Page 28 - Seniorstoday September 2022 Issue
P. 28
Health
Resistant starch does
your body good
Applying caution and knowledge can help you get the most out of ingesting
this healthy carb, writes Dr Nandini Saini
The word starch brings to mind carbs, 2.Slowly Digestible Starch
and foods rich in carbs, such as rice and Having a complex structure, this type
potatoes. People often associate starch with takes time to break down. It is mostly seen
weight gain and high sugar levels. Is it in cereals.
really so? 3.Resistant Starch
What is it? This type cannot be digested easily by
Starch is a complex carbohydrate, found the body, and largely passes undigested
in many grains, fruits and vegetables. The through the intestines, to fiber. It is further
plants produce this as a way of storing the classified into 4 types:
glucose produced during photosynthesis. RS1 - found in grains, beans etc. It is
Extraction of pure starch yields a white, physically protected by the whole grain,
odorless, fluffy powder. which means enzymes cannot reach it
Complex carbs have a complicated through the walls.
chemical structure and are difficult to RS2 – present in raw foods like potatoes
digest; instead, the gut bacteria feed on and unripe bananas. It is found in starch
them. that cannot be broken down while cooking.
Types RS3 – from foods that are cooked, then
It can broadly be classified into 3 groups, cooled, like rice. Usually found in starch
depending on its nutritional properties: that gets broken down (gelatinized), while
1.Rapidly Digestible Starch cooking and then cooling the food.
Found in cooked foods like breads and RS4 – in breads. This type is modified to
potatoes, this type is rapidly broken by the resist digestion, not found naturally in
body into glucose. foods.
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