What Is Resistant Starch And Can It Help You Lose Weight?

As we’ve discussed in other blog posts, there are many types of carbohydrates. And one that you may have heard of but aren’t as familiar with is resistant starch. 

Whether you’ve seen it on food labels or in magazine articles, you may be wondering what resistant starch actually is and whether it can be helpful for weight loss. Let’s discuss!

What is resistant starch? 

Before we get to what resistant starch is, let’s back up and discuss what a starch is. 

Starches are types of carbohydrates that are made up of long chains of glucose — the main building block of carbs and the primary source of fuel for our bodies. 

Starches are found in many plant-based foods. These include potatoes, breads and grains, corn, beans, and some types of fruits like figs and bananas. 

And when you eat these foods, normal starches get broken down into glucose molecules so that they can be absorbed and used by the body. 

Resistant starches, however, cannot be fully broken down into glucose. Or in other words, they’re “resistant” to being fully digested. At least by us, but we’ll get to that more in a second. 

And since we can’t break down resistant starches, that means that we also don’t absorb the calories or carbs from them. As a result, resistant starches are being researched for their potential to aid in weight loss. 

It’s also worth noting that there are four different types of resistant starch. While I won’t go into them in this article, you can read more about them here if you’re interested. 

Resistant starches are beneficial for gut health 

As I alluded to above, while we can’t digest resistant starch, it doesn’t mean that they just stay fully intact. 

In your gut lives trillions of bacteria, many of which are called probiotics. And probiotics are actually very beneficial for your overall health.

Resistant starches are considered prebiotics, which means that they provide fuel for the probiotics in your large intestine. 

In fact, research suggests that resistance starch may help increase the number of beneficial bacteria in your gut. And the more beneficial types of bacteria in your GI tract, the healthier your gut is. 

And this is important, as it’s thought that by improving your gut health, resistant starch may help reduce the risk of metabolic disease, like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. 

Other potential benefits of resistant starch 

In addition to improving gut health, early studies suggest that resistant starch may have other benefits for health, including: 

• May help with weight loss by increasing feelings of fullness without contributing calories. While short-term studies have shown a reduction in calorie intake, long-term studies are needed to see if this leads to meaningful weight loss (1, 2, 3).  
• Has been shown to help improve insulin sensitivity which is an important risk factor for many diseases, including type 2 diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s disease. 
• May improve fasting blood sugar levels in individuals with diabetes. 

However, keep in mind that while we do have some research in humans, more high-quality, large studies are needed to fully understand how resistant starch may affect our weight and blood sugar levels.  

So how do you get resistant starch in your diet? 

There are several good sources of resistant starch, including: 

• Oats
• Rice
• Many whole grains, such as barley
• Potatoes and sweet potatoes
• Raw potato starch 
• Soaked and cooked beans and lentils 
• Cooled cooked pasta 
• Green bananas (the riper they are, the less resistant starch they contain) 
• Cashews 

Cooking and then cooling increases resistant starch in many foods

What’s super interesting is that the amount of resistant starch appears to increase some foods after they’ve been cooked and then cooled.

Or in other words, if you cook a potato, cool it, and then eat it, it will have more resistant starch than if you had eaten it fresh out of the oven. 

The reason for this is that when potatoes, pasta, or grains are cooked, the structure of the starch in them changes. Then, when they cool, the starches settle into a new form – which includes higher amounts of resistant starch. 

So, if you want to increase the amount of starch in your pasta or oatmeal, it’s best to eat it after cooking and cooling in the fridge overnight (hello pasta salad!). 

Not only will you be providing beneficial prebiotics to your gut, but you’ll also have a lower rise in blood sugar levels after eating than if you’d had the pasta/potato/grain hot off the stove. 

What’s more, some research suggests that if you reheat these previously cooked and cooled foods, they still retain some of that resistant starch. So, if you can’t stand the idea of cold rice, go ahead and reheat it with a little water or broth.

The bottom line 

Early research suggests that resistant starch may have several important benefits for our gut health and help reduce blood sugar levels after eating those foods.

Furthermore, it could help you lose weight by filling you up without contributing calories to your meal. 

Still, more research is needed. 

A final benefit that wasn’t discussed is that eating more foods in resistant starch is also a good way to get more fiber-rich foods in your diet as well. 

As fiber is incredibly important for your overall health, make sure that you’re meeting your daily fiber goals by tracking your intake in Lose It!