Friday, July 1, 2016

Potato Starch (RS2), RS4, and Inulin: New Research

See the full article at www.potatohack.com!

Study 1 - 4TBS Bob's Red Mill Potato Starch for 10 days, 20 people


"Variable responses of human microbiomes to dietary supplementation with resistant starch"


Study 2 -  RS4 (from wheat), 12 weeks, 86 people


"Impact of dietary resistant starch type 4 on human gut microbiota and immunometabolic functions"


Study 3 - Inulin prevents hunger cravings


Cravings for high-calorie foods may be switched off in the brain by new supplement


Conclusion


You all know my story...and I'm sticking to it!  Fiber is good, and knowing the different types is extremely important. Most of what is listed as "fiber" on food labels is non-fermentable fillers. To get a meaningful amount, we need to be ingesting the fibers that are known to be changed into short-chain fatty acids in the large intestine.  These are fibers known as resistant starch, inulin, FOS, pectin, glucomannan, oligosaccharides, and others.  It's important to get as much fiber as possible from real foods, like onions, garlic, leeks, beans, potatoes, and all manner of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. However, if you need a supplement, try inulin, potato starch, or one of the many supplements available. If you buy a commercially prepared fiber supplement, get one that has no artificial colors or flavors and consists of just fermentable fiber.

Hat-tip Barney and Wilbur for sharing the studies with me!

Later!
Tim

93 comments:

  1. I hope this comment is ok, not on the subject of this post. I don't see a way to email you so I'll do it here. I notice since you changed the format of this blog I can't send someone to an overview of the potato diet any longer. Used to be you had summary posts at the top menu. Do you have links you could post here so I could copy them and email them to friends I want to introduce to this whole concept, that includes the science behind it? Or do you only do that if they buy your book now? That's ok I guess, just asking. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I had to take the summary down because the book contract says the info cannot be freely found on a website. I was able to put up an expanded preview (right above the book icon on right sidebar).

      Here's a good link that gives an intro to the potato hack: http://vegetablepharm.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-potato-hack.html

      Delete
  2. Oh, wait a minute,... is that link to your book on the right side up top, so people can read it free if they want? I guess that's great for what I was asking, but I don't propose you do all that work for free either. It's great you wrote the book and all, but your posts and people's comments over the last year have been fantastic as well. That's all I was saying. However if I can point people to your book, that is certainly a good option too. Best, Dan

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  3. I have just got round to reading the first study, and it brought up quite a few points for me. How different we all are in our gut composition. I think I am likely to be in the "low" group as I haven't had much success with raw PS.

    This what I pulled from the paper as it relates to my situation (and what is the composition of my gut flora):

    In this study, we find that the response to RS supplementation varies between individuals in ways that can be explained, at least in part, by variation in the composition of their microbiota.

    Raw un-modified potato starch (Bob’s Red Mill, Milwaukie, OR) was gradually added to their diet (day 1- 12 g, day 2- 24 g, day 3- 48 g; Fig. 1). This potato starch contains approximately 50 % resistant starch (type 2) by weight. After the acclimatization period, the subjects consumed 48 g of potato starch - 24-g doses twice per day - for seven more days. Participants were provided a 1-tablespoon scoop, which they used to measure out the appropriate amount of potato starch (each tablespoon ≈ 12 g) and consumed it after mixing the starch with cold water.

    The relative abundance of RS-degrading organisms and butyrate concentrations did not increase in the low group. This suggests that their microbiota did not break down RS and so could not lead to increased butyrate production. So why does the abundance of RS-degrading organisms remain at 1.5 % in the low group? Possible explanations include limitation by antagonistic microbes or lack of synergistic microbes.

    A third subset of our study population (6 of 20) had consistently low concentrations of butyrate even
    when consuming RS (≤ 8 mmol/kg wet feces). In this group, RS-degrading organisms did not increase in abundance, suggesting that their microbiota did not break down RS. Based upon this result, we propose that increasing butyrate in these individuals will require either (i) testing another form of dietary fiber such as inulin or arabinoxylan that their microbiota might degrade.

    The findings of this study illustrate the importance of studying individual responses to dietary modifications.

    I fully agree, I seem to have better results with inulin.

    Jo tB

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, it's all quite interesting. I have a paper somewhere from the '80s that shows this exact same effect with inulin. The study participants were divided into 3 groups, responders, non-responders, and partial responders.

      My thought is that this phenomenon extends to ALL fibers, and even fibrous foods. We just have to experiment until we find something that works.

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  4. I've been googling constipation gut dysbiosis in the elderly to see if I can get a handle on my problem and have been coming up with some interesting results. Apparently inulin supplementation helps. So I will do the above experiment with inulin and see how that affects my constipation. If it improves my gut flora along the way, GREAT !!

    Jo tB

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  5. Study no. 2 says it all:

    However, due to various metabolic adaptations in MetS patients, they may not always benefit from the information generated in healthy humans or animal models.

    Jo tB

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    Replies
    1. Study 2 used MetSyn patients in the trial, no?

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    2. I was thinking more of how studies in healthy humans do not apply when you are MetSyn. This study used MetSyn patients and then used RS4 (a chemically modified starch)which at the moment won't be of much use to us as it isn't available to the public.

