Monday, April 10, 2017

Resistant Starch Blood Glucose Experiment: Volunteers Needed

EDIT 5/11/17 - Project complete! See full results on my Potato Hack blog: RS Glycemic Impact Study

EDIT 4/17/17 - I have enough volunteers now, I'll share the results when I get them compiled. Thanks!

Dear Readers - I'm well into my RS analysis testing project. I've sent samples of various starches to different labs for RS testing and test comparisons.

Preliminary results show that things are as we expected: Potato Starch, Green Banana Flour, and Hi-Maize are all good sources of RS.

I'd like to take this project a step further, and test the blood glucose response caused by these starches.


Purpose: I wish to test the post-prandial blood glucose response after ingesting approximately 20g of raw resistant starch. Resistant starch should have no impact on blood glucose. This experiment will show whether the non-RS portions of raw starches negatively impact blood sugar when compared to a high glycemic food such as potato or bread. 

Looking for: 5-10 volunteers who are willing to take blood glucose readings for a couple weeks.

Volunteers must be in the US, not taking statins or blood pressure meds. Not be on a low carb or ketogenic diet. Not have any medical concerns with blood sugar control, ie, hypoglycemia, diabetes, or pre-diabetes.

Preferred: Healthy people eating a healthy diet with plenty of fiber and resistant starch.

I will provide you with:

These  items will be mailed to you from Amazon, paid for by me. There will be no cost to you.

The experiment:
  • Establish fasting blood glucose baseline over 7 days.
  • Test post-prandial rise in BG after eating two slices of white bread or 200g (1 medium) potato, cooked and eaten while still hot.
  • Test post-prandial rise in BG after eating 2TBS of potato starch, banana flour, and Hi-Maize on different days.

The post-prandial tests will require seven finger-prick tests for each starch, taken at 30 minute intervals.

The results will be recorded and sent to me by email. The meter and leftover starches are yours to keep.

To volunteer: Just send me an email, akman2014 (at) live.com, and we'll set it all up.  All I will need is your mailing address and a commitment to keep good records. The entire test will take about 30 days to complete.

Family units welcome!  It will save money on supplies if two or more in a household can share.

If you have questions, please ask in the comments.

Later!
Tim


  

23 comments:

  1. I'm impressed that you're doing this. I wish I could volunteer, but I can't as I'm already on a low-carb diet because I've already discovered that exactly these things cause my blood sugar to spike and stay high for 48 hours.

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    Replies
    1. Exactly why I am doing it. I've heard reports like this for years now. I would expect a similar response after taking a high RS raw starch as if one ate maybe 1/2 a slice of bread or 1/4 a small potato. I've never seen a study that tested this in gluco-normal people, only glucose-impaired. Excited to see the results myself.

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    2. Tim, I would love to join this experiment but can't for 3 reasons, I'm also glucose impaired, I already am low carb and live overseas so measure mmol/l instead of ng/dl.

      I have the Contour Next USB meter so already have the strips. I'm thinking of doing the experiment for my own information, just to see how my body reacts to the various starches.

      Jo tB

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  2. I would love to join the experiment, but can't for 3 reasons: I'm also glucose impared and already low carb, and live overseas. I have the Contour next USB meter, so already use the strips, but measure mmol/l instead of ng/dl.

    However, I may just do the experiment for my own information to learn how my body reacts to the various starches. The only one I can't get is Hi-Maize, so would substitute that one for tapioca starch.

    Jo tB

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    Replies
    1. Hi-Maize is Hi-Maize, no good substitute. But I'd be interested in your results after ingesting 2TBS of any of the starches, including tapioca. Post them here if you like.

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    2. Hei Tim. When you said 2 tbsp in empty stomach. I wonder if It's allowed to mix the 2 tbsp in water? Thanks.

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    3. Lee - This was just for the BG experiment, results here: https://potatohack.com/2017/05/11/resistant-starch-glycemic-impact-study-n10/

      For normal use, you can eat the starch however you like, not heated. Most people mix with water or milk, or yogurt, etc.

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    4. I couldn't find potato starch. Can I use tapioca starch? Thanks

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    5. No! Tapioca starch is generally a poor source of RS based on results of tests I performed earlier this year. Can you get green banana flour? Can you order from Amazon? Surely there is potato starch where you live.

