To understand how resistant starch works, we need to look at starch in general first. As we mentioned above, starch is a carbohydrate consisting of numerous glucose units. It is produced by most green plants as energy storage. In the human diet, starch is found in staple foods like potatoes, maize (corn), rice, and wheat which makes it the most common carbohydrate we consume. Despite being made up of glucose, starch doesn’t taste sweet. In fact, pure starch is a white, tasteless, and odorless powder.
Resistant starch potentially reduces the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by improving insulin sensitivity, reducing blood glucose, and reducing blood fat levels. People with low insulin sensitivity also referred to as insulin resistance, will require larger amounts of insulin either from their own pancreas or from injections in order to keep blood glucose levels stable.
Low insulin sensitivity is not just a major risk factor for diabetes, but for several other serious conditions, like heart disease and Alzheimer’s as well. Note that if you suffer from low insulin sensitivity it doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to start eating foods rich in resistant starch in excess. Consult a health care provider on how to incorporate it into your individual diet.
Most of the carbs you consume, such as those in grains, pasta, and potatoes, are starches. However, only a few foods naturally contain high amounts of resistant starch. These are the ones you want to look out for:
Oats: Oats are one of the most convenient and efficient ways to add resistant starch to your diet. Being a whole grain, they are also high in antioxidants. 100 grams of cooked oatmeal flakes may contain around 3.6 grams of resistant starch. Letting your cooked oats cool for several hours (or even overnight) will increase the resistant starch content even more.
Cooled rice: Rice is a kitchen staple that is low in cost, easy to prepare, and can be stored over long periods of time. In fact, the resistant starch content continues increasing with the period of time the rice is left to cool, so preparing a large batch saves time and piles on health benefits. While there is resistant starch in all types of rice, brown rice may be preferable to white rice due to its higher fiber content.
Beans and legumes: Beans and legumes provide large amounts of fiber and resistant starch. This category includes black beans, soybeans, garden peas, and more. Most of these options contain 1–5 grams of resistant starch per 100 grams.
Cooked and cooled potatoes: If prepared correctly and left to cool, potatoes become a good source of resistant starch. However, it is lost if you reheat the potatoes. To get the most resistant starch out of them, opt for dishes like potato salad, a cool quiche, or a Nicoise salad.
Related: How to Make a Healthy and Delicious Potato Salad
Green bananas: Both green and ripe bananas are a healthy form of carbs and provide other nutrients such as vitamin C and fiber. However, as the bananas ripen the resistant starch transforms into simple sugars such as glucose and sucrose. Therefore, you should aim to buy green bananas and eat them within a couple of days if you want to maximize your resistant starch intake.
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