Thanks to books like the "Carb Lovers Diet" by Ellen Kunes and Frances Largeman-Roth, published in 2010, resistant starch has been added to the list of eating strategies that can help produce weight loss. Resistant starch, classified as a form of fiber, may help you feel full longer, eat fewer calories and increase your body's metabolism.
Identification
Natural resistant starch is a type of dietary fiber not absorbed in the small intestine, passing whole into the large intestine where it is fermented and broken down by the bacteria in your colon. It's found in carbohydrate-rich foods such as beans, cold potatoes and bananas and is recognized by the World Health Organization, the Food and Agricultural Organization and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences as a beneficial carbohydrate.
Types
There are four categories of resistant starches, according to "Modern Baking Magazine." Two of these are easily to obtain, occurring naturally in beans, seeds and also in whole grains and in starchy foods such as white rice, pasta and potatoes after they are cooked and then cooled. The other two types are modified in the lab to resist breakdown in the intestines and are frequently sold as powders such as the flour-substitute Hi-maize and high-resistant-starch banana flour. Professor Joanne Slavin of the University of Minnesota adds that the first two types include sources of complex carbohydrates and fruits and vegetables and make for a healthier diet overall, where as the latter two categories may be a convenient way to work fiber into your diet if you aren't consuming fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
Benefits
Several health benefits have been associated with resistant starch, according to Rhonda Witwer, senior business development manager of nutrition with National Starch Food Innovation, including improving insulin sensitivity, energy levels, digestive health, fat metabolism, mineral absorption, immune system support and in managing diseases such as ulcerative colitis and colorectal cancer. ObesityAid.org adds that it's the ability of resistant starch to reduce hunger and fat stored by the body, plus increasing the amount of fat burned for energy, that are key reasons it may be an effective tool in weight management.
Recommendations
Nutrition and diabetes expert Hope S. Warshaw, MMSc, RD, CDE, BC-ADM, doesn't recommend gorging on resistant starches, but rather starting by doubling your resistant starch intake. She adds that Americans consume on average less than five grams of resistant starch daily, while scientists suggest 15 to 20 grams or more may be optimum for health and weight loss. Some tips to increase the levels of resistant starch in your diet include emphasizing whole grains, beans, fruits and vegetables; using hummus or pureed beans instead of mayonnaise; adding slightly under-ripe bananas to cereal or using a resistant fiber powder in a smoothie or meal replacement shake.
Warning
Many resistant starch sources can be found in the gluten family, so if you have celiac disease or a gluten-intolerance, you'll need to avoid those particular types. Even if you aren't gluten-intolerant, adding more resistant starch/fiber to your diet may cause constipation, bloating, gas, abdominal pain or diarrhea. If that occurs, you should cut back on the starches and add them more gradually. Janine Higgins, nutrition research director of the Clinical Translation Research Center at the University of Colorado, Denver, also warns that there's no definitive evidence yet from human clinical trials that resistant starch is a magic bullet and if you consume resistant starch, you'll weigh less than people who don't eat more of the starch. Ultimately, the physics of calorie expenditure matter the most, which is to say, eating fewer calories than you expend in your daily activities.
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