Are Foods With Resistant Starch Good for You?

Resistant starch is a type of carbohydrate that nourishes the good bacteria in your gut and supports digestion. It may also aid in weight loss while helping combat chronic diseases.

Registered dietitian Beth Czerwony, RD, LD, explains exactly what resistant starch is, what foods contain it and why it’s great for your overall health.

What is resistant starch?

“Resistant starch is a type of carbohydrate, but it doesn’t digest the way some other starches and carbs do,” says Czerwony. Most carbohydrates get digested in your small intestine. But resistant starch passes through to your large intestine. There, it feeds the beneficial bacteria in your large intestine’s microbiome.

Resistant starch may sound similar to fiber. But are they the same thing?

“They’re very similar, and some resistant starches do have fiber, but not all of them,” clarifies Czerwony. “A lot of foods that contain fiber, both soluble and insoluble, also contain resistant starch. If you eat a variety of whole grains and legumes, for example, you’ll get the benefits of fiber and resistant starch.”

Types of resistant starch

Czerwony says there are four different types of resistant starch:

• Type 1 is in the cell walls of whole grains, legumes and seeds. Your body breaks down the cell walls of these foods to release the resistant starch.
• Type 2 is in unripe bananas and raw potatoes. Most people don’t eat these foods, so consuming this type is uncommon.
• Type 3 forms when you cook starchy foods like rice, potatoes or pasta and then cool them. The cooling process causes this type of resistant starch to form and slightly reduces the calorie content.
• Type 4 is an artificial ingredient added to some processed foods.

Resistant starch benefits

All types of resistant starch have similar benefits. The main benefit is improving the health of your gastrointestinal tract. A healthy gut positively impacts almost all other body systems. “There’s a big connection between gut health and your brain, for example,” says Czerwony.

Resistant starch may:

• Help you better manage your blood sugar
• Boost your brain health
• Improve gut and microbiome health
• Strengthen your immune system
• Help prevent heart disease and some cancers

Does resistant starch help you lose weight?

Including resistant starch in your diet may help your quest to drop extra pounds.

“Eating foods with resistant starch can help you feel full for longer, so potentially you may eat less or not as often,” shares Czerwony.

You use more energy to digest resistant starch than sugary carbs. To supply that extra energy, your body has to burn more calories during digestion.

“This may contribute to some weight loss,” she continues.

Resistant starch foods

The best sources of resistant starch are:

• Beans and legumes
• Whole grains, such as barley, brown rice and oats

“Most resistant starch foods are an important part of a healthy diet, and I always encourage people to eat more legumes and whole grains,” says Czerwony. “If you’re already eating these foods, you’re getting the resistant starch benefits.”

But much like fiber, you probably could use more resistant starch in your diet. In the U.S., most people only get about 5 grams of resistant starch per day. To get the full health benefits, aim to get at least 6 grams of resistant starch per meal.

Czerwony offers ideas for getting more resistant starch in your diet:

• Cook with chickpea flour, tapioca flour or potato starch.
• Cool your cooked rice or pasta in the fridge overnight before reheating them to eat.

Try recipes that include foods high in resistant starch, such as:

• Chicken mushroom barley soup
• Crunchy bistro lentil salad
• Spicy roasted chickpeas
• Spring vegetable stir-fried rice
• White bean stew with rosemary and spinach
• Whole-grain Mexican pilaf

Now that you know the benefits of resistant starch, you may find it hard to resist!