution has been advised when dealing with SIBO and other GI issues. For more info, see Tatertot Tim’s resistant starch thread at Mark’s Daily Apple and Jeff Leach’s articles at the Human Food Project and Norm Robillard’s articles and responses to readers on SIBO, resistant starch and related topics. Re: FODMAPs, Chris Kresser covered that in the past.
Nature is infinitely complex, so you have lots of reading ahead of you. 🙂 You’re right that much is still unknown. I also encourage you to do your own investigation of the topics and figure out what works for you, which may be different than for others.
Try D-mannose powder for interstitial cytitis. I take 1 teaspoon a day for a week and it’s gone for a very long time! It also works great for urinary tract infections/bladder infections/kidney infections.
So given that cooked and cooled potatoes count, would cooked and cooled potato starch count too? I am thinking about muffins using potato starch, and then eaten cold. Thanks!
Resistant starch? Beans? I thought you were a full-blooded PALEO? What about lectins, etc??
The dirty secret of the Paleo™ world is that anti-nutrients all have documented benefits when consumed as part of a varied diet from domesticated foods.
A 1992 review paper even called the term “anti-nutrient” into question, saying: “…Phytic acid, lectins, phenolic compounds, amylase inhibitors and saponins have also been shown to reduce the blood glucose and insulin responses to starchy foods and/or the plasma cholesterol and triglycerides. In addition, phytic acid, phenolics, saponins, protease inhibitors, phytoestrogens and lignans have been related to reduced cancer risks. Because antinutrients can also be mitigating agents, they need re-evaluation and perhaps a change in name in the future”
As for lectins, they too have benefits. For instance…
Lectins can reverse the distal intestinal atrophy associated with elemental diets in mice (2002)
“In conclusion, we have demonstrated that lectins, such as Con-A and PHA, at doses below those likely to elicit harmful metabolic changes in body metabolism, can have a significant trophic effect on the small intestine or the colon, and may be beneficial in reversing the profound intestinal atrophy associated with elemental diets.”
While indigenous hunter gatherers certainly took steps to reduce toxins and anti-nutrients, they did so in the context of wild plants. Whereas modern societies have already taken steps to reduce plant toxins by hybridizing and domesticating plants which now have far less phytotoxins than their wild counterparts.
The Paleo™ narrative of fearing plant toxins is mostly a sloppy attempt to scare people away from carbohydrates. The logic fails when you investigate what plants hunter-gatherers actually consumed.
Cheers
I’m trying to find out if sprouted seeds and legumes in particular sprouted sunflower seeds and sprouted lentils contain resistant starch? If so how much? Can anyone help me please?
Hi Chris,
Is your Prebiogen considered as resistance starch? Some people say inulin is not good for gut health. I have used it and found it lowered my blood sugar. However, later my gut health worsen. Some people says RS is good for gut health, but others say not. Not sure who to listen to.
Quinny
Hi ,so are you saying that if i put a green plantain (. Fresh)in a pancake or waffle mix , as im cooking it , it no longer is resistent starch?
Great article. Thanks. Will there be RS i fermented foods such as parsnip, jerusalem artichoke and onion? Or will the fermentation make the RS in these foods digestible?
If these carbs can’t be digested, then how is it we are able to get its nutrients?
Also, why is it they do indeed raise the glycemic load? Potatoes raises it quite a bit.
Not that I am saying it is a bad thing, because that is what the body does, it is normal. I’m just saying.
They can be digested, first by specific types of bacteria in the large intestine ( after passing thru small intestine) that convert them into a product processed by even smaller bacteria that convert it into butyrate, which heals the large intestine and provides energy to the cells.
RS is not digestible to us, but it is digested by the bacteria that live in our intestines. In return, they secrete butyrate, which is essentially butterfat.
True, you are eating ‘carbs’, but what actually gets into your bloodstream (well, actually, into your lymphatic system) has been transformed into fat.
Cooked potatoes do indeed have a high glycemic index, but uncooked potato starch does not; things we can’t digest never have a high glycemic index.
David (Or anyone),
Do you have any idea about how many digestible carbs are in a small raw white potato? A 170g raw white potato is ~80% water (136g) and ~31g of carbohydrate. If there are 25g of resistant starch per 100g of raw potato*, then I would assume that raw potatoes have 0g digestible carbs. (136g+42.5g=178.5g) Which I guess would indicate either a difference in water or fewer than 25g RS per 100g?
Am I right?
*http://freetheanimal.com/2013/07/low-gi-mashed-potatoes-and-the-resistant-starch-content-of-foods.html
Yes, raw potatoes are essentially indigestible.
Cooked potatoes have anywhere between 2 and 5 grams per 100g, and cooked-cooled potatoes have 5 to 10 grams, according to the FreeTheAnimal site.
