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A resistant starch experimenter shares his impressive American Gut Project results.

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Posted 11/29/2013 2:38 PM (GMT -7)
Full post here by "Tatertot" Tim: http://freetheanimal.com/2013/11/resistant-american-comparison.html

A post like this wouldn't be complete without some humor, so here is a quick summary brought to you by Sam Gamgee.

The Diet:

2 years The Primal Blueprint, 6 months Perfect Health Diet and eating approximately 4TBS of potato starch plus 20g of RS foods prior to sample

The potato starch used.

Supplemental Resources:

New Dietary Guidelines for incorporating resistant starch (12/3/13)

Primer on Resistant Starches with studies: http://freetheanimal.com/2013/06/resistant-starch-an-overall-primer-with-references.html

35 studies on resistant starch

Primer on Potatoes by Paul Jaminet, PhD: http://tinyurl.com/p76d9cc

Original Resistant Starch diet improves UC thread on healingwell by aguywithuc

Results:



Control Group (Standard American Diet):



His Interpretation of results:

- Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes (brown and orange on bar chart) - normal gut bugs for everybody, this is the bulk of everyone's poop. These can contain pathogens as well as beneficial microbes. Nothing special here to see. It is the section under these that is of huge interest.
- On the colored bar-chart, which compares me to others who tested themselves, I had vastly more Actinobacteria than anyone else in the study. Actinobacteria is a common bacteria found in soil and in the human gut and is responsible for synthesizing hundreds of natural antibiotics. Bifidobacteria belongs to this Phyla.
- Also from the colored bar-chart, I had vastly less Proteobacteria than anyone else. This type includes a wide variety of pathogens such as Escheria, Salmonella, Vibrio (cholera), and h. pylori.
- From the 'abundant and enriched' table, you can see that my Bifidobacterium count is 11 times the test group average! Bifido, as you may recall, is the most beneficial of all gut microbes--it's the basis of most probiotics. And I had taken absolutely no probiotic supplements except for some kefir and yogurt. Apparently, bifido liked the home I created with RS.
- Paraprevotellaceae was 10 times the average. This is a beneficial microbe who ferments plant matter into short-chain fatty acids.
- Lachnobacterium was 9 times the average. Not much is written about it, but it ferments glucose primarily to lactic acid along with minor amounts of acetic and butyric acids. So, I'll take it!
- Also, Anaerotruncus was 6 times higher, this is another producer of butyrate and acetate.

Extra Considerations

To really establish good gut flora and make this thing work:
- Add in some soil based probiotics like prescript assist.
- With each meal, eat a small portion of fermented foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, yogurt, etc
- eliminate foods that feed the bad bacteria or cause issues -> sugar, grains, etc.

My take on it:

I would love to collect results from users here and post them in some kind of sticky thread. This is really fascinating stuff considering the ramifications it holds for disease treatment in the future. If pathogens do indeed play a role in disease expression, it might just be in our best interest to reduce them through dietary interventions and resistant starches.
Posted 11/29/2013 3:31 PM (GMT -7)
i have read ALL of free the animal's articles on RS. that's one of the reasons i added it to my diet.

it has made a big difference in my gut and it hasn't even been a week yet.

i have 1 green banana in the morning and 1 cold potato or sweet potato at night. i haven't found potato starch in stores so i might order some online. it's amazing how my stool quality changed within a day of eating it. just big soft poops. i was having more gas the first few days but it has calmed down a lot. even after yesterday of indulging, i've had normal poops today since i still ate my RS foods yesterday.
Posted 11/29/2013 4:16 PM (GMT -7)
How green do the bananas have to be? I have read different things from different sources. My rule is that they have to have a good amount of green, but some yellow is ok. Does that go along with what you guys do? I put one in my smoothie every day but my other RS varies from navy beans (or an beans) to cold rice or potatoes.
Posted 11/29/2013 4:27 PM (GMT -7)
bananagirl, I am confused. could you please explain in more detail what is good with Resistant Starch? Did it bring you a remission?

