Resistant Starch: Diet Potatoes??
[By Crabby}
C'mon, How Can You Resist Me?This new breakthrough is in some ways similar to the "Mufa's" they were just telling us about. ("Mufa" is Prevention's hopelessly uncool nickname for monounsaturated fats, the secret to acquiring a Flat Belly). The good news is that yet again, you get to eat more of the stuff you like anyway but thought was too fattening.
This time it's certain starches--like corn, potatoes, rice, beans and bananas that are supposed to have slimming properties.
Yep, you heard right: corn, potatoes, rice, beans and bananas are now going to help you lose weight. And not only that: Resistant Starches are also supposed to fight heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. Plus they'll boost your immune system.
Researchers at the LSU AgCenter can explain how resistant starches work better than I can. To summarize, unlike refined grains and sugars, resistant starches aren't broken down into sugar in the small intestine. They "resist" this digestion and pass on into the large intestine, where they act more like dietary fiber. Not only that, resistant starches are fermented in the large intestine, a process which in itself consumes energy.
So what's not to like about eating more spuds and other starches without guilt?
Well, this wouldn't be Cranky Fitness if we didn't have a few concerns, gripes, and random questions. Like:
1. If, as the Prevention article claims, "more than 160 studies have examined this little known nutrient's remarkable health and weight loss benefits," why the heck are we just hearing about this now?
You'd think a phenomenon this robust would have been more obvious. After all, we're a spud-lovin', starch-addicted culture. Why didn't anyone notice the awesome benefits to these good starches until recently?
Hmm... Is it just a coincidence that we're just starting to see commercial products featuring these resistant starches? (Look for "Hi-maize," a resistant starch powder made from corn).
2. The slimming effect is way more powerful if you eat the starches cold.
Oh goody.
I mean sure, cold's fine for potoato salad and bananas. But corn on the cob? Burritos? Paella? Still sounds more appealing than brussel sprouts, but not quite as enticing as piping hot garlic mashed potatoes.
3. And, um, not to be skeptical, don't we all know people who eat a lot of these starches and are anything but slim?
4. Potatoes? Really?
We already knew whole grains and legumes were really good for you and well worth the calories. It's the potatoes and corn that are surprising. They always seemed like kind of a lousy nutritional bargain, didn't they? Technically produce, but without all the antioxidants and bonus points you get for eating a "real" vegetable like cauliflower. Plus they've got a fair amount of calories you could be saving up for an actual treat, like chocolate ice cream.
But if it turns out we're not really getting all the potato/corn calories, then it's a whole new ballgame isn't it? What if you get to eat your ice cream for a treat but have your potatoes too?
I have to admit to some skepticism, but I do notice this information is already affecting me. I let my last burrito cool to room temperature, secretly hoping this simple step was both fighting disease and making more room for future cupcake consumption. However, I'll probably forget about the whole thing in a couple of weeks unless we really do start seeing a slew of studies confirming this whole resistant starch notion.
What about you folks--any thoughts on resistant starches, or are you finding yourselves resistant to the whole idea?
34 comments:
Funny — I was just researching this whole topic (thanks to a new study that came out in Feb) for an upcoming issue, and was having a lot of similar questions pop up in my mind. As of this moment, I'm still resistant to the hype.
Did the study say whether the potatoes have to be cooked? The Bag Lady actually rather likes raw potatoes (with a little salt, of course). The other thing about potatoes - it isn't the potato itself that is all that fattening, it's the toppings...
We used to have the ever-popular "Mr. Potato Head." Now we can have the new "toy", "Mr. Potato Body!"
Sweet! (as in potato) Did I spell that right?
Dr. J
Bag Lady, you eat potatoes raw? Wow! I thought that potatoes being a nightshade made them impossible to eat raw (nausea inducing, like elderberries), but glad to hear I'm wrong! :)
I recently read on That's Fit that potatoes, if not overcooked, have tons of vitamins and minerals. I'm still sticking with sweet potatoes though.
I'm not totally convinced about rice. So many different people recommending different things, it's hard to know which way to go. But previously, I've read that rice is high glycemically, so I try to stay away from it unless I'm eating Indian or Asian food.
Yay corn! Next time my mother tells me not to eat so much corn because it turns into sugar, I can proudly hold up this study (I'll just take what I like from the study and not what I don't) :)
I would think cooking would break the potatoes down so that this effect wouldn't happen. So that means raw potatoes or corn. I've never had raw corn but raw potatoes are OK (really crunchy).
From a google of "raw potato glycemic index":
When we boil potatoes, the heat and water expand the hard compact granules, (which make raw potatoes difficult to digest), into easily digestible swollen potato granules. Some granules actually burst and free the individual starch molecules, and this is the reason why potatoes have a high glycemic index – they are easy to digest and absorb.