      Jo tB

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    3. Sure! At least this study showed that modulating the gut flora through feeding of fiber had good effects. This gets us closer and closer to the personalized health care we need. No one-size-fits-all.

      Delete
  6. Just cam across a novel use for our favourite spuds !!!

    http://healthandwellness365.com/2016/06/25/put-rose-into-a-potato-and-plant-it-7-days-later-you-wont-believe/

    Jo tB

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  7. Tim,

    I've been experimenting with water fasting. I just finished a 3-day fast and after reading this post a thought tiptoed through my alleged mind that a long fast, however one defines "long" in this context, would result in the death of most gut bugs. This wouldn't have been a problem for our hunter-gatherer ancestors after an enforced fast since their menu naturally replenished their gut biome upon re-feeding but what about us moderns? Our foods are sterile compared to Grok's.

    One fasts for a variety reasons ranging from philosophical/religious to simple internal cleansing. I was wondering about the nutritional content of the various fibers we know and love. Since the major factor of a water fast is the elimination of nutrition, will the ingestion of fermentable fibers keep the gut bugs alive but avoid supplying nutrition? Also, a desirable result of a water fast is allowing the digestive system to "rest," give it a vacation. My immediate opinion (a.k.a., no deep thinking) is that the intake of fibers will supply nutrition AND disallow resting, negating two important reasons for doing a water fast.

    Might you have an opinion on this?

    James H

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    Replies
    1. All of your gut bugs should survive a prolonged fast, living in the mucous layer and appendix. When you begin a re-feed, the food you eat will determine which ones flourish.

      Not sure about a water fast + fiber. Makes sense, but I'm not all that knowledgeable on water fasting.

      Delete
    2. Here's a good description of a 40-day water fast in which the subject took 1/2 tsp psyllium after some time because peristalsis shuts down after a few weeks. Apparently the effect was not good, but I guess it doesn't relate to RS so the question still stands....

      http://www.rayjardine.com/adventures/2014-10_40-day-Fast/index.htm


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    3. Psyllium is a crazy fiber. Try mixing 1/2tsp of psyllium with 1tsp of water in a small bowl and see what happens...the stuff turns to Gorilla Glue. I can only imagine getting this stuck in an empty gut.

      Conversely, potato starch mixed in water does nothing strange. In fact, it will simply settle to the bottom of the glass if left alone. Other fibers, like inulin dissolve into the water. IfI was fasting, and looking for a fiber, psyllium, guar gum, or glucomannan would be my last choices.

      Delete
  8. I see that the link to this article is wrong. Below the correct one.

    Variable responses of human microbiomes to dietary supplementation with resistant starch.

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27357127

    Jo tB

    ReplyDelete
  9. I guess the question becomes, are the low responder's bodies simply shitting out less butyrate concentrations because their body is utilizing it more efficiently than the 'high responders?' After all isn't this an actual source of energy for many parts of the body?
    Is a high responder (in this study) simply one who's Butyrate absorbtion is less efficient in the hind gut?
    Butyrate is absorbed by colonocytes in the proximal colon via passive diffusion and by active transport mechanisms. For example I for one don't seem to utilize thyroid hormones as well as 3/4 of the population. Just an idea.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. yes, that's the million dollar question. An inulin study from 1999 found the same thing, people were divided into groups depending on the "unwanted effects" of inulin. Some had none, others could not even tolerate 1/2tsp of inulin.

      And, yes, there is a line of thought that fecal butyrate is somewhat meaningless as healthy colonocytes should absorb nearly all of the butyrate that gut bugs can produce.

      The takeaway is that people respond differently to the same dose of RS (and any fiber) and anyone giving their N=1 as "proof" RS or some other fiber is best or worst is FOS (and that does not stand for fructooligosaccharide, lol).

      Great observation and comment! Thanks

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    2. I was reading somewhere on why butyrate in vitro versus in vivo was not getting the same results in certain disease states. One thought was that butyrate needs to get to the crypts where the intestinal stem cells are, and perhaps in some people, it just isn't getting there. So the lumen butyrate just doesn't tell us effect. Don't have much more to say than that. Just throwing in my half-penny, which may be completely unrelated (as I've yet to read all the comments). Have a good one.

      Delete
  10. An interesting paper on the correct feeding of rabbits for future meat supply. All to do with gut flora.

    https://dl.sciencesocieties.org/publications/jas/abstracts/79/E-Suppl/JAN00790ESE343

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  11. Just wanted to check in to say hi and to thank you, Tim, once again for leading me down this resistant starch path! It really has significantly and positively changed my life and my health. I am currently taking about 70g of RS daily (a combination of potato starch, plantain flour and tigernut flour) and have also added lots of probiotic foods such as kombucha, kefir, yogurt, and fermented vegetables.

    One of the unexpected yet positive results is that I now find myself craving vegetables, which I have never done in my whole life! Consequently, my diet has gone from keto based (protein, fat, and very low carb) to eating lots and lots of raw or fermented veggies and lower amounts of meat, cheese, and fats. I am also finding myself a bit obsessed with making my own fermented foods, but that's another story.