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  3. Wondering what your definition of a healthy diet is? Been experimenting with LCHF and pondering ketogenic but I suspect it isn't for me. So far the LCHF has not improved any of my concerns and no weight loss. It might be that LCHF isn't healthy for everyone. I have been following your blog for a while and appreciate your research and clarity when explaining.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. My idea of a healthy diet is pretty much anything other than SAD "Western" diets. Avoiding processed foods with added sugars, excess oils, especially used in frying, lots of calories from refined flour, even gluten-free. If you've been eating low carb for a while, you are probably insulin resistant and would not make a good test subject, sorry.

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    2. Hello Tim I did want to share this article that talk about two Danish researches regarding the connection between the intestine flora and diseases.
      Sorry that is not in English, probably google can help a bit with the translation, if not let me know.
      "The researchers believe that in the future with a special diet, as well as a capsule of 50-100 different health-promoting species of intestinal bacteria, should be able to cure everything from anxiety, type 2 diabetes, or perhaps cancer."

      http://politiken.dk/indland/art6043281/I-fremtiden-vil-l%C3%A6gen-udskrive-tarmbakterier-til-sine-patienter

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    3. I hope that such discoveries are made in the near future. My fear is that Big Pharma will look past the easy (free/cheap) solutions and instead make chemicals similar to what are made by gut bacteria so that they can patent a pill with many side-effects.

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  4. You said the testing should require about 30 days. I am going to be traveling beginning about the middle of May but I would be willing to do it prior to that if there is enough time. I guess I don't understand the 30 day time frame. Do you want 7 days of testing for the cooked potato and then also for each of the different resistant starches?

    Gina

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    Replies
    1. Here's how it will go:

      - 7 days of testing FBG.

      - 1 test in which you will eat a high GI food (bread or potato)on an empty stomach, and then test your blood sugar for 3 hours afterwards.

      - 1 test in which you will eat 2TBS of Hi-Maize on an empty stomach and check blood sugar for 3 hours afterwards.

      - 1 test in which you will eat 2TBS of potato starch on an empty stomach and check blood sugar for 3 hours afterwards.

      - 1 test in which you will eat 2TBS of green banana flour on an empty stomach and check blood sugar for 3 hours afterwards.

      I'd like there to be a couple days in between each test where you just eat normally. I'll provide a spreadsheet for you to use to track your numbers.

      I'd like everybody to do this all within a 30-day window, but you could do it in as little as 2 weeks.

      Let me know if you think you can help!
      Thanks,
      Tim

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    2. If I could start is as soon as you could get the materials to me and if you don't already have enough volunteers, I am willing to do it for sure. I will email you my info to see if you are even interested in me being one of the test subjects.

      gina

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  5. I realize that for financial reasons, you are limited in the number of people you can send all the test materials. Are you interested in others doing the exact test as described and funding it on their own? If yes, could you make the data collection spreadsheet publicly available?

    Barney

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    Replies
    1. My budget is about $600, and I'm more interested that everyone is using the exact same tester and exact same starches. But sure, anyone can try and share the results. My goal is to determine whether there is a glucose spike after ingesting a supplemental dose. This has been a critique of RS since the start, and also explored by researchers, but never using three starches and a test meal.

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    2. No, I understand. Not using the supplies as listed or following the protocol as described would not yield as meaningful results for you and that is better left to the comment section here on the blog.

      If I might ask, what do you plan to do with the results?

      Barney

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    3. The results will hopefully get put into the paper I write about the RS analysis. I'll let everyone here see the results, too. This question has perplexed researchers for decades,, and never really studied. In fact, I'll write a blog post about why I am doing this soon, maybe Friday. Looks like I have 9 or 10 volunteers now. I want to get them started quickly.

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  6. Hi Tim,

    I would be interested in participating in your study if you think I am a good candidate.

    - I'm not on any medication and have not been diagnosed with any kind of glucose impairment, though I do have a family history of T2 diabetes.

    - I ate LCHF for a while, which worked well for me for a time, and then it did not. I ran across the potato hack in February, bought the book, and started hacking away with success. Since then, I have incorporated starches (mainly potatoes and rice) into my diet during non-hack times as well. So, I don't know enough about physiological insulin resistance to know whether I'm a good candidate, but if you think I would be, I'm up for it.

    So I believe I tick all your boxes, but wanted to you to know about the family history and the "historical" LCHF eating and let you decide.

    Let me know!

    Thanks,
    Alex

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    Replies
    1. Sounds good. Please send me an email and I'll get with you on specifics in a day or two.
      Thanks

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  7. See results here: https://potatohack.com/2017/05/11/resistant-starch-glycemic-impact-study-n10/

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