4 Reasons Resistant Starch Helps Weight Loss

Weight loss can be greatly enhanced by resistant starch.

Here are 4 reasons that resistant starch assists in weight loss.

1. Satiety - If you'll recall, resistant starch does not get metabolized in the stomach or the small intestine. Now you have a large, bulky, osmotically active substance in your stomach &/or small intestine. Why do people typically fail on their 'diet'? I would venture to say it is because of hunger. Here you have a substance that dramatically reduces hunger. This should be a huge reason to consider increasing resistant starch when trying to lose weight.
2. Digestive hormone alteration - I'll have to do some more digging into this topic but multiple sources mention that resistant starches alter hormone secretion favorably enhancing weight loss.
3. Increased fat oxidation - fat oxidation occurs when fatty acids enter the β-oxidation pathway in the mitochondria. This means that the body is preferentially utilizing fats for energy. The fats are coming from either dietary intake or from adipose stores. Either way, increased fat oxidation is good for overall fat loss! In fact, there was a study done by Higgins, et al., that showed if you replace 5.4% of your carbohydrates in a meal with resistant starch, fat oxidation increased by 23%! This study was published in Nutrition & Metabolism (Oct 2004) if you are interested.
4. Decreased calorie intake - recall that carbohydrates typically have 4 Kcal/gram. Resistant starch, however, only has 2-3 Kcal/gram!

So, basically, we have a naturally occurring food that helps you feel full, alters hormones, increases fat burn, and allows for less calorie intake.

If you have read my previous posts, you'll know that I'm a big advocate for a low glycemic-index diet due to the insulin response (or lack thereof). Due to the fact that resistant starches are resistant, they do not get broken down quickly. Their digestion takes time and results in a very slow absorption.

Low glycemic-index means lower insulin levels. In a healthy person, that is a good thing!

Additionally, there is evidence that resistant starches help maintain energy (probably due to the long, slow release of carbs), increase insulin sensitivity, and decrease glycemic response - in both healthy AND diabetic patients.

When you look at all of the possibilities behind resistant starch, it seems like a logical conclusion that we should increase them in our diets.

Sounds like a winner to me!

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