    I have a doctor appointment coming up in August and it will be interesting to see how this dietary shift is affecting my insulin resistance. A keto diet didn't seem to be helping in a positive way (to such an extent that I don't think my doctor believed I was faithfully eating to plan). From home testing, it does seem to be regulating my blood sugar response so I am very happy with that.

    Anyway, I am so thankful for all the information you share and all that you do!

    Valorie

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    1. Valerie, same here. Keto didn't give me the results with my blood sugar either. I started thinking along the lines of my circadian rhythm being out os whack, and when that is disfunctional all other systems disfunction. The latest bit of news that I came across is that our gut flora also has a biological clock/circadian rhythm. So I am back to concentr5ating on my gut flora and trying to give them the food they need.

      Jo tB

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    2. The bacterium, Bifidobacterium, is a common member of a healthy intestine, but it becomes less numerous as people age.

      This study looks promising.

      http://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem.aspx?ItemId=165773&CultureCode=en

      Jo tB

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    3. I've heard, too, that bifido declines with aging. I wonder if it's just the typical diet in old folks homes or something else going on. Does it decline in an old person eating a really complete high fiber diet.

      Delete
  12. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  13. So , out of the blue, my perfect bowel function from daily eating oatmeal, lentils and cooked and cooled potatoes suddenly became not so perfect. Couldn't figure it out, til it occurred to me that I have been taking a course of eye drops after cataract surgery. There was a week of antibiotic drops and five weeks of prednisolone. I have already taken some very high dose probiotics, which worked for a bit. I guess I will have a better idea in two weeks when I have competed the prednisone drops. But really, eye drops?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry to hear! Hope you recover quickly. Any big disturbance in life can sometimes change the gut flora, and the drops probably did not help matters.

      Delete
    2. I know from experience that eye drops can reach the throat. I had to use eyedrops a couple of years ago, and I could taste them soon after putting them in. terrible taste. I'm not sure of the route, but I believe what you put in your eye can reach your gut.

      Delete
    3. Here's the route. There's also a suggestion for preventing it.

      https://drleesb.wordpress.com/2012/04/12/why-do-i-taste-my-eye-drops/

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    4. Thank you! Just tried it. No taste .

      Delete
  14. Hi Tim,
    Thanks for sharing these new studies.

    I wanted to ask, when increasing fibre intake, how long might it take typically for gas production to decrease. Right now, each day, there seems to be quite a lot of gas...

    For the past 3 weeks I've been taking in a smoothie in the morning:
    2 TBS potato starch
    2 TBS Inulin (via Benefibre which in Canada is 100% chicory root)
    1 TBS Chia seeds
    1 TBS Raw Cacoa powder (sometimes)
    1/2 tsp Glucommanan
    1-2 TBS Kefir
    Blueberries / Cherries / Banana (alternating)
    16oz water

    And about 10 minutes before that, I'll swallow 1-2 cloves of raw garlic (alternating between chopped/crushed and whole) with ~8oz water

    Then in the evening I might have another 1TBS of either Potato Starch or Inulin mixed with Kefir and Blueberries.

    Each day, I'll also have some homemade sauerkraut.

    During the day, I'll eat a pretty good lunch and dinner, with lots of veggies. Usually have a slice or two of this bread: http://www.dimpflmeierbakery.com/product/organic-100-rye-bread-with-whole-grain/

    I'll also have beans a few times a week, and potatoes as well.

    I was hoping that the gas production (quantity or odour) would have gone down by now, as I'd like to increase my intake of both inulin and PS by 1 TBS. Also still feeling a bit bloated, wouldn't say sleep is great, and I'm not experiencing any improvement in some inflammation related health issues (in fact gotten a bit worse past week). I'm wondering if the gas is a signal that something I'm doing isn't working.

    Thanks for all the info you share!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What are your end-goals for such a supplement-heavy fiber protocol? If your digestive (and overall) health is pretty good, most people are happier to just incorporate high-fiber foods into their diet and supplement sparingly.

      I'd say you are over-doing it, unless you are trying to clear up some long-standing issues that diet has not resolved.

      Search this blog for "In Search of the Perfect Fiber..." There are 5 parts. If you have not read, it might help you to hone in on a better plan.

      Delete
    2. What did you do 3,weeks before this? That's a lot of fiber to jump into all at once.

      I don't know your health issues or what you ate prior to staring this. From my experience, this is not like flipping a switch and you are cured. I imagine the process more like this: The good bugs need to wrest control from the bad ones first. Then the good ones need to establish their own symbiotic communities. Then they need to restore communication with the body. Then they need to begin repairing high priority stuff - maybe it's the immune system, I don't know.

      At this point, you might not notice much in what you want improved. That's ok. It takes time. But one thing I remember from when I started is that there were some serious battles going on in my gut.

      Eventually things will settle down. And you'll notice more and more things being fixed. Or more likely you'll suddenly notice that you had never noticed X disappeared.

      Gas is normal. Painful gas and bloating is not. I know I have the right mix when having gas makes me happy (really, it feels good). Smelly gas isn't normal. If I have a smelly fart, then it's a signal that I need to poop. It amazes that sometimes I don't even feel that I have to, but it's been 100% accurate.