Thanks
Posted 11/29/2013 4:58 PM (GMT -7)

bananagirl said...
i have read ALL of free the animal's articles on RS. that's one of the reasons i added it to my diet.

it has made a big difference in my gut and it hasn't even been a week yet.

i have 1 green banana in the morning and 1 cold potato or sweet potato at night. i haven't found potato starch in stores so i might order some online. it's amazing how my stool quality changed within a day of eating it. just big soft poops. i was having more gas the first few days but it has calmed down a lot. even after yesterday of indulging, i've had normal poops today since i still ate my RS foods yesterday.

That is amazing, bananagirl! Keep us posted on this!

1) I think Tatertot Tim mentioned in one of his posts that the gas is probably the result of the colon bacteria (bifidobacteria in particular) adjusting to it, so it makes sense that it calmed down after a few days. It seems to me that you had some kind of die-off effect. :)

2) He's very high on Bob's red mill potato starch, but I think cold potato works the same way in resisting digestion. He recommends working up to the optimal amount of 4 TBS of it along with other resistant starches, which you are already doing with bananas. I'm working myself up to 1 tablespoon of it and reinforcing with bifidus balance to help.

3) Which sauerkraut are you eating? Bubbies?

Thanks.
Posted 11/29/2013 5:06 PM (GMT -7)

mobin said...
bananagirl, I am confused. could you please explain in more detail what is good with Resistant Starch? Did it bring you a remission?

Thanks

Hi Mobin,

There was a big discussion on resistant starches a few months ago here.

Basically, these are "fibers" from fruits and vegetables that resist digestion in the small intestine and go straight to the colon, where the bacteria ferment it, and then subsequently repair the colon. Right off the top of my head these include -
Green Bananas
Raw potato starch (most concentrated amount)
plantains
cold pasta

Here's the wikipedia article for further clarification.

Post Edited (StealthGuardian) : 11/29/2013 5:50:58 PM (GMT-7)

Posted 11/29/2013 5:42 PM (GMT -7)
Don't forget aguywithuc's favourite: navy beans.
Posted 11/29/2013 6:00 PM (GMT -7)
momto2boys, my bananas have some yellow on them, too, but they don't peel willingly- if that makes sense. they are pretty sour to me since i was eating them with black spots for years. the greener the better. i think one green banana has 15 grams of resistant starch and that decreases as it ripens. if you cook it, the RS goes away. same with a plantain. i haven't tried a green plantain yet but i know you can buy plantain flour.

SG, it is pretty awesome!! i'm still on prednisone so the real test is if i can get off of it. i figure loading my body up now with RS is good while i taper. do you know if aguywithuc successfully tapered of pred with RS?
yeah, the gas was loud the first 3-4 days but not smelly. actually, my poop hasn't smelled bad at all. i hardly have to use any toilet paper to wipe. i wonder why the sodium butyrate capsules had no effect on me but the RS foods do.
yes, i do eat bubbies, but my favorite brand is
http://www.rejuvenative.com/
what do you eat with the potato starch?? did you see his post on the "no blood sugar spiking" mashed potatoes? he adds a tbsp of the potato starch to regular mashed potatoes.

mobin, i wouldn't say i'm in remission because i'm on prednisone. but generally, i feel good. i have no blood or urgency. my main symptom is that it takes me a while to poop. i go every morning and i usually have to sit there for 10-15 minutes. i think my body has been so used to poop with more water so it didn't have to do as much work to move food through. it was always just expelled.
Posted 11/29/2013 7:02 PM (GMT -7)

bananagirl said...

SG, it is pretty awesome!! i'm still on prednisone so the real test is if i can get off of it. i figure loading my body up now with RS is good while i taper. do you know if aguywithuc successfully tapered of pred with RS?
yeah, the gas was loud the first 3-4 days but not smelly. actually, my poop hasn't smelled bad at all. i hardly have to use any toilet paper to wipe. i wonder why the sodium butyrate capsules had no effect on me but the RS foods do.
yes, i do eat bubbies, but my favorite brand is
http://www.rejuvenative.com/
what do you eat with the potato starch?? did you see his post on the "no blood sugar spiking" mashed potatoes? he adds a tbsp of the potato starch to regular mashed potatoes.

1) I think aguywithuc is off pred now - he credited adrenal extracts, wheatgrass juice and RS (as serenity now mentioned) in helping him wean without withdrawal symptoms.

