Hi All,
I wanted to share this video with you. I found it to be educational and informative.
Hungry Microbiome: Starch Fermentation - YouTube Maybe beans and fiber are beneficial to us because they are fermented in the large colon? Any biochemist amongst the group?
(I don’t know the best category for this post. It’s related to general health, immunity, general health. Please feel free to relocate to better category.)
@lh378
I have found that day old potatoes do not require anywhere near the insulin bolus for me that immediately cooked potatoes. And that is due to a great deal of the starch having transformed into resistant starch.
I also believe that our gut microbiome controls our behavior to a great extent dictating our food preferences as well as food avoidance.
I guess “we are what we eat” is truer than we thought.
When I initially performed the day old rice experiment, I was overly optimistic; expecting no BG rise. As you pointed out day old starch probably requires less insulin than freshly cooked. I was hoping for a miracle, 
LOL.
I have been taking Bob’s Redmill Potato Starch. This has zero impact on my blood sugar, thankfully! I take it once in the morning and once at night with cold water. I have noticed my fasting blood sugar to be consistently below 100 since taking 4 Tablespoons Bob’s Redmill Potato Starch. Prior to taking 4 Tspn Potato Starch, my fasting BG was consistently over 100, hovering around 110 to 120. I’m speculating that the resistant starch may be benefiting my gut microbiome by producing SCFA.
I have also started to consistently have beans as part of my diet. Beans seem easier to dose for than “white” carbs. For me, it doesn’t seem to work to combine beans and white carbs. Dosing for 20-30g carbs of beans usually leads to pretty stable BG. The quantity is satiating too. Whereas dosing for 20-30 g of carbs either as white rice, pasta usually results in some bizarre yoyo BG and the quantity is not adequate to satisfy hunger. (To satisfy hunger, I would need 70-100 grams carbs of rice, or about 45-60 grams pasta which is too much for me to handle from a BG management perspective). Inclusion of the white carbs would be about wanting a taste of it, rather than for satisfying hunger. As much as I love and miss rice, pasta, white bread…etc. the white carbs would cause my muscles and joints to feel inflamed and sore and achy. The beans don’t seem to cause any aches and pains.
OK @lh378, I have to ask: what is the deal with Bob’s Redmill Potato Starch? What is it for? What does it do? What is the usefulness?
It seems to be a form of resistant starch. I use the word “seems” because the package does not say that it is. There is a video, The Hungry Microbiome : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NI3KtR3LoqM
and there is literature about resistant starch https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/resistant-starch#:~:text=RS2%20are%20native%20resistant%20starch,X-ray%20pattern)%20starches.&text=Native%20potato%20starch%20is%20also,RS3%20are%20retrograded%20starches. Resistant starch is starch that is fermented in the large intestine, producing Short Chain Fatty Acids (SCFA). SCFA are thought to be very important and beneficial to our health. I’m not a biochemist, so hopefully, the explanation is succinct without sacrificing accuracy.
Members of the online diabetic community have reported better overall BG numbers and other health benefits from using resistant starch. I am sharing what I have come across, and my personal experience.
Potato starch is often a key component of gluten-free baking mixes along with tapioca starch and rice flour. It also can be used as a thickener in soups or stews but I prefer to use sweet rice flour when making gravy for my GF husband.
Thanks for the information, I’ll have to look it up and do some reading! I hadn’t heard of it before.
@CatLady I’m truly amazed! I’ve shied away from all things rice and potato ('cept sweet potatoe) for fear of BG impacts. Apparently I still have much to learn and appreciate your all’s input!
@TomH, I avoid rice myself and usually stick to garnet or jewel sweet potatoes. I like home-grown freshly dug yukon gold or red potatoes now and then but find the carb content otherwise to be all over the map so that I end up high or low. Go figure!
BTW, this product seems to lower the glycemic load in baked goods:
@CatLady Yep, did some reading on resistant starch, seems to work for some (not all) but worth a try. Read in 9 Foods That Are High in Resistant Starch: Oats, Rice & More that using only 1-2 Tbs/day will do it, but you have to watch for BG carb impacts from digestible carbs, not heat the food (dang, I was thinking in soups or sauces), and to watch for a reported laxative effect in some folks. Also, the effect may not be immediate but take a week or longer to show (as with most things D, its variable!). Thanks for the lead!
Have you used the Hi Maze Natural Fiber?
Hadn’t heard of it, so haven’t tried it. How do you use it what impact?
Back in my pre-D days, I added it to bread recipes to add fibre and body. Now that my husband is GF, I don’t bake very often and haven’t tried adding it to GF recipes.