      Slow down. Be patient. In my experience, you should be thinking months, not weeks. I've mentioned several times that I'm still seeing changes 3 years in (my diet is very similar to yours). Not in health, but in happiness and well-being. Give your gut a chance to develop. To start letting you know what it needs. Just throwing a whole bunch of food at it only invites chaos.

      Delete
  15. Tim, Wilbur,

    Thank you for responding.

    For the past year+, I've been taking some kind of fibre mixture with ~1TBS of PS / Inulin / Acacia or whatever was available or accessible. Wasn't super consistent so, I'd say 50% of the time I missed it.

    Since starting to follow Tim (and a few other blogs that led me to this one) a couple of years ago, I was steadily starting to increase my fibre intake via legumes, potatoes and cooked/cooled rice.

    For the past 2-3 months before starting this heavier dose of fibre, I was with about 75% consistency taking a mixture totalling 3 TBS of PS, Inulin, Acacia, Baobab (would have continued but difficult to acquire at a reasonable price here).

    I felt like it was a good ramp-up to this higher fibre amount.

    The reason for supplementing, is that I find it hard to hit the much higher grams/day that have been talked about eg. 50,60 75+ even when eating a whole-food, high fibre diet.

    And the motivation, or end-goal, is to feel really healthy, be lean and strong, and eliminate some auto-immune/inflammation issues.

    Like many, I started on this path via low-carb Primal (and felt really really great), wanted to lose the last few pounds, and tried Keto (which didn't work), and the weight started creeping up and started to feel not-so-good, even thought tried going back to regular Paleo. (I also tried the potato hack a few times, and didn't really see any benefits, and that's after 7 days just plain, cooked cooled for my first time. I also tried a few more times for 3 days, 5 days, 2 days etc - but didn't experience the benefits people talk about.)

    Also had to take antibiotics for 4 weeks a year ago (and this is after being on antibiotics *really* often throughout my youth, teens, 20s).

    I've also tried Elixa, Prescript Assist etc.

    Lots of signs pointing to problems in my gut, and I wanted to see if I could really get it back into good shape with the high-fibre supplementation like Wilbur. Good to note that I will change my time-frame expectations.

    ReplyDelete
  16. "I do not believe there are any consumer-type RS4 sources available to purchase"

    Look up NUTILIS powder. Availabel in any Pharmacy! marketed as a food thickener.

    Hydroxypropyl Distarch Phosphate (HDP) (part of my formula)

    http://muscleandsportsscience.com/hdp-the-fat-burning-carb/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The pharmacies I visited in my city did not have, nor could they order, the NUTILIS powder. They did advise that they could get other food thickeners but were unsure if they were RS4 sources. Is there some ingredient that I should look for to determine if they would be the RS4 sources?

      Thank you,
      gina

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    2. Hydroxypropyl Distarch Phosphate is often listed under "Modified Wheat Starch" on food labels as its a cook-up wheat starch.

      Delete
    3. Thanks so much. Not finding any thickeners with that. I appreciate the information.

      Delete
  17. Does it get easier with inulin supplementation? So far, this fiber causes lots of stinky gas/bloat for me. And I'm talking about 1/8tsp of this stuff. Thank you! Love this blog for helping a former keto/cipro destroyed gut to get better.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I would recommend trying to increase real-food fibers first, then add in some supplemental inulin if you like. Cooked/raw onions, asparagus, green bananas, Jerusalem artichokes are good sources of inulin. If you have been on a very low fiber diet, increase amounts of plants as much as possible to hopefully repair gut flora. If inulin never gets easier, try a different fiber type.

      Delete
    2. Thank you, Tim! Will do!

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    3. This may sound strange, but I (also a post-keto gut) had stinky gas with inulin supplementation that only went away when I *increased* the inulin. It mystifies me. Only thing I can think of is that the bacteria that prefer inulin get fired up on a small dose, but then have to rely on other (less preferred) substrates once the inulin is used up.

      Supplementing with a probiotic (in this case, I found that the primal probiotic helps the most if the stink and volume/bloat comes back) also seemed to help me a bit.

      Delete
  18. Hi Tim, If I potato hack for 3 days, can I continue taking my usual spoonful of wheat bran every evening (for regularity)?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sure. But I think you'd find you don't need it for regularity on the potato hack.

      Delete
    2. I did a potato hack after weeks of low carb. I somehow became impacted and have not passed a full stool in over a month. Any tips on how to dissolve the impaction? Tried a colonic this week but was too impacted for water to penetrate.(Hey this is TMI central right?)

      Delete
    3. Sorry to hear. I have no personal experience, I'd have to Google it, I'm sure you've already done.

      Anyone?

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    4. A magnesium supplement has helped me in the past. A product called Calm that you mix with water is what usually gives me the best results. But everyone is different... I generally take it every night unless I forget.

      gina

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    5. I forgot to mention that I usually take 3 heaping teaspoons of it... But you could require more or less. I have always had v e r y s l o w motility issues.

      gina

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    6. Thanks Gina....I have taken Mag Citrate with partial result a la liquid evacuation around the blockage. Reading today suggests that a few days of Miralax may be my best bet. Love this sparkling dinner conversation.