2) Sodium Butyrate didn't do much for me either, but I probably did not take a therapeutic dose. I'm trying to ration all the supplements I have due to limited finances. My other sources of butyrate are from butter, psyllium and RS, and I think it's slowly doing the trick.

3) I add the potato starch to broths, raw milk and vegetable stews - it can be mixed with pretty much anything, but it has to be eaten with something cold or at room temperature for the RS benefits.

4) I read the post about the blood sugar - Paul Jaminet summed it up here wonderfully on how to not get the BG spike with any starches.

Post Edited (StealthGuardian) : 11/29/2013 7:06:23 PM (GMT-7)

Posted 11/29/2013 8:12 PM (GMT -7)
SG, good thing about resistant starches is that they are dirt cheap!! i found 2 bags of potato starch on vitacost.com for less than $7 (3 lbs total). that way i won't have to eat actual potatoes. score!!!! i've never been a potato person but my sister on the other hand could live off of them!! wouldn't it be nice to be able to treat UC with a bunch of green bananas and a bag of potatoes a week?? ahh that would be my dream.

that is GENIUS about the broth. i am making a big batch of turkey broth right now. soystud mentioned i could throw potato starch in my smoothie with my green banana, too. i feel good right now at 2 servings a day but i'm not totally sure how much i'm getting. i read on the one link you posted that 33 mg (or somewhere in the thirties) drastically changed the gut flora.

just requested paul jaminet's book The Perfect Health Diet from the library. can't wait to get it.

i'm thinkin for plantains that i could slice them up, sprinkle with cinnamon and honey, and then dehydrate them to make chips. might be pretty tasty or pretty nasty.

what is your current med/supp plan right now? are you feeling good??
Posted 11/29/2013 10:50 PM (GMT -7)
Those of you who go the cold potato route....do you cook it and then put it in the fridge for eating or do you just throw it in the fridge right out of the bag w/out cooking it before eating?
Posted 11/30/2013 7:03 AM (GMT -7)
dude -

as far as the amount of resistant starch in a potato, here's the math:

cooked = good
cooked and cooled = better
raw = jackpot !
Posted 11/30/2013 7:35 AM (GMT -7)

bananagirl said...


what is your current med/supp plan right now? are you feeling good??

1) Just checked the vitacost price for Bob's red mill and it's a bargain. Great find. Here's the link for anyone that's interested.

2) I feel you on the simplicity of these treatments. If anyone wants to prevent UC or any other autoimmune conditions for that matter, then resistant starches along with dietary modifications is the most cost efficient way to do so. It also happens to be the diet that one of the top GIs in the country prescribes to her patients to prevent relapses of disease. She has many people on med free remissions with it, so it is an effective treatment and a possible cure for digestive issues. If only I had known about this stuff before my diagnosis. sad

3) Have you tried commercial plantain chips? I'm too lazy to make my own honestly lol. Whole foods has a bin that sells for $3. They use palm oil, which is paleo friendly. I ordered these a while back and they taste alright.

4) I'm always changing my supplements and diet, so I hesitate to include it in my sig. Supplements I'm taking atm - 1g worth of psyllium capsules, 1 tbsp of green pastures COD Liver Oil, 1g fish oil, swanson magnesium oil, saccharomyces boulardii, bifidus balance, digest gold enzymes w/ meals, HCL with pepsin when needed, iodine 225 mg, zinc 30 mg, b-complex for methylation support and a few others that I can't remember.

My diet is pretty much the same as yours except no fructose. I'm experimenting with dark chocolate and chili peppers for extra endorphins.

Medicines I'm taking - lialda 4.8 mg, canasa suppositories and 1.5 mg of LDN before bedtime.
Posted 11/30/2013 9:46 AM (GMT -7)
Dude35, i cook my potatoes. raw potatoes have the most RS but i'm not eating raw potatoes- bleh. i bake it at 350 F for an hour wrapped in foil and poke holes in it. after it has cooled a little, i take the skin off and chop it up with vinegar, salt, pepper, dill, olive oil, bubbie's pickles, and mustard. it's tolerable but i don't really enjoy the taste. i've read if you let it cool for 24 hours then it has a TON of RS. same goes for sweet potatoes. i usually don't let mine cool for that long because it tastes even worse. haha

