A few weeks ago, I wrote about how uncooked cornstarch may prevent low blood sugar. Today, I will share how another starch may help diabetics manage blood sugar levels. It’s called resistant starch.
What is a Resistant Starch?
Resistant starch is a fermentable fiber that is resistant to digestion, hence its name. Instead, it passes through the small intestine undigested and enters the large intestine, where it ferments inside the colon and feeds gut bacteria. To put it another way, resistant starch feeds your gut bacteria, rather than feeding you.
How Resistant Starch Helps Diabetics
Because we don’t digest resistant starch, glucose isn’t rapidly released in the bloodstream and blood sugar does not rise. Resistant starch also improves insulin sensitivity and increases satiety.
Foods with Resistant Starch
You can find resistant starch naturally in these foods:
- Unripe bananas
- Plantains
- Legumes (beans, lentils, and peas)
- Nuts
- Seeds
- Raw potato starch
- Whole grains
- Hi-maize resistant starch (also called hi-maize fiber or hi-maize flour)
- Overnight Oats (cooking oats will decrease resistant starch)
I mentioned earlier that I wrote about uncooked cornstarch in my previous post. Turns out that uncooked cornstarch is also a resistant starch, which is probably another reason it helps stabilize blood sugar levels (https://backtonaturediabetic.com/cornstarch-may-prevent-low-blood-sugar/).
Bread
I’ve included bread as a separate food category because there are many ways to make it starch resistant. For example, freezing can change the molecular structure of bread. Freezing and then toasting bread changes starch molecules so they are more resistant to digestion. Here are other ways bread can be resistant to starch:
- The staler white bread gets, the more resistant starch it has
- Pumpernickel bread has high levels of resistant starch
Retrograde Starch
You can also increase the resistant starch in some foods by heating the food, then cooling it. This is also called retrograde starch. Heating and then cooling certain foods will change their molecular structure. As a result, it will increase their resistant starch.
The reason for this is that during cooking, the starch will swell, which is called gelatinization. Then, when cooled, the gelatinized starch converts to resistant starch.
But don’t worry, once you have heated and then cooled the food, you can reheat it again without worrying about undoing or reducing the resistant starch. Foods with retrograde starch include:
- Rice
- Potato and sweet potato
- Pasta
- Corn tortilla
A study compared freshly cooked white rice with white rice that was cooked, refrigerated for 24 hours, and then reheated.
The result was 2.5 times as much resistant starch in the cooked and cooled rice as there was in the freshly cooked rice (Effect of cooling of cooked white rice on resistant starch content and glycemic response – PubMed (nih.gov). So, go ahead and enjoy leftover rice!
Studies and Clinical Trials
Many trials and studies show resistant starch is beneficial for blood sugar and insulin sensitivity. Here are a few:
- A 2019 review of 15 clinical trials found that resistant starch resulted in lower fasting blood sugar levels (https://glycemicindex.com/2021/07/resistant-starch-and-diabetes/#:~:text=A%202019%20review%20of%2015,compared%20to%20a%20control%20group)
- Consuming resistant starch at 30 grams a day as a cookie resulted in improved insulin sensitivity in women with insulin resistance. Eating the resistant starch for 4 weeks at 30 grams a day was associated with a 33% increase in insulin sensitivity (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12986-016-0062-5).
- Thirteen case–control studies with 428 subjects revealed resistant starch can improve fasting glucose, fasting insulin, insulin resistance, and sensitivity, especially for overweight diabetics (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41387-019-0086-9).
- They gave twenty people with insulin resistance either 40 grams of resistant starch or a placebo, for 12 weeks. Insulin sensitivity improved in the group which consumed the resistant starch compared with the placebo group. Therefore, the study concluded consuming resistant starch improves insulin sensitivity in subjects with metabolic syndrome (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1464-5491.2010.02923.x)
Resistant Starch May Cause Stomach Issues
Because resistant starch is a fiber and is harder to digest, you may experience side effects like bloating and stomach discomfort. As with adding more fiber to your diet, drink more water as you add resistant starch to your diet to help with digestion and gastrointestinal issues.
Be a Diabetic Detective
Be a diabetic detective and add resistant starch to your diet. For example, eat overnight oats instead of hot oatmeal; eat unripe bananas; reheat refrigerated pasta or rice; and toast frozen bread. See if it makes a difference in your blood sugar levels. Observe whether using these methods makes high-carb foods like bread, potatoes, and rice more diabetic-friendly.
Conclusion
Consuming foods with resistant starch or heating then cooling foods like potatoes, rice, and pasta may stabilize your blood sugar and increase insulin sensitivity. It also boosts gut health. You can also sprinkle raw potato starch or Hi-maize on your food. Try using resistant starch as a natural diabetic remedy to manage your blood sugar levels.
Quote
I have high blood sugars, and Type 2 diabetes is not going to kill me. But I just have to eat right, and exercise, and lose weight, and watch what I eat, and I will be fine for the rest of my life – Tom Hanks