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    7. Sorry it didn't work for you... I can say that the Calm does work better than other magnesium supplements for me. But again, we are all different. That sounds pretty miserable.

      gina

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  19. Does microwaving RS to reheat it damage it versus other methods of heating?

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    Replies
    1. I've never seen any evidence that microwaving is different from any other heating source for RS stability.

      Delete
  20. Hi Tim!

    Here's another one freshly published! I haven't downloaded the full article yet to read but the abstract looks really interesting.

    Human gut microbes impact host serum metabolome and insulin sensitivity

    http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature18646.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Here's another one, but you may already have it in your collection (from 2009):
      The British journal of nutrition. 103: 917-22; Pubmed Record DOI: 10.1017/S0007114509992534. Acute ingestion of resistant starch reduces food intake in healthy adults

      http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=7358712&fileId=S0007114509992534

      Delete
    2. Thanks! The 2009 study was one of the first RS papers I ever read, and partly where the "4TBS" recommendation came from.

      The second one is making it's rounds and a good paper showing that a high fat (SAD) diet is linked with a gut flora prone to metabolic syndrome/blood sugar issues. Full text here, if you'd like to see: https://www.dropbox.com/s/x2r5pcysw3ow0ch/Insulin_gutbugs__2016.pdf?dl=0

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    3. Published yesterday in PLOS ONE: Effects of Arabinoxylan and Resistant Starch on Intestinal Microbiota and Short-Chain Fatty Acids in Subjects with Metabolic Syndrome: A Randomised Crossover Study

      http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0159223

      Design summary: N=19 participants in a crossover design with two 4-week supplementation periods and a 4+ week washout in between. The RS used was RS2 from raw potato starch and high-amylose maize starch. It wasn't completely clear to me what the total RS daily intake was, though.

      Results: microbiome modifications and increased SCFA, acetate, and butyrate. Maybe someone else can comment on the specific bacterial changes? I'm not familiar enough with the terminology to be qualified in that area.

      Tim, do you think a 4-week washout period between the active "treatment" periods is sufficient to remove the effects of the first dietary intervention? The pre-intervention numbers in Table 4 are pretty similar, suggesting that the washout was effective, but the authors also didn't include a measure of variability for those single-timepoint estimates (so it's hard to establish the relative magnitude of the difference).

      Delete
    4. Thanks! Just wrote a whole blog post on this!

      http://vegetablepharm.blogspot.com/2016/07/new-fiber-study-feat-raw-potato-starch.html

      Delete
  21. I have been reading lots of reports on a study done on jet lagged gut flora and how the circadian rhythm is disrupted in the host, that canlead to all sorts of immunity diseases
    like diabetes.

    http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2014/10/16/how-jetlag-disrupts-the-ticks-of-your-microbial-clock/

    I have been having lots of trouble with my glucose regulation (the basal levels stays high no matter what). I have noticed that when I visit my brother in Australia my glucose levels are much lower, but back home 6 weeks later, (going into an Australian summer back to a Dutch winter) my control over my glucose levels is haywire again. And it takes me longer to recover after every trip.

    It's a pity they don't give some indications on how to combat this, but that is not the purpose of the study.

    Jo tB

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  22. The potato hack didn't work for me. My blood glucose readings were good but I couldn't stop eating the darn potatoes & then suddenly they became a gateway into crappy carbs. I lost control and regained a tonne of weight :( Maybe I'm just one of those suckers that just can't eat carbs or my gut bugs just couldn't get enough of them. I'm back on low carb and my greed has subsided. Anyway I wondered whether I should try just the potato starch? The gut goddess wrote that it made some people gain weight and of course I'm scared. I did love eating those spuds though.... Rose

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You just have to keep trying and never give up. Lots of ideas to try.

      Delete
  23. As Tim knows I've had long standing health problems and I use my body as an n=1 study. However since I've learned about the resistant starch, and added potato starch to my diet, I've had a general improvement overall. I've tried eating with it, without it, with a range of 8 and sometimes more different starches, with lots more veges, with less veggies, but the one constant has been that 4 tbs of potato starch a day is a net positive even when on a very high vegetable diet.

    My latest problems were triggered by a trip to the other side of the world nearly a year ago and I put it down to the stresses of travel, including 28 hours of time at airports and flying plus dropping my overall calorie intake just too low. I used to be 25 kilos overweight, lost 20 kilos on a paleo diet over 4 years, then started to put the weight back on on the same diet that I had previously lost it. I further dropped calorie intake, played around with RS and the weight went on and on even with very low carbs. I finally decided that calorie reduction over 10 years had so reduced my general metabolic rate that any increase in calories (even pure organic veggies) increased my weight.

    So I decided to increase my food intake by 30% and attempt to increase my physical activity to deal with it plus undertaking meditation and mindfulness.

    Net result since change of approach 3 months ago: weight is still going on though no more than it did with a 10% increase in calories, exercise is up by 30% as measured by my fitbit, depression has gone, focus and general mental health is now at 70% (suicidal after my return from the US/Canada) and better than its been in years. I eat a basic meat, veggie and fruit diet plus 4 tbs of potato starch with a few non-gluten grains.