SG, i ordered 2 bags of potato starch because you have to (weird minimum order rule). should last me a while. it was funny. i was reading amazon reviews (that's my thing) on the potato starch and one person said "it makes everything taste like potatoes!!" pahaha i wanna write back "no!!! really??? that makes no sense." haha

i watched a few of the videos on your GI doctor from Oz's show and also read her interviews. she seems great!! it's cool she has been able to help so many patients with diet. i will do any combo of med/diet/supplements as long as i feel good on it. obviously, it would be great to not need meds but i know how this disease works (well, scratch that, i DON'T know how this disease works!)

i've never had plantain chips. i should look for them. i usually don't snack a lot but they would be nice as a crunchy topping for foods- maybe chicken tenders or fish.

ahh yes, i can see how your supp/med plan adds up very fast. that's how i am too!! i've tried to really simplify things after my last doctor's appt. i had been having a lot of cramps and he suggested i stop the iron and calcium. the cramps were gone in about 2 days.

i don't know if you know this but my dad has UC. he was diagnosed at 23 and has been smoking ever since AND in remission (he's 48). the past 2 weeks, he's been cutting down on smoking and low and behold, he has BLOOD!!!!! i am honestly not sad at all because he has been cruel and ruthless to me ever since i was diagnosed- always saying i am causing it or it's in my head. never once trying to help me or show any compassion. i haven't spoken to him in a while but my sister told him what i've been doing. i told her he should try the nicotine patch to see if that helps and add in some RS.
Posted 11/30/2013 10:33 AM (GMT -7)
I added some potato starch to my smoothie this morning as well as my slightly green banana.
I love navy beans and so does my gut, but I was a big bean eater pre-UC so it easy to eat them. I eat my potatoes cooled, so what ever else I am eating I eat first while my rice or potatoes cool on my plate. They are cold to the touch when I eat them.
Posted 11/30/2013 11:02 AM (GMT -7)
I just started on RS. So far, what's worked for me is to cook a bunch of potatoes in the microwave, remove skins, and smash them up into pieces like for potato salad. I put the potatoes in the fridge overnight and now I'm eating them with a vinaigrette-like dressing with potato starch mixed in. I'm working my way up from 1 tsp. to at least 2 TBSP.

This is the recipe I'm using - I omit the onions. I made it in a jar and pour it on my potatoes/potato starch mix when I eat them. The starch mixes right in.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Salt-and-Vinegar-Potato-Salad-235029
Posted 11/30/2013 2:41 PM (GMT -7)
Your father disappoints me. I know it makes me sound like the devil, but I'm sort of happy that he's getting a foretaste of the hell you went through with the disease. You don't want to wish this disease on anybody, but there are some people who assume it's a walk in the park. I know the "suck it up" types very well. They exist in my family as medical doctors. I've estranged myself from them completely and eschewed all the false notions they led me to believe about medicine. The result? Less stress and faster healing. It's something I should have done sooner. It's a waste of time dealing with people who have zero sympathy.
Posted 11/30/2013 2:54 PM (GMT -7)
Doesn't eating startch go completely against the theory behind SCD?

Not that SCD is the answer for everyone.

Posted 11/30/2013 3:24 PM (GMT -7)

Edbar said...
Doesn't eating startch go completely against the theory behind SCD?
Not that SCD is the answer for everyone.

Elaine Gottschall had very good intentions when she formulated the SCD diet, and she certainly helped many people overcome disease. I think the same applies to Natasha Campbell McBride and the GAPS protocol. There is plenty of room for variation in both of those diets, and both will tell you that listening to your gut is the best thing you can do.

But, her assertation was that all starches feed the bad flora. There is newer research indicating that some vegetable/fruit starches, particularly from green bananas, plantains and potatoes (raw) feed the beneficial flora and strengthen the gut. I think anyone considering the SCD or GAPS diet might be able to fast track their healing by adding in these starches.

I'm sure that if she were alive today, she'd find the research compelling enough to advocate potatoes. Oddly enough, she wasn't against plantains, so it makes me believe that she knew something about it. Also, Natasha Campbell McBride does recommend potatoes, but only after coming off the GAPS diet.