However, these figures are not necessarily verified.
Raw potatoes are digestible (for those whose microbiota, digestion and immune systems are robust enough to handle them). In addition to RS, raw potatoes contain digestible starch, protein and a small amount of sugars. Nutrition data reports that one small 170g raw potato with skin provides 131 calories, including 31g of digestible carbs: http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2546/2 I occasionally eat a small, new raw potato or two.
As was pointed out, the RS is converted into short chain fats, so it would probably make sense to count that as additional fat calories if one wanted to count every calorie and gram of macronutrient. I don’t know of any published source that counts those indirect calories from RS. Tatertot Tim Steele estimated that somewhere.
Generally, I think it makes less sense in the long run for most people to count macronutrient grams and calories down to fine details than to try to eat a variety of healthy, whole ancestral foods (including those rich in prebiotics), which Chris Kresser often talks about. Probably the most important lesson of RS is to not chronically avoid all starchy foods completely if there isn’t an absolute medical necessity to do so.
This new information on RS has been very interesting for me to see. Through ally lay research on WAPF guidelines, paleo, GAPS, etc . I tend to lean towards the idea that traditional diets were in inherently healthiest as our cultures passed down through generations, ideas about what to eat and how to eat it. RS is a daily part of the diet in Benin and other countries in West Africa. These include Ablo–a fermented rice dumpling that is steamed in corn or banana leaves, pounded yam, gari (fermented dried cassava root), plaintain flour “fufu”, akassa, fermented rice flour.
Maybe somebody can give me advice:
I can not tolerate fermented foods because of histamine intolerance. So I take a probiotic.
I suffer from a chronic procitits. At the beginning I felt little pain and had bloody stool, higher calprotectin. Through a Paleo diet (no gluten, low histamine, diary and egg free) I got rid of many symptoms like the bloody stool and most of the pain (was not much pain). But I still suffer from irregular motility and mood and energy swings which correlate with my bowel movements. This means:
I am often constipated for 2-3 days. Then I have either normal motility like I always had (2-3 per day) or I have one movement per day. When having my old motility back, I feel good energy. But the most time I feel like a little subdepressive and low energy…
When I had acute proctitis the first and only time, I could not tolerate anything but rice and potatoes. Sugar and diary gave me massive mood swings (anxiety). Had to eat rice and potatoes for a week with a probiotic to get normal again…
Since I suffer from proctitis I cannot tolerate any Gluten, or FOODMAPS. Foodmaps give me heavy brainfog and constipation (tried inulin)
I tried Bimuno (GOS) which my gut tolerated well, but I react allergic to it (I react to many things :-/)
So I ask myself if could use Lactulose as a prebiotic for a longer time. Is this an good alternative to inulin or FOS?
In my probiotic is FOS, but the bacteria eat it all up during the preactivation- phase (has to be diluted in water 25 minutes before drinking)
Or should I start with tiny amounts of FOS?! But even a tiny capsule of Inulin gaves me heavy brain fog for days last time I tried it. I have no idea where to go with there issues. There´s no Chris Kresser in Germany…:-/
Can anybody help me with this?
@Santino
Is chronic procitits related to IBS/IBD/UC like symptoms?
These are often caused by yeast overgrowth elsewhere in the intestinal tract. Perhaps you might look at that, any chance to test it in Germany?
There are various anti-fungal diets, you need to try and experiment, how to calm the inflammation down.
Here a list of ideas and tips, not sure if and what would work for you, and if you search around you surely find some more.
fats: olive oil, coconut oil
food: garlic, onions, leeks, medicinal mushrooms
prebiotics: beta glucans
probiotic: Bifido, S. boulardii
herbs: turmeric, milk thistle, ginger, propolis, echinacea
Perhaps counter intuitive, but what about some honey.
Get some honeydew honey from Schwarzwald 🙂 (Waldhonig, Honigtau)
And recently I have heard someone healed similar symptoms eating a raw potato (one daily).
You said you react badly to inulin but sometimes the bad reaction is needed for the healing to happen.
This is just a quick summary, of course.
Good luck.
Thank you!
The symptoms were constipation, two times bloody stool. When first occuring I had diarrhe. But then fructose-intolerance was diagnosed with breath test (but not lactose)
Stool analysed never showed any signs if any parasites and not yeast overgrowth was detectable. They looked into my colon but just saw an unspecific proctitis.
After avoiding fructose (was gluten free before already) I got constipated.
Now I dona ketogenic diet which makes me feel best (still feel low energy, bad mood etc, but I am much more stable than before).
So the inflammation should not be the problem anymore. But the symptoms are still: 2-3 days constipated (normally I went toilet 2-3 times a day), then sometimes I have a normal day. Most times I feel good then.