    At the moment I'm experimenting with taking betaine hydrochloride with meals to increase the acid levels, improving digestion in the stomach, and sodium bicarb when my body doesn't self regulate itself back to the slightly alkaline state between meals. It is generally recognised that as we age stomach HCl reduces and protein doesn't get broken down leading to the inability to metabolise to those much needed amino acids.

    I think what I'm trying to say in this post, in a round about way, is don't drop your calorie levels too low while trying to lose weight. But with all my experimentation, PS has been a consistent positive.

    Harriet

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    1. Hi Harriet! Great to hear from you. Sounds like you're getting your life back together. Thanks for the great advice...everyone has a completely unique set of circumstances for sure.

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    2. Harriet, I just recently realised that was my problem. Having dieted for over 50 years I have left out tons of things and never replaced them with other sources. So, of course, my metabolism has gone haywire. For a suspected lactose intolerance I dropped dairy about 15 yers ago, and didn't replace the protein with other sources. To my cost!! On a facebook page I read, for optimal health you have to eat more protein, especially if you are active like I am. So I started to eat 30 grams of protein at each meal. It has been hard slog at times and resorted to protein powders to top up. I have noticed a huuuuge different. Yesterday in tropical temperatures I went for a 3-hour bike ride, then did some weight training in the early evening and finished everything off with a Pilates lesson. Didn't really feel tired (I'm in my 70s!!) so have gained a ton of stamina.

      Also I am looking into my biological clock (circadian rhythm) as it can get out of whack for all sorts of reasons, including jet lag. Since I travel to Australia each yeat to visit my brother, I have been having more trouble each year with jet lag. That can disturb you gut flora big time. Whenever and how often you change your routine your gut flora has a job on its hands to keep up with the changes.

      Jo tB

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  24. I want to answer a specific question raised earlier about how long the gas lasts. For me, a year of dabbling in fiber never made the gas go away. When I decided to go all-in, it took 1-2 weeks just to convince me it was improving, which it then continued to do.

    I've lurked here for a couple years, aspiring to Wilbur's level of fiber intake. For most of last year, I experimented and gave up multiple times at levels of 1-3 tsp (teaspoons!) of raw potato starch. I tried a teaspoon of inulin and never even attempted that again. It gave me ridiculous levels of gas, I convinced myself I had SIBO and did not believe the gas would ever go away.

    This spring, I had three weeks of vacation, so I just warned my family and dove in. I started with 1TBS of potato starch and ramped up to 3TBS per day over two weeks (1TBS morning, noon, and night). The gas was tremendous, uncomfortable, and I figured I would have to give up when vacation was over if it didn't die down. I had no confidence it would change, but it did. The type of gas changed as well. Initially, it was like there was a rotting carcass in my intestines, and the gas at times was limitless-- like one endless 24 hour fart. I slept in a different room, and my wife taught my kids to "stop, drop and roll." But over the days it became manageable and more like air. At the end of my 3 weeks, it was under control-- at least enough so to motivate me and to convince me it was working. I realized too that I didn't have SIBO, I simply had gas.

    I've since done the same with inulin (which was initially worse than the potato starch) and then banana and finally lots of others. The gas has virtually all gone away, but every time I didn't believe that it would.

    Last month, something happened and it was as if overnight I lost everything I had gained. I really don't know what caused it. I was back to intense levels of gas, and it was quite disheartening. I "gutted it out", so to speak. I did not back off but just kept taking my twice per day fiber shakes despite the disruption. It took a little over a week and it all went away again.

    I still get a little bit of gas occasionally, but it's like air-- it doesn't reek and its isolated. It's been five months now, and I think I have less gas now than I ever had before starting this.

    For the two years leading up to this though, I simply didn't believe the gas would die down. I felt like I was feeding "bad stuff" that would just grow and get worse, and it felt like my body was giving me feedback to STOP. In reality, it seems there was simply a lack of "good stuff", and that the road to feeding and growing that stuff is just quit disruptive.

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    1. As far as I know, Wilbur also eats TONS of veggies apart of all that added fiber.

      What do you eat, Sean?

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    2. That's awesome, Sean! intoo have my occasional extra gassy days, but never smelly. I tend to eat beans, for example, semi infrequently, and find that they will make me gassy the first day back to eating them.

      Yes, Gemma, I still eat a lot of veggies. But I've kinda switched to trying to eat a lot of colorful, intensely flavored veggies and fruits. I found a purveyor of wild celery and fennel. Horseradish leaves. Salads of marigold leaves and flowers, amaranth leaves, chamomile, and other stuff I don't recognize. Lots of red and orange habaneros. Quality tomatoes. My gut really seems to be into strong and bitter lately. Of course, I still have lots of garlic and onion. I'm stockpiling the good garlic for winter. I have close to 20 lbs, but figure I need much more to make it through. I recently discovered that shallots are cured, so I'm going to stockpile them too.

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    3. 20 lbs of garlic and still stockpiling? Wow. I have yet to find the proper conditions to get most garlic to keep beyond 6 months. I can get some of the specialty varieties to last a year. Have you ever tried growing your own? If you don't have the garden space, they do just fine in a large pot. Plant them in the fall.

