Resistant Starch: Why? Q & A
I am about half way through the 30 Day Resistant Starch Experiment. I wanted to give an update, clarify a few things and to answer a few questions.Quickly… if you do not know what Resistant Starch is, read this Intro Post first… please. :)
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See the picture? DO NOT be like Robin… Do NOT dismiss ‘resistant starch’ because of the word ‘starch’ … it should be called ‘resistant fiber’.
Do not be like one woman I know.
She made the statement, “Resistant Starch does not work well for me.”
When asked if she had ever tried it … she replied, “No”
This is the kind of ignorance we fought when going ‘low carb paleo’.
THINK ABOUT THAT!
Now … on with the show. :)
Starting in Sept 2013 I began a 30 Day Recording of my Overnight Fasting Blood Glucose levels (OFBG), this was before Resistant Starch. My range for the month was 71 – 91 mg/dl, with an average of 80.87 mg/dl. I am and was ELATED with those numbers!!
I eat fatty meats, butter and coconut oil EVERY DAY, add in the leafy green veggies most days, the occasional fermented dairy and a rare ‘snack’ of nuts or berries and that comprises 99.9% of what I eat.
I was not only surviving on this … I was THRIVING on this meal plan.
I have NO REASON TO CHANGE. I love the way I eat, I love the way I feel … I love the way I LIVE!!
So why do the Resistant Starch Experiment?
If you claim to be interested in health, if you claim to care about people, if you claim to be THE ‘diabetes warrior’ … how could someone not experiment?If you read the Intro post you should know the potential benefits that apply to everyone especially diabetics. The two main benefits are…
- Improved Insulin Resistance
- Improved Glucose Processing
These two benefits, if true… APPLY TO ALL DIABETICS! Most diabetics struggle with this mightily.
There are an estimated 300 million diabetics in the world, and many more people who have harmful elevated blood sugars…
Given my interest in helping others, given my ‘love’ for personal experimentation… how could I not EXPERIMENT?
Why Part II (Q & A)
This next section will answer questions I often receive.“But why? If you are thriving?”
I am doing this, not for myself … but to help others.
Through my website and social media I have come to know MANY diabetics who are struggling to maintain normal blood sugars.
Some struggle to maintain even elevated blood sugars.
I have good friends who are ‘low carb paleo’ and are struggling. Of course I will experiment if I thought I could help them…. who would not?
I am doing this to satisfy my own curiosity but also, I do occasionally eat berries and on rare occasions fruits. Too, when I exercise intensely sometimes my blood sugar levels will rise into the 130-140 mg/dl ranges… if potato starch can help me in those circumstances… I would benefit from it.
There are 100′s of millions of diabetics world wide taking and paying $100′s of millions of dollars for drugs. Not only is this a huge expense paid by the diabetics, the insurance companies and the governments… but in many cases they have harmful and damaging side effects.
If one person could wean off of drugs or insulin … this experiment would be WORTH IT!
WHY WOULD I NOT TRY IT? .
Lastly, there are other reported benefits including improved satiety but the single largest benefit of ALL? … improved gut health. IF Resistant Starch improves gut health (and I think everyone agrees that it does) at the very least Resistant Starch is a cheap ( less than $5 per lb), inexpensive prebiotic. We are just now learning the importance of gut health to our overall health. This could be the biggest benefit of all.
Google “Prebiotic” and see… a small bottle can cost $5… many for $10 and more. One pound of resistant starch is less than $5.
What do you hope to achieve?
World Domination!! I’ve bought Potato Starch future contracts and … I’m joking. :)
I hope to prove or disprove the reported benefits. If it helps me (and it does) I want to shout the NEWS from the mountain tops! … in hopes that it helps others.
If it reduces the drug (and insulin) needs of others it’s a WIN!!!
You aren’t taking Potato Starch so you can eat junk are you?
My response to this was … HELL NO! :)
I understand why the question was asked. MILLIONS take diabetes drugs to mask the symptoms of disease, just so they can eat breads, cakes, cookies, pasta and cereals… that’s a fact.
I’m not doing this experiment so that I might be able to eat a cookie… or a cake… NEVER!!! I’ve eaten my last piece of bread, I’ve eaten my last donut… period. :)
I understood the question because I’ve seen people say that they have eaten those items and potato starch mitigated the blood sugar response. They were rejoicing because they could once again… eat ‘junk’. UGH!!!
As I have noted many times on this blog… I don’t eat breads, cakes and cookies etc for several reasons.
1) The Blood Sugar Effect
2) Glutenous, Hydrogenated Oiled, High Fructose laden crap that’s called ‘food’ … will never purposely cross my lips. I’m not going to poison my body… for a sugar rush.
It’s the principle of the thing too. If I look a diabetic in the eye and tell them… “I’m clean since 2009 and if I can do it, so can you.”
That’s a powerful statement.
3) I’ve paid TOO much money to those that profit from the pain and suffering of this planet and it’s people. I will not ever purposely contribute to the bank accounts of Big Food, Big Pharma nor the Medical Industry.
… hows that? :)
What if someone does start back eating junk food.
That’s on them, people must take responsibility for their own actions.
I was a drug and insulin dependent diabetic taking (4) insulin shots a day to survive, not to mention a long list of drugs. I’m now drug and insulin FREE thanks to a ‘low carb paleo’ lifestyle!! Should I not share this with people? Knowing that many will fall off the wagon?
Of course I should share it! Of course I should try to improve the lives of others.
What they do with this… is on them.
Early Results
For me the results are no longer ‘early’ I will flat out state …- FACT: Resistant Starch has reduced my Overnight Fasting Blood Sugars (read this post)
- FACT: Resistant Starch has reduced my Blood Sugar spike post Potato (read this post)
- FACT: Resistant Starch IS helping other diabetics. These are people I know and trust to report the results honestly and accurately. (read this post)
Stay TUNED!
Resistant Starch Information
Vast majority of what I know about Resistant Starch, I know either from Richard Nikoley’s website or links he’s published.Special thanks to Richard Nikoley of FreeTheAnimal.com for his dogged determination to drag many of us into at least testing the claims of resistant starch. Here you can see all the posts Richard has written on “Resistant Starch“.
According to Richard, “Bob’s Red Mill Potato Starch” is the best source for resistant starch, click here for their website, You can order online from Amazon, but I’ve found it in one local grocery store via the store locator on the website.
Also according to Richard, I took and continue to take (4) TBS every day. Initially I took (1) TBS at a time, 4 times a day. Initially I had a small bump but after a couple of times my BG response went away and I began to take (4) TBS at one time.
I stirred it in water originally or cool coffee but now I add to full fat, plain yogurt or full fat sour cream.
Do NOT heat up the Potato Starch, do not cook with it. Doing so chemically changes the resistant starch into starch.
Potato Starch - I started out taking (1) TBS, four times a day. I only eat once a day so … it’s okay to take on an empty stomach. When I no longer had a BG response, I took (2) TBS twice a day, then (4) TBS once a day.
Note: If you have a sensitive stomach or have intestinal issues, you may want to try (1) TSP per day, and increment (1) before switching to TBS. Many experience flatulence … I know I did. :)
That’s about all I have… if you have any more questions… feel free to ask. :)
Thanks,
Steve
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