Tried Inulin–> heavy brain fog
Bimuno–> allergy to one ingredient, but no brain fog with this GOS
Inulin trouhh foodmap foods–> heavy brain fog
My idea was to try lactulose as prebiotic (this is also a bifidogenic GOS with no additives).
Maybe I am lucky and this makes my gut better over a few weeks?!
I have good luck with Arabinogalactans prebiotic.
Try Fiberaid or Vermont Food Science
Thank you
@santino I’ve recently learned that certain strains of probiotic can increase histamine levels, which causes painful inflammation in some people. May be worth looking into.
How much magnesium do you think you’re gettinng? You need to make sure you’re getting plenty. I have had excellent results with tight, stiff, sore, kinked, cramping muscles from increasing magnesium intake at bedtime. Also drastically improved my digestion 🙂 maybe not the perfect digestion routine, I’m stick hacking all that, but at least I’m not bloated constipated with all of the muscle aches anymore.
Is it counterproductive to take TCM herbs and RS and fibres at the same time? If I wish to build up my bifidos with RS and a good diet, could I decimate the bifidos with TCM herbs?
Are Tigernuts RS2?
I’m interested in finding out if the resistant starch in Tigernut Flour would turn into regular starch when I bake with it.
@Tim Steele, you can find the most delicious Raw TigetNut Horchata at OrganicGemini.com 🙂
Concerning resistent starch: is there anything from Europe, who knows, whether this one http://www.amazon.de/Bauckhof-Kartoffelmehl-St%C3%A4rke-Pack-T%C3%BCte/dp/B004RG4PZY/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419101708&sr=8-1-fkmr1&keywords=kartoffelst%C3%A4rke+bauck is the same as bob´s potatoe starch?
The link points to potato flour. You want to be looking for Kartoffelstärke. Biomarkt likely carries this.
Concerning resistent starch: is there anything from Europe, who knows, whether this one http://www.amazon.de/Bauckhof-Kartoffelmehl-St%C3%A4rke-Pack-T%C3%BCte/dp/B004RG4PZY/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419101708&sr=8-1-fkmr1&keywords=kartoffelst%C3%A4rke+bauck is the same as bob´s potatoe starch?
Yes, it appears to be the same, I have written to them, because they name their product “potato flour”, but on the box it says that it is pure potato starch. Their answer confirmed that it is 100 % potato starch and NOT the flour from the whole potato. It is also an organically certified product (Bio). Greetings from Austria
Thank you, Susanne, for your answer. Is this the important difference, whether it is potato starch or potato flour?
Bauck heats the potatoes to 30 degree, so the starch is raw and unmodified.
Greetings from me from Austria, too, and good holidays to all! jepps
Nevermind, I just read the last part about SIBO. That makes sense!
I have a question as far as resistant starch and SIBO. I am always concerned to add in prebiotics, such as FOS, due to the prevalence of SIBO and not wanting to feed the bad bacteria. However, a lot of my patients would benefit from resistant starch as I often see low butyrate on stool studies. My question is if resistant starch will feed bad bacteria like prebiotics might.
Hi Emily, It’s still relatively early in the research and experimentation, so no one knows for sure. Perhaps it varies depending on each individual’s microbiome and other factors. For example, Isaac commented at the Animal Pharm blog that inulin, probiotics, and RS3 (cooked/cooled RS) sources aggravated his rosacea whereas RS2 (raw RS) from banana flour cleared it up in days. http://drbganimalpharm.blogspot.com/2013/11/how-to-cure-sibo-small-intestinal-bowel_18.html?showComment=1418089553310#c1294905458048125829 Others report joint pains and other symptoms with raw potato starch (which I suspect may not be the best starch powder–I don’t yet see such reports for banana/plantain starch or mung bean starch, nor for whole food sources of raw RS like green bananas/plantains).
I will begin an autoimmune Paleo diet in January and I am wondering if I can include a resistant starch into the protocol?
We are the first company to clinically test our resistant starch and we have the highest Resistant starch test. Companies are falsely stating the resistant starch as the total starch. Total starch of eg 70-80% is not resistant. Next year we hail our totally unique process that will deliver the purest resistant starch on the market in a pharmaceutical grade facility.
That’s great to hear! Can you give us the name of your company and/or the name of the product?
If anyone is still interested/subscribed, I thought I would give a great update.
Last year, a family of four created a crowd-funded experiment (using Indiegogo) to see the effect of RS on their gut microbiome.
They each ate a different amount of raw potato starch daily (1-4TBS each) for six weeks, and had before-and-after gut microbiome testing.
Bottom-line: All four had amazing increases in Bifidobacteria and other bacteria associated with a healthy gut and immune system.
Family of Four RS Project Results
Have a look! You’ll see all the proof you need that RS is good stuff.