As you know from both my book and my blogs that sugar (a.k.a. high glycemic foods) is the devil with regard to all of the negative implications on your health.
Many of our traditional holiday dishes are high in carbohydrates (think mashed potatoes, yams, rice, stuffing, bread pudding). Most of these starches have a real impact on our health, both immediately following a meal …
[That crash after Thanksgiving dinner is probably more due to a blood sugar drop from excess carbohydrates than to the little tryptophan in your turkey]
… as well as days after as our body deals with all the inflammation created from the one (or two) festive elaborate meals.
If you are a holiday foodie - this is GREAT NEWS!
Researchers have discovered that if we take a typical carbohydrate no-no, like white potatoes or white rice, cook them and chill them, the starch morphs into what is known as “resistant starch”(RS).
What is RS?
After having been cooked and cooled, the carbohydrate in these otherwise problematic carbs becomes “resistant” to being broken down in the small intestine. As a result, it passes to the large intestine where it becomes fuel for your healthy gut bacteria.
It also supports your good gut bacteria in forming a short chain fatty acid called butyrate. Butyrate is an important fuel source for the cells of the colon itself. It helps protect the intestinal lining and could be important in preventing leaky gut syndrome.
A super-quick summary of the health benefits of resistant starch and butyrate
- Reduces the glycemic load (blood sugar spike) after a meal, thereby decreasing the insulin response and may be effective in reversing insulin resistance (a leading cause of chronic disease).
- Increases satiety after the meal and may aid in weight loss.
- May decrease risk of colon cancer.
- May decrease leaky gut
Now reheating potatoes and rice isn’t the only way to get RS. You could eat your potatoes raw, for example. But tastier than a raw potato, you can get RS from legumes, nuts, green bananas and whole grains. It’s worth noting that heating, cooling then reheating each of these may actually increase their RS capacity.
It’s time for the holiday meals - let’s cut to the chase!
Holiday meal suggestions
If you are so inclined, you can try cooking your potatoes a day early, cooling them and then reheating before mashing. *
This can also be done with yams, squashes, and rice. Simply do the basic cooking a day early, chill and then put the whole recipe together on meal day to be reheated.
If your pie recipe allows, you can bake your crust, chill it then add a cold filling OR bake, chill, and re-bake with your preferred filling.
AT THE VERY LEAST!
Let’s keep in mind those delicious leftovers! Now you can reheat your sweet potatoes, stuffing and mashed potatoes and get all the benefits of RS along with the pleasure of enjoying your holiday meal without all the holiday hassles.
*If you consider trying a pre-cook, cool, reheat version of starch for your holiday meal, I suggest trying a small version of your recipe first. I tried baking a potato, cooling, and re-baking and found the cook-time on re-baking to be extraordinarily long. Also, boiled potatoes may have the potential to get too soggy.
Those of you who know me, know that preparing the Thanksgiving meal is NOT my forte. Ha!
So, if you try this with one of your dishes, PLEASE write to me and tell me how it came out. If you loved it, send me the recipe and I will post in next month’s blog.
Until next time,
Be well!
P.S. Guess what? Grass-fed butter and ghee also have butyrate. Enjoy it on your favorite cooked/chilled/reheated starch for an extra boost!