A study on the effect of cooking potatoes on blood sugar levels:
http://care.diabetesjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/7/3/221
I can imagine Prevention left this important tidbit out on purpose if it is indeed the case.
I can't help being affected by personal history. When I was twelve my mother got allergic to potatoes and we stopped having them with the pot roast. I stopped gaining weight. I grew three inches in the next four years without gaining a single pound, and I have the stretch marks to prove it. (I caught up later.) This sample of one isn't exactly a study, though.
Mary Anne in Kentucky
Echo Bag Lady. I love raw potatoes.
Lethological Reader, tomatoes are also a nightshade, as as bell and hot peppers. They can be eaten raw without fear. Eggplant is too, but I don't think anything could induce me to eat it raw.
Back to potatoes.
This is the Year of the Potato. Anything that causes me to eat more spuds is good.
That said, I'm sure we'll be treated to a contradictory study shortly.
Oh my goodness, you guys are so much better informed than I am on the potato question! Great questions, too.
Josh, thanks for all the research!
I'm a big fan of blue/purple potatoes, which I figure have the good potato stuff plus the purple antioxidant boost--but I'm not sure I want to eat them cold.
And Bag Lady and Leah--you Canadians always impress me with your hearty, healthy diets. Raw potatoes? Never would have thought to eat them that way. (And can't say I'm going to start either!)
I'm generally of the opinion if it's found in nature it's probably not horrible for us. So yes, I'll eat potatoes and corn occasionally...and now I'll start looking at french fries and popcorn differently...
(and raw potatoes? Are you guys serious?)
Hi Crabby,
as a diabetic, I can tell you that except for a very young, very new potato, like fingerlings or small reds, I will get a blood sugar elevation from eating potato. have to try a potato salad and see what that does.
Gotta run over to Josh's link on Diabetes Journal now.
Terrie
Yay.
I LOVE mashed potatoes. Baked Potatoes. Mum used to give us raw poatoes as a snack...OK, all potatoes really.
Hmmm...And I've always had a flat tummy, when when I was bigger.
OK then, I am choosing to think there is a link...and then I can have more potatoes.
Yum.
I think that unless one has an insulin or metabolic disorder of some kind, whether or not one eats potatoes and whether or not they are cold is irrelevant.
I tend to go on long-term food obsessions where I make one particular a staple for anywhere from a few months to a few years. I've done this with cream of wheat, baked potatoes, corn, oatmeal, and frozen yogurt, to name a few. In each and every case my weight remained constant as long as I stayed within my calorie threshhold relative to physical activity.
It's all about the calories, baby!
BL - My mom can eat an entire raw potato, like an apple with a little salt. :)
My problem with this is that I am one of those folks who just eats a ton of those things. Rice, potatoes, bananas. They are big binge foods for me.
Don't dis the Brussels sprouts! I love them.
You've probably only had them overcooked and mushy. Ever tried them steamed to what restaurant menus call "crisp-tender" with a nice vinaigrette?
OK, so maybe you have and you still don't like them....
Potatoes, bananas, rice - this sounds like my type of diet. Now can I have the butter, cream and sweet and sour pork needed to accompany them?
Great post! And really interesting comments too. I am of the opinion, like Katieo, that if a food comes from nature (as opposed to in a box) then it's good for you. I love all plant foods! That said, I do eat potatoes, rice, corn etc. in moderation. But then these aren't binge foods for me either (helloooo ice cream!)
PS> Raw corn is the BEST. So much sweeter than when it is cooked.
Breakthrough, my arse. I just love "studies." Mankind has been eating potatoes, corn and rice as a major dietary staple since we climbed out of the primordial ooze. Then scientists spent billions of dollars to tell us that the very stuff that has kept civilization going was suddenly bad for us. Now, billions more dollars later, they turnabout and say, oh, well maybe your primitive ancestors knew what they were doing all along. We need to stop researching, that's what we need to do. It just messes with everybody's head.
Raw potato slices, salted. Yum.
I think this study sounds ridiculous, and is probably a ploy from the corn and potato farmers/distributors who have most likely been losing money due to the whole "low-carb" fad.
Similar to when they introduced the Canada food guide to tell you how many servings or different food groups you should be having, and it was recently revealed that the proportions of certain foods (like bread) were overemphasized because they were in surplus in the Canadian food market at the time....
Yes this comment makes me sounds like a paranoid conspiracy theorist... I know..
Hmmm... I'm a little skepty too.... I have a hunch that if I ate cold potatoes and cold rice I would puff out and pack on some poundage.
I'd have to see some convincing evidence and decent 'before' and 'afters' to be willing to give this new concept a try....
McB, you're totally right that we've been eating potatoes and rice and corn for centuries and millennia. However, it's also true that we're much much more sedentary than our ancestors, so those same foods hit the midriff so much faster.