      Barney

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    4. Thanks for the feedback, Sean. Great question, Gemma! Impressive diet, Wilbur!

      I, myself, am a grazer all summer. I eat bits of stuff growing in my garden and around the house: strawberries, raspberries, spruce tips, spruce pitch, rhubarb, rose hips, petals, and leaves; fireweed shoots, dandelion roots and leaves; mint, thyme, and a dozen or so different things growing in the garden. I have a bumper crop of carrots and cucumbers at the moment, trying to figure out what to do with them all, lol.

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    5. Barney, I'm going to try. Last winter was terrible for grocery store garlic. I bet it was from China. It was $0.50 per head, but so small that I'd need to heads for my usual amount. But very often 1/2 of the head would be gross and unusable.

      The stuff I'm stockpiling is good quality. The farmers I get it from use it for their next year's crop, so I'm hopeful it will last until Spring garlic season arrives. I grew my own garlic this year. Only about 1/8th was successful - ha, ha I got two heads. It was fun, but I'd need a lot of pots to grow what I eat.

      I learned that garlic scapes last a long time in the refrigerator. I might stockpile those next year.

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  25. What to do with them cucumbers? So many great summer recipes all around!

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  26. Tim, that sounds awesome too! I love carrots, but not cucumbers for some reason. Except in that Greek yogurt sauce I can't seem to spell well enough to get autocorrect to tell me. Cukes are good with lots of garlic and yogurt!

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  27. Pureeing cucumbers to make a cold soup uses up a lot of them...add some yogurt or buttermilk, sweet onions, mint or whatever else you have around. Last time I added some fermented kohlrabi and beets.

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  28. I eat a fair amount of vegetables, and I come from a Paleo background. Problem is, I have always shied away from high fiber because it bothered me. We get a great big local CSA box every other week that forces us to find ways to use the vegetables. I bring my own olive oil with me to work for salads (I'm an airline pilot so I eat on the road a lot, and I realized not long ago that when a restaurant tells you it's olive oil, it's often 10% olive oil and 90% NOT olive oil!).

    The fiber supplements allow me to have a full blown intervention for my colon though, which has been compromised heavily earlier in life, both through antibiotics and food poisoning. I can experiment on myself and to be very consistent while slowly ramping up the fiber in whole foods. I can tolerate beans, onion, garlic and oatmeal better now than before. I aim to make garlic and onions more of a staple as I continue on. Right now I'm trying to follow Wilbur's path of starting my meals with veggies, then eating what I want afterwards. My goal is to simply be militantly consistent with my supplements though, and just see how I respond over a year or two.

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    1. Just keep at it, sounds like you are on a good path. Eating lots of meals on the road makes things more difficult, and being a pilot, especially if you are changing time zones and working nights. Disruptions in circadian rhythms are very hard on the mind, body, and digestion.

      Probably the best food choices in an airport can be found at the Vegan joints at the food court, or sushi.

      Good luck!

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    2. Sean, good luck! I'd be very interested to hear what changes you experience as you progress. In my experience - and similarly of Terry Wahls on her MS diet - some positive changes happen so gradually that you don't notice. It's only when something triggers a memory of what used to be that you realize how much has changed.

      Tim and Sean - I am reading the book "Real Food Fake Food" right now. Some of it is well-known, but I am enjoying it. It discusses the proper techniques of making certain foods, and it's practically porn for me! Olive oil is one, of course. I've long bought my olive oils online at a place that knows the producer. I've never had anything from any grocery store that compares. The olive is awesome as a drink. I believe it's completely different in its nutrition quality too.

      The book also discusses fish. After reading it, I have to go into denial to eat at my regular sushi place. I might eat sushi at an airport in Japan, but I doubt anywhere else. Unless it's just for the rice and veggies.

      I like traveling with bags of nuts, dried figs, apricots, prunes, etc. I think a jar of sauerkraut would be safe over a day or so. Some veggies are good on trips, like carrots and okra. Tins of sardines might be good.

      I also welcome fasting with flying. Sometimes it just better to not eat.

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    3. I completely forgot! Alaska is a great place to get fish if it is certified to be Alaskan! Alaska takes its fish seriously. I'm trying to find an online source for certified Alaska fish, but it's not straightforward and it's too hot for shipping anyway.

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    4. Wilbur

      but flying is Sean's job and I doubt pilots should be fasting.

      Sean

      does "paleo" mean low-carb paleo? As Wilbur hints, fruits, or dried fruits are great. Raisins, dates etc. are super food for memory and concentration, in case you have been avoiding them.

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    5. Wilbur, can you divulge your online source for olive oil, please!

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    6. Navillus -

      The book has a few suggestions that are interesting, but I've used

      http://www.olio2go.com

      For several years.

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  29. Tim, thanks for an awesome site. I'm retired AF too, maybe we've crossed paths somewhere. And thanks to you Wilbur, Gemma and countless others for helping me learn so much.

    I was "paleo" for about four years. By that, I mean I was grainless and focused on nutrient density and "real food". I was not low carb at all, but I cut out foods that I've now added back since finding this site, like potatoes and wheat (but I'm picky about it and we buy bread from a bakery that grinds organic grains) and beans. Paleo got me initially headed in the right direction.

