Resistant Starch and Weight Loss

Resistant starch is getting some attention lately, but many people who want to lose weight may not be aware of what it is and how adding more of it to their meals might hinder their weight loss efforts.

It’s probably been a part of your diet all your life. It’s found in everyday foods like potatoes, grains, and legumes, but recent studies show an increase in resistance when these foods are eaten cooled.

How does it work? Well, to start these foods bypass the stomach and resist digestion in the small intestine, thereby helping to prevent the uptake of starch into the bloodstream. The claim is that it does wonders to control blood sugar levels, which in turn, helps to prevent the storage of fat into cells. However, in many of the foods only about 5% of the starch is resistant, so you have to be careful about this claim.

These foods also contain high levels of fiber that fill you up and reduce the appetite. In fact, animal studies have shown that resistant starches actually trigger a hormone response to shut off hunger. It appears that you don’t get those benefits from eating other sources of fiber.

Last, but certainly not least, the claim is that resistant starches have been shown to up the body’s ability to burn calories. Because these starches don’t digest completely in the small intestine, they end up fermenting in the large intestine, which releases fatty acids that prevent the body from burning carbohydrates for fuel. Without carbohydrates for fuel, the liver begins burning both stored fat and recently consumed fat for energy.

Since not all the starch in these foods is resistant, what about the potential 95% of starch that isn’t? Well, now is the time to issue a bit of a warning. We can’t always believe everything researchers claim. Research can be skewed, based on the funding and agenda of those doing the research. Always do your own due diligence in determining the course you will take to lose weight. The one thing proven to work for the long term is a healthy balance of lean protein, low glycemic carbohydrates, and healthy fats, mixed with controlled eating and consistent exercise.

Some of the foods researched, like potatoes and white rice, have been avoided by those desiring to lose weight because they tend to raise blood sugar when eaten cooked. The research on glycemic indexing and glyemic loading has been in place for years and appears to be sound. Rather than look at these foods as the basis for adding more carbohydrates to your diet, you might want to look at what percentage of the resistant starches each recommended food has, and make your food choices based on those that will resist the most and benefit you in other ways, as well.

Before you jump up and bake a potato, let me suggest to you some of the best ways to add resistant starch to your daily diet.

• First, eating it cooled is important. It is the cooled starches that have been shown to be most resistant.
• It’s always important to maintain the proper balance of lean protein, carbohydrates, and healthy fat each time you eat. Simply replacing some of the other starches with resistant starches may be okay, but adding them to what you already eat does nothing more than raise your caloric intake and probably your glucose levels, too, which I guarantee will cause weight gain, not weight loss.
• Of all the resistant starches recommend by researchers, legumes have the most resistant starches that actually reach the colon. Legumes are also among the highest in fiber and contain a high level of protein, making them a great source of all three nutrients. Make beans, lentils and peas part of your balanced diet for weight loss.
• If you’re going to bake, do it with a resistant starch powder made from corn called Hi-maize. It can replace ¼ of the traditional flour you would use in a recipe. You might want to look for products that have been fortified with Hi-maize, as well. Not only will you be getting higher levels of resistant starches, and more fiber in your diet, Hi-maize has less calories, too.

In the quest to determine causes and find solutions to obesity, researchers will come up with many theories and studies that will certainly create more confusion about what to eat and not to eat. You will always find conflicting views on just about everything, including resistant starch.

Dieters, in their desperation to get results, will follow just about anything that comes along with the hopes that it will work. Be smart, create a realistic plan that is balanced and can be adhered to over time, and stick to what you know works for you. That may require mixing things up a bit, trying new things, and testing your results.

Remember, the proven way to getting and staying lean and fabulous for life is to eat the right kind of foods in the proper amounts and increase your amount and variety of activity. There is a lot that can be added to that, but it’s a great place to start!