Im still not very clear on precisely what is RS. Is it just a catch all praise that includes all plant starches that are resistant to being broken down in the small intestines?
The list on the link seems to be centered around grains, starchy roots, plantains and legumes.
Are there differences between the indigestible fiber of Plantains to that of coconut, or other tree nuts and seeds?
I have eaten bits of raw sun-chokes, and other RS foods but it seems if I eat more than just a little I get very bloaty. This is in regards to all starchy foods in general seeds, nuts, roots, grains ect.
Even raw coconut if I eat more than a little will have the same effect, which is why I eat coconut butter, for some reason dehydrated coconut is not an issue with me.
Prehaps there are enzyme inhibitors with some RS foods which have to either be cooked, soaked, fermented, or dehydrated before the bacteria flora of the gut can utilize them.
There must be antibacterial properties of RS foods which make them resistant to being broken down enigmatically in their Raw state.
Perhaps with continued ingestion of RS the gut does begin to build up the bacterial flora and enzymatic production required to assimilate such foods?
There has to be a number of other factors to explain why some people can eat extremely large amounts of these foods without an issue, while others have a bad reaction to very small amounts.
Sorry I missed these questions, Sabertooth. I just stumbled on them while looking for something.
Yes, resistant starch is just what the name says--starch that is resistant to digestion and most of it makes it undigested to the colon, where bacteria digest it in a person (or animal) with a healthy GI microbiome.
The majority of the resistant starch in coconut is in the heart of the tree itself--"from the topmost section of the coconut trunk" (
http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/ubod-heart-of-coconut-palm-2). The food from this is called ubod in the Philippines (aka palm pith, palm hearts, sago, palm cabbage, ubod). I think GoodSamaritan posted about it somewhere, but I can't find that now.
The closest thing in the USA is raw jarred peach palm hearts with a flavor reminiscent of pickled artichokes, such as these:
http://www.melissas.com/Hearts-of-Palm-p/94.htmPalm hearts were one of the main starchy foods in Eastern Asia before rice agriculture came to dominate.
Sun chokes are rich in inulin, another prebiotic, not resistant starch, and sun chokes are not starchy.
RS is technically not antibacterial, it is a prebiotic that feeds bacteria, most of them beneficial, though it can carry pathogenic bacteria out of the gut, as most of them cannot feed on it but try to anyway.
Perhaps with continued ingestion of RS the gut does begin to build up the bacterial flora and enzymatic production required to assimilate such foods?
Yes
There has to be a number of other factors to explain why some people can eat extremely large amounts of these foods without an issue, while others have a bad reaction to very small amounts.
You basically guessed what is probably the main one - that those who get short-term problems from RS don't have enough of the good bacteria to handle it. The problems often resolve over time as people build up a healthy GI microbiome.
Hope that helps.
Margareta Lundström, one of the founding mothers of the Swedish LCHF-movement, reported amazing results from resistant starch:
http://freetheanimal.com/2014/05/resistant-revolution-community.htmlAs I said somewhere before, I don't recall where, resistant starch and prebiotics are going to revolutionize "Paleo". It's a game changer.