    As far as eating in airports and hotels, my routine involves lots of Mexican burrito bowls, salads with my own olive oil, if I'm lucky, a baked potato (Dickey's BBQ at Dallas LUV has enormous ones!). For breakfasts, I'll usually order a veggie omelette and ask them to crack real eggs. I'm lactose intolerant and it took me years to figure out that hotel restaurant eggs are usually from a mixed up concoction that comes in a bag and has milk powder or even lactose as an ingredient. Same with bacon, sometimes it's cured with lactose. No stomach problems since I figured that out. But no matter how much I emphasize that I want my omelette STUFFED with veggies, it always seems they are rationing them and I have to search for signs that they are really in there. Since I found this site, oatmeal is back on the menu :-) I also bring canned oysters or sardines, but I often have to psych myself up to eat the sardines. I LOVE sushi, but just like in supermarkets, the airport stuff is usually sweetened and has a really really long list of unpronounceable ingredients. I need to do better at bringing vegetables and just eating them raw. I usually have dark chocolate somewhere in my bag too.

    I'm a big fan of Paleokits, and they are my emergency meals. I get them online from StevesPaleogoods and they are sealed packages of jerky, nuts and dried fruit. Sometimes the grassfed jerky can be tough, but it's because they don't use sugar or unnatural things to tenderize the meat. I know this because I just criticized them for the toughness in a review on their own website, and they promptly contacted me and explained why, and then sent me some different samples. Good people, and they also donate 15% to at risk youth.

    I also use GoStak Blender Bottles to put my fiber in. I wish they had bigger sizes but it gives me a portable screwtop for individual servings. But I have to dump the fiber into something else (coffee cup) to have enough room to mix the water. And if I get any moisture in the jar, it turns into a big rock.

    I researched the heck out of how to pack olive oil. Turns out a Dasani water bottle works great. Granted, as a pilot I don't have the TSA restrictions to worry about.

    I have dabbled in fasting for 1-2 days a few times (agreed, not while flying Wilbur!). But even when I am working, it's a lot easier these days to simply skip a meal when there aren't any good options. In my earlier days, my need for food would lead me to the nearest McDonalds.

    I'm always searching for better ways to eat on the go.

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    1. Sean

      surely not so easy with all the flying and staying in different places...

      Have you tried the potato hack? Not for the weight loss (I assume it is not your problem) but for the "reset factor".

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    2. Sean, your description of getting veggies in omelettes made me laugh. I have the same problem. It's also hard to get a lot of onions on a burger!

      One way to pack liquids and oils that will go through TSA for sure is using the little orange pill bottles with child-proof caps. I didn't believe it until I tested the heck out of it, but they do not seem to leak. I put them inside zip loc bags just in case, but I've not had a single drop leak. I found this suggestion buried in some website and it's really helped me.

      Good luck!

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  30. I have not tried the potato hack. Maybe I should. You are correct, my problem is not weight, I'm actually pretty slender. My issue is that I have problems breathing at night that I believe are related to reflux-- and which began about 20 yrs ago after a couple of back-to-back rounds of antibiotics.

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    1. This might be an interesting experiment for you when you have a couple days off, your nighttime reflux needs to be addressed, for sure. Have you been tested for sleep apnea? Getting a good night's sleep is vitally important to everything, and working shifts/making time changes makes it even more important.

      It sounds like you are making as good of food choices as you can for your environment, and you probably get frustrated seeing co-workers who have great health and thrive on a much worse diet than yours.

      It just takes time and effort to get everything into place. Good luck!

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  31. Yes, I've had a sleep study, asthma testing and a host of other things. I even bought a CPAP machine at one point to positively rule it out. I'm almost positive that I reflux and that my vocal cords close to prevent aspiration-- but then they get hypersensitive and keep closing.

    Im convinced that nobody understands reflux yet.

    It's not terrible though, and I still get enough sleep. It doesn't happen all the time, and when it does, it's generally in the morning and it just cuts off my sleep a bit earlier than I would prefer. I never have issues with being tired during the day, but I'm always grumpy when I wake up :-)

    I'm just going to press on with the fiber and vegetable centered diet and see what changes occur in the long term.

    I'm curious about what Gemma said about using the hack as a reset. Surprisingly, though I've read this blog for a long time, i haven't paid much attention to that aspect.

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    1. Yes, a reset. Try it. (Get the best potatoes you can).

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    2. A quote from Tim's book: "Originally, I was going to call this book The Potato Reset, but “hack” prevailed. Try the potato hack for a complete rest from your normal diet, especially if you are suffering digestion problems such as SIBO, IBS, or GERD."

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    3. The weight loss is just a side-effect of the big changes that eating an all-potato diet can bring about. Quite a few people have told me they've gotten off of pills for indigestion since starting the potato hack.

      In fact, the 1849 article I modeled the book after was more a description of a cure for "dyspepsia" than weight loss.

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  32. I will give the hack a go the next time I have a decent break from work. I'm kind of excited about doing it now. And I'm buying the book.

    My only hesitation is giving up my fiber for 3-5 days. I am paranoid that I'll lose what I've gained. But I'm going to do it anyway. Thanks.

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