Post Edited (StealthGuardian) : 11/30/2013 3:37:59 PM (GMT-7)

Posted 11/30/2013 3:56 PM (GMT -7)
Good point SG.

Interesting article in the OP. I'll be increasing the RS in my son's diet for a while.

Posted 11/30/2013 4:25 PM (GMT -7)
I was at an IBD presentation recently with top GIs and researchers and they said that the gut microbiota is different in person when they are flaring compared with in remission. This would suggest to me that, while in remission, the gut microbiota/bacteria is likely more hospitable so eating RS might be a very good thing to do in order to feed the good bacteria.
Posted 11/30/2013 8:20 PM (GMT -7)
RS is a fantastically healthy maintenance med/food.

I use Navy beans but they are just problematic for most others. Dirt cheap at .89 cents per can and many other benefits.

During a flare your transit time is TOO FAST to benefit as the RS has no time to ferment. Fermenting is key.
Solution : Blend up pysllium seed powder, a little wheatgrass powder and Intestimine with water first thing out of bed. This converts to healing SCFA butyrate just like RS does.

Once your transit time is 12 or more hours again you can apply RS foods again. Surprising RS food that that works despite all the sweets is UDI's gluten free chocolate cookies and chocolate muffins they are based on tapioca starch and it gets pretty solid, its unusual having to push so much.

Because the Japanese can halt most flares by filtering out Neutrophils I capture their count in self-pay bloodwork every weekend, I was actually back in the lab looking at my blood through a microscope because the first test failed and I had to rush the next as I was seeing my GP the next morning who understands what I am doing. While taking green tea and NAC to bring down my Neutrophil count I tried ASACOL HD and it slashed it by 70% however it has since risen some. I checked and this effect is known and can be so pronounced the patient has to go off ASACOL HD. I feel much better on it.

The other big hit is QING DAI and it really makes a huge difference. I waited 2 weeks for it to arrive and felt so darn good ever since it did.

Now every time I alter the RS experiment by stopping it to see if it made a 'permanent' change to my flora I flare within a month or two because I am on no maintenance meds and eating all kinds of garbage since RS compensated for that.

New GI is not amused and so I am going stop being a lab rat and will finally have one maint med ASACOL HD plus maintenance chinese herb QING DAI and will NEVER stop RS diet again, it provides excellent protection as a maintenance med.

Things have been out of this world stressful as sales failed at work so they laid off half the IT people I am remaining to transition everything and wanted to move on since I never flared as their consultant but flared 4 times as their employee with too much non-stop 24x7 responsibility and impossible conditions.

Next my ex-wives new criminal boyfriend I never more nor spoke to called me up and threatened me so I had to step up my conceal carry license process and purchase some guns, laywers guns and money and this all happens when I was hosting Thanksgiving and single parent with full custody has me almost too busy to take care of my health - 2 to 3 hours sleep for weeks now.
Posted 12/1/2013 5:10 AM (GMT -7)
Do you think just cold potato salad would work? Easy t o make or by and tasty right out of the fridge.
Posted 12/1/2013 6:11 AM (GMT -7)
What i don't get is why the potato starch on its own is not enough? As in why did he add in the "20g of resistent starch foods"?
Posted 12/1/2013 6:36 AM (GMT -7)

Edbar said...
I was at an IBD presentation recently with top GIs and researchers and they said that the gut microbiota is different in person when they are flaring compared with in remission. This would suggest to me that, while in remission, the gut microbiota/bacteria is likely more hospitable so eating RS might be a very good thing to do in order to feed the good bacteria.


I noticed this - while flaring my body wanted nothing to do with RS or some probiotics. While heading towards remission or at least a major reduction in symptoms my body started to like RS but only in small amounts. I had to build up to a degree. So for me it was the WOO/Thyme Oil/Reuteri that got me into 90% remission. Now, after a while on all three I can add RS and have only minor symptoms. Very minor.

Cold Potato salad I always found very tolerable. And tasty.. There' an amazing martha stewart recipe for it where if you make your own Mayo (Scd friendly) the whole thing is just awesome.

www.marthastewart.com/347304/all-american-potato-salad

SCD legal mayo can be made with an egg white, some dijon mustard, and safflower oil. Or perhaps you can buy Gluten free organic mayo.
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