Cancer Journal #25 March 7

 Today, I will speak on the subject of "resistant starch."  Some may ask what that has to do with cancer.  As it happens, I put "resistant starch" and "cancer" into Google search and got a report that there are 648,000 hits for the association of those two terms.  That's enough of an association in the Schaefer household.  For anyone who comments that a Google hit is not what it used to be, I will ignore you. 

 Let me explain what resistant starch is.  It is starch--pasta, potato, rice etc. that does not get digested in either the stomach or the small intestine but remains intact until it reaches the large intestine where it serves as nutrition for the microbiome that inhabits that organ.  It therefor avoids all the bad things that starch does, namely weight gain, bumping up an insulin response and its various other adverse effects  and then provides the benefits associated with well fed microbiome which they are finding out more and more about all the time.

How do you get resistant starch?  You can go on Amazon and order a batch of it for $30-40.  An easier, cheaper way is just to cook whatever the starchy food is, pasta or whatever, let it cool (they say leave it in the refrigerator over night.  I don't know if that's necessary) and then reheat and eat.  Pretty simple. One thing I like about it is that it turns an indulgence into a virtue.  Some people might object, saying that all that is is eating leftovers.  Well, yes, that's true but leftovers taste just fine as far as I'm concerned.  They can get even better tasting, depending on the leftover.  

I have some questions.  Is all the starch or just a portion of the starch converted into resistant starch by the cooling routine?  If just a portion, how big is that portion. Be nice to know that.  What about white bread?  It's been heated in the baking process and left to cool.  Does that make it resistant starch?  Probably not but I don't know why not.

One caveat.  I believe the microbiome breaks down and obtains nutrition from the starch by way of fermentation.  This creates what is euphemistically referred to as bloating.  That's not so great but as I see it, you have to crack eggs to make omelettes.


Comments

  1. Jan CMarch 9, 2021 at 2:03 PM

    Interesting to read of all the things you discover in your research. Good to have lots of options to consider!

    Thinking of you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. John CMarch 14, 2021 at 2:07 PM

    I suggested Joy start freezing all out Rice before serving it. Im sleeping in the garage now

    ReplyDelete

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