Blood Sugar Levels Upon Waking

Have you been wondering why you haven’t been feeling your best, despite exercising and watching your diet? You may be missing something. Even though you’re eating all the right foods, you might not be getting all of their nutritional benefits. That’s where comes in.

Your Gut Biome

Microbes in your digestive system help you use all the nutrients that can be derived from the foods you eat. Most of these microbes are bacteria, and most of them live in your intestines, primarily your large intestine. (Your stomach is too acidic for many of them.) In fact, you have 10 times more bacteria in your intestines as you have cells belonging to your body.1)O’Hara Ann. M and Shanahan, Fergus (2006). . Embo Reports. DOI:

Your intestinal bacteria – often known as your “gut flora”, although they aren’t plants – help break down your food and, in the process, synthesise essential vitamins, including vitamin B12, folic acid, thiamine and vitamin K.2)Gorward, Sherwooe L. (1996) . Medical Microbiology, 4th ed., Baron S, editor. This means that if you don’t have a healthy gut biome, you can become malnourished even if you’re eating plenty of healthy foods.

Your gut microbes also defend your body from infection. They form a barrier between the inside of your digestive system and your intestinal lining, where the byproducts of the foods you digest, possibly including some toxic substances, pass into your bloodstream. These microbes also influence the development of your immune system. Lab mice bred with no intestinal microbes are very vulnerable to infection.1

Scientists divide resistant starch into four types:

RS1 consists of starch in a physically inaccessible form, such as partly milled grains and seeds, legumes and very dense processed starchy food. Cooking does not break it down. RS2 is starch with a granular form that makes it resistant to digestive enzymes. Examples of foods that contain RS2 include green bananas, raw potatoes and high amylase corn. Cooking or processing RS2 makes it digestible. RS3 is starch that has been cooked and cooled. Cooling creates new chemical bonds that make it extremely resistant to digestion. You can find RS3 in cooked and cooled potatoes, bread and cornflakes. RS4 consists of starches created by chemical modification. They are not found in nature. You can find RS4 in some processed starchy foods, such as breads and cakes.10)Sajilata, M.G., Singhal, Rekhas S. and Kulkarni, Pushpa R. (2006) Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety. DOI:

Why Take Supplements?

If you’re concerned about digestible carbs – the kind that raise your blood glucose levels, cause insulin resistance and contribute to diabetes and other serious medical conditions – you might have a problem if you try to get all of your resistant starch from food. RS-rich foods, like potatoes, bread, rice and beans are high in digestible carbs, which could be undoing some of the benefits you gain from resistant starch.

The solution – buy resistant starch in raw form, for example, as raw potato starch or raw cornstarch. This will enable you to enjoy all the benefits of resistant starch while staying low carb.

Side Effects

Resistant starch is, after all, indigestible, and if you don’t have enough gut microbes to digest it for you in the first place, you’re going to notice it. That means heartburn, gas, cramps, constipation, diarrhoea, even headaches – any of the wonderful ways your body tells you that you’ve consumed something you shouldn’t have. If resistant starch seems to be affecting you in a bad way, consider taking some probiotics or reducing the amount you consume.