Did you know a natural trick to turn potatoes and rice into blood sugar, gut, and weight-friendly food? All you need to do is cook and cool them for 8-12 hours. Why? Cooking, followed by cooling, turns them into a rich source of resistant starch. What does this mean? Cooling potatoes changes the chemical structure of foods like potatoes and rice making them harder to digest. This delays digestion and absorption, lowering their glycemic index.
What is resistant starch and how does it work?
Remember, not all of the starch you consume is digested. Certain starches are resistant to digestion and pass through your digestive tract without breaking down. In other words, these are resistant to digestion and therefore called resistant starch.
Resistant starch is a unique dietary fibre that resists the breakdown of starches into sugars in the small intestine and moves to the large intestine. There, it ferments and feeds good gut bacteria to produce SCFA (short-chain fatty acids). This is where the magic happens!
SCFAs further break down into butyrate, which helps improve intestinal integrity, reduce inflammation, and feed and populate good gut bacteria. And we all know what a diverse gut microbiome means. These good microbes do all the marvelous work in your body from maintaining optimum digestive health, controlling and boosting your serotonin levels, keeping disease-causing bacteria at bay, and strengthening your immune function.
To sum it up:
What are the benefits of resistant starch?
If you are struggling with diabetes, insulin resistance, obesity, metabolic syndrome, gut-related issues, and poor immunity, you can look at adding resistant starch to your meals.
What are some foods that contain resistant starch?
What are some interesting recipes you can explore to add resistant starch?
Overnight oats
Cold potato salad
One way to add resistant starch is by consuming 1 tablespoon/teaspoon of potato starch mixed with water. You can also add it to your flours while making rotis or your bread. But my favorite technique is making a beautiful cold potato salad. Try this recipe.
Ingredients
For the dressing:
Method
Raw green banana curry
Buy raw green banana flour here. Add 1 tablespoon of this while making rotis or pancakes, or add it to a glass of water, mix and consume. You can also just buy and eat a raw green banana. Check out this recipe for raw green banana curry.
Ingredients
Method
Disclaimer: In case of kidney diseases and high potassium levels, please be mindful of its consumption.
Rice kanji
Another way to get resistant starch is by adding beans and lentils to your salad/soup. Check out a recipe here.
The bottom line
Resistant starch can help you maintain the health of your large intestine or colon. As you read this, the world is witnessing a spike in cases of colorectal and bowel cancers, chronic inflammation, constipation, liver issues, gut issues, and nutrient malabsorption. Most people who suffer from gut-related and autoimmune conditions need to look at the colon today.
If the colon is not kept clean or its inflammation is not managed the right way, it can make you vulnerable to a host of lifestyle conditions. The right amount of good bacteria can help maintain the pH balance of your colon and reduce inflammation in the cell lining and protect you. So, add resistant starches to your meals. Always remember, moderation is key. Don’t overdo it.
Disclaimer: Please make an informed decision and discuss it with your healthcare expert before trying anything new, especially if you have a sensitive gut.
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This content was originally published here.
