Bono, Russell Brand and Steven Tyler could have used a bit more starch in their collars (or pants or hair!) at Vanity Fair’s Oscar-night party. But their fashion faux pas don’t come close to the major dietary mistakes most folks make when they miss out on the powers of resistant starch.
Resistant starch is a carbohydrate that does NOT turn into sugar when you chew or digest it. Instead, it passes through your gastrointestinal system unchanged and emerges out the other end having done amazing good works along the way. High-fiber foods like legumes – navy beans, lentils, fava beans, black-eyed peas and chickpeas, for example – plus bananas have a good dose of it.
Aim for 20 grams a day, that’s about four times more than most folks eat. The benefits?
-Good gut bacteria thrive, strengthening your immune system and protecting you from conditions like irritable bowel syndrome.
-Blood glucose doesn’t spike to cell-damaging levels, and your blood sugar levels stay relatively stable after a meal.
-And new findings! Cancer cells in the colon and gut are vanquished.
There’s one trick: Foods that contain resistant starch have to be eaten at room temperature or cooler. (Cook ’em, then cool ’em.) So enjoy a cold four-bean salad with a splash of balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Who’d want to resist that?
– Dr. Michael Roizen & Dr. Mehmet Oz
© 2013 Michael Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet Oz, M.D. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.