I think I might have to try this raw potato thing, since everyone seems to think it's so awesome. Maybe raw corn too (I'm soo looking forward to corn season, but it won't be for months and months...)
Going back to a previous Crabby/Merry post, I did make beets recently, with balsamic and salt and they were very tasty :)
I'm sure potatoes and corn are fine in our diets - but not processed into chips and topped with cheese. What you'll never read in a mag like Prevention is that if we would cut all the processed crap out of our diets most of us wouldn't have a weight problem. Or health problems. But then Prevention would have no advertisers.
I don't know about the starch thing, but the whole MUFA and Flat belly diet thing from prevention has worked great.
The Bag Lady urges all of you to go to your kitchens, peel a potato and eat it raw (with a little salt)!! C'mon people, live on the edge...
(Just make sure if there's any green parts, to cut that off, 'cause it tastes bad, and it's not good for you...)
Mmmm, raw spuds! I try to limit myself to just one or two bites when I am cutting them up to cook them. As for the study coinciding with the sudden availability of products containing resistant starch - that is too much of a co-winky-dink for me.
Bag Lady, I just tried it.
It was gross.
It's a Bag Lady family conspiracy and I'm with Katieo.. raw potatoes are gross.
This sounds more like propoganda from the grain industries most notably the corn folks. Almost everything is made from corn now. I found that when I cut out/down the corn foods and corn based sweeteners in particular, weight fell off me faster.
On a side note, can I get that potato picture on a t-shirt? That would be so cool.
LR - you're right about the sedentary lifestyle, but we consume too many calories overall. Carbs are not evil (excepting for those dealing with diabetes). We've been through it all before. Everyone jumps on the high fiber, no fat, no sodium, no this, more that bandwagon and then science says ... well actually some this is good for you and even necessary, and too much that can cause other problems entirely.
Moderation is the key, as in all things.
Katieo - I'm sorry you didn't like it. I suppose raw turnip would be out of the question for you then, eh?
(Hilary, how could you say that!!?)
"Mankind has been eating potatoes, corn and rice as a major dietary staple since we climbed out of the primordial ooze."
This is not even remotely true. Corn and rice are seeds and were only available seasonally, and then only in small quantities, until the advent of agriculture and storage about 10,000 to 20,000 years ago. The date on which we climbed out of the primordial ooze is somewhat open to intepretation, but it was on the order of millions of years ago. Before year-round availability of seeds, we ate primarily fish, game, and the other (non-seedy) parts of plants.
Poatoes, of course, are native to the Americas, and when we did crawl out of the primordial ooze, we did it in Africa. Again, the date of human arrival in the Americas is somewhat controversial, but the earliest I've ever seen is about 50,000 years ago.
You might talk to a diabetic (and there may well be some among the readers/responders to this post) about the effects of white potatoes on their blood sugar levels. A good friend who is diabetic says that a baked potato negatively impacts (i.e., raises) his blood sugar levels far more than a Snickers bar or other high-sugar food item. If it sounds too good to be true....
OK -- I posted a little too quickly. Terrie indicated that she is a diabetic and mentioned her blood sugar elevation after eating potatoes.
I think what needs to be really stressed about the benefits of eating resistant starches is that the food must be cold!!!
Once you re-heat the food the benefits are reduced largely.
I eat resistant starches (which are cold), and I've seen some benefits. Also, I feel I am not as hungry. I generally don't eat a lot of meat, and eats lots of green vegetables with my starches. I also take it with a digestive enzyme (which have been a life save - my digestion has never been better).
I really don't think of resistant starches as a diet - rather, it is how everyone should eat. My father is a diabetic, and since eating digestive enzymes, pre & probiotic foods, and taking fish oil - his blood sugar readings have been more or less normal.
In sum, I think the key is to eat a balanced, whole food (and as raw as possible to maintain as much of the enzymes as possible) diet (which include resistant starches) that can be properly digested where any waster/toxins are eliminated regularly from your system.
It is amazing to me that so many people can read and comment on this article by Prevention and totally miss the fact that it is only cold potatoes that have enough resistant starch to make a difference. So potatoes in your stew pot, mashed with garlic and butter, or cut into sticks and fried are all still out! I've been doing this for a couple of days now (not a long time, I know), but I've already noticed that I eat a lot fewer calories and have not had the blood sugar spikes and subsequent plummets that I normally do when I eat potatoes or pasta. In addition, I've found that at room temp I can enjoy many of the foods that I normally consume heated. But I've been reading the research on resistant starch and wanted to mention another caution: if your meal also contains high amounts of fat, the benefits of resistant starch are substantially lower.
Anyway, I hope it doesn't turn out to be just hype because I have five kids to feed and low-carb can get really expensive!
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