Benefits of Resistant Starches For People With IBS And SIBO

If you have struggled with SIBO or IBS then you most likely have been told to avoid eating resistant starches, but are there benefits to eating resistant starches if you have SIBO or IBS? Should you avoid them? How long should you avoid them, What are the benefits of resistant starches? How do you know when to add them back to your diet if you have been avoiding them? These are all the questions I am often asked about resistant starches and I’m going to answer some of these questions in today’s video and in other upcoming articles.

I’m Dr Hagmeyer and I’m the clinic director of DrHagmeyer.com where we helps patients all over the world find answers and solutions to chronic health problems using the principle of functional medicine and lifestyle nutrition.

If you have never heard of resistant starch, really quick, resistant starches are thing like green bananas, rolled oats, Lentils, Beans, chickpeas, Rice, and most grains.

Like the name implies, resistant starches don’t get broken down completely in the small intestine, so what happens is that most of the starch passes through to the large intestine, where it becomes food for the bacteria that are inhabiting and make up your microbiome.  While this can be a great thing for the health of the microbiome and the bacteria, it also presents some problems for those with more active SIBO symptoms.

Of these foods I just mentioned, some foods are higher in resistant starches than others and this is important to know. If you stay with me to the end of this video, I’ll share with you my thoughts on which resistant starches you should add back to your diet first, when you want to add them back, and how to do it.

If you want good gut health, we are talking long term good gut health , this is going to require regular consumption of FODMAPS including Resistant starches. Now that might seem contradictory for those with IBS and SIBO, but that’s why I said- Long term gut health depends on these foods. You might not be there yet…… in your journey. But at some point you will be and at that time, the introduction of Resistant starches and how to add resistant starches back into the diet will be critical. Before we get into how and when to add them back into your diet, take a look at some of the benefits of eating resistant starches and the impact they have on gut microbial health.

7 Benefits of Eating Resistant Starches When You Have SIBO

1. Resistant starches maintain and normalize gut motility. This is incredibly important for People with SIBO because SIBO first and foremost is a gut motility disorder.
2. Resistant starches help reestablish gut microbial balance. In other words, it increases “friendly” (good) gut bacteria and protects against the growth of bad bacteria and pathogens.
3. Resistant starches help bind toxins and eliminates toxins from the body.
4. Resistant starches stabilize blood glucose levels and increases insulin sensitivity.
5. Resistant starches improves cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
6. Resistant starches increase satiety, which can aid weight loss and weight management,
7. Resistant starches play a role in B vitamin production such biotin which is important for hair, skin and nails, folate which Is needed for maintaining health homocysteine levels, and methylation pathways and vitamin K which plays roles in bone health and blood clotting.
8. Recycling bile acids, water and electrolyte balance and motility

How Do I add Resistant Starches Into My Diet?….

Will all of these benefits of resistant starches that I just listed, you might be inclined to rush out and start incorporating these into your diet. Let me give you a word of caution.

Before you do this, let me first say that there is a time and place for resistant starches.

Resistant starches offer so many benefits, but If you are just starting out with SIBO or IBS or a low FODMAP diet then I recommend that you avoid as best you can the majority of resistant starches and that’s because for some people resistant starches, may exacerbate symptoms so the key here is to go slow!

Here’s what I recommend You do When Its Time To Add Resistant Starches Back Into the Diet.

If you have gotten your SIBO and IBS symptoms under control and I mean that you are 80-90% improved with symptoms of Diarrhea, Constipation, Gas, Bloating, the next step is to start implementing these resistant starches back into your diet- but you don’t want to start introducing all kinds of resistant starches. What I recommend is that you first start with the foods that are low in resistant starches and then move onto foods with higher concentrations of resistant starches.

Foods Lowest in Resistant Starches.

So things like cooked rolled oats, white rice, brown rice- if this goes well for a few weeks (4-8 weeks), then try adding in some of the starches that are little bit higher in the concentration of resistant starches- things like, yam, buckwheat, in addition to eating cooked rolled oats, white rice and brown rice.

And if that goes well for a month or two- now try adding back things that are much higher in resistant starches- things like Chickpeas, lentils, uncooked rolled oats, green banana, raw potato starch.

The goal again is to slowly increase your resistant starches while listening to your body. If you notice that you are experiencing more bloating, more gas, more IBS symptoms, you may have to back down for a few weeks and explore some of the other reasons (check out the videos and article at the end of this article) behind the bloating, SIBO and IBS.

Word of Caution When It Comes To Resistant Starches- Don’t Make These Mistakes

One of the mistakes I see a lot of people that start with the higher resistant starches first and then wonder why their IBS symptoms got worse.  If you eat too much Excess fermentable carbohydrates may foster potential harmful properties of gut microbes which may include:

1. Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO) – described below
2. Infection by disease-causing organisms – less competition for nutrients
3. Excess gas formation keeping the Ileocecal valve open
4. Increase in microbial toxins (endotoxins)
5. Hydrogen Sulfide

Just remember start with resistant starches that are lower on the list and and slowly work up while listening to your body!. You can learn more about Resistant starches in this article where I review How and when to add resistant starches back into your diet when you have SIBO

 

 

 

 

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