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Wellness

When it comes to food, we all like the thought of having our cake and eating it too, although staying in good health tends to dictate this can never be the case. But there is a way to indulge in your favourite carbohydrates such as potatoes, rice, bananas, pasta and other comforting starchy treats so that they contribute to your health and even help you lose weight – and it has everything to do with a substance called resistant starch.

What is resistant starch?

Ordinary starch is digested in the small intestine and turned into sugar which gives us energy – but resistant starch ‘resists digestion’, passing through the stomach and intestinal tract to the colon where it ferments and feeds the good bacteria in the colon. This produces highly significant health benefits.

Why is it good?

When good bacteria feed on resistant starch they produce short-chain fatty acids, wonderful things that do everything from burn fat, aid digestion, stop bloating by keeping gut flora in optimum shape, help prevent colon cancer, and protect against chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease. Another primary benefit of resistant starch is its ability to improve insulin sensitivity and lower blood sugar, making it ideal for diabetes sufferers. It also boosts the body’s ability to metabolise fat, aiding weight control, and leads to a greater feeling of fullness. Studies have found eating meals high in resistant starch can result in metabolising up to 30 per cent more fat throughout the day.

How do I increase the amount of resistant starch in my diet?

Primarily by choosing more fresh, unprocessed quality carbohydrates such as whole grains, fruits, vegetables and particularly beans and legumes – and then knowing how and when to

eat them. This is because of the four types of resistant starch:

Type 1 – found in grains, seeds and legumes, all of which contain a degree of resistant starch in their cell walls.

Type 2 – found in some starchy foods such as raw potatoes and green bananas.

Type 3 – the one that excites most people as it is created in several popular starchy foods like rice and potatoes when they are cooked, then cooled.

Type 4 – the synthetic form, starch that is chemically modified to make it resistant to digestive enzymes in order to be added to processed foods.

So what are the best foods for resistant starch?

Beans are among the highest sources by far, especially when cooked and cooled, along with green (unripe) bananas and cooked mashed plantain. Cooked and cooled potato, sweet potato, white rice and oats are also high on the scale as is green banana flour and cassava flour.

Remember, the key with many of these carbs is to eat them the right way: for instance with bananas, resistant starch is highest when they are unripe, because the ripening process degrades the resistant starch as the banana becomes higher in sugar and sweeter. Oats are another terrific source – but only the uncooked variety, as found in natural muesli. (Cooked oats are still healthy however, they are simply turned into sugar for energy.)

Corn is one of the highest sources of resistant starch, especially the Hi-Maize variety.

Potatoes, yams and rice – foods eaten widely across South-East Asia and the South Pacific – as well as pasta are terrific sources of resistant starch – but only when cooked, then cooled.

In good news for lovers of sushi, the popular Japanese food falls into the category of type three resistant starch because the rice is cooked and cooled. Other top foods for resistant starch are artichokes, chicory root, pearl barley and lentils.

The study of this wonder substance is ongoing, its benefits only being discovered as recently as the 1990s.

Cold potato salad is a perfect way to add resistant starch to your diet. The recipe here uses an oil-based dressing, too, instead of a creamy mayonnaise.