Resistant starch is a type of starch that “resists” digestion, functions similarly to soluble fermentable fiber and making you feel full longer.
| Types of resistant starch | |
|---|---|
| Type 1: Physically inaccessible | Type 2: Resistant granules |
| Cannot be broken down by digestive enzymes.Found in: legumes, whole and partially milled grains, seeds. | Intrinsically resistant to digestion and contains high amounts of amylose.Found in: fruits, potatoes, hi-maize RS products, corn, some legumes.Note: the more “raw” or “uncooked” a food is, the more RS it tends to have, since heat results in gelatinization of starch – making it more accessible to digestion. Type 3 starch is the exception to this rule. |
| Type 3: Retrograded | Type 4: Chemically modified |
| When certain starch-rich foods are cooked and then cooled, the starch changes form, making it more resistant to digestion.Found in: cooked/cooled foods like potatoes, bread, rice, cornflakes. The longer and hotter a starch is cooked, the less RS it tends to have — except for Type 3 RS. | Companies have isolated RS (usually from corn) to include it in processed foods (e.g., breads, crackers, etc.).This is not naturally occurring RS — it’s produced mostly via chemical modification, and it’s found in synthetic and commercialized RS products. 40–60% resistant starch: Hi-maize resistant starch / hi-maize fiber / hi-maize flour 80% resistant starch: Raw potato starch |
| Examples of naturally occurring resistant starch | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Food | Serving size (1 cup is ≈227 grams) | Resistant starch (grams) | grams per 100 grams (%) |
| Banana flour, from green bananas | 1 cup, uncooked | 42–52.8 | ~20.9 (dry) |
| Banana, raw, slightly green | 1 medium, peeled | 4.7 | |
| High amylose RS2 corn resistant starch | 1 tablespoon (9.5 g) | 4.5 | 47.4 (dry) |
| High amylose RS2 wheat resistant starch | 1/4 cup (30 g) | 5.0 | 16.7 |
| Oats, rolled | 1 cup, uncooked (81.08 g) | 17.6 | 21.7 (dry) |
| Green peas, frozen | 1 cup, cooked (160 g) | 4.0 | 2.5 |
| White beans | 1 cup, cooked (179 g) | 7.4 | 4.1 |
| Lentils | 1 cup cooked (198 g) | 5.0 | 2.5 |
| Cold pasta | 1 cup (160g) | 1.9 | 1.2 |
| Pearl barley | 1 cup cooked (157 g) | 3.2 | 2.03 |
| Cold potato | 1/2" diameter | 0.6 – 0.8 | |
| Oatmeal | 1 cup cooked (234 g) | 0.5 | 0.2 |
