Resistant Starch Fixes The Same Old Low Carb Diet Problems
From Diana in comments, where this 10-year type 2 diabetic talks about losing and gaining back the same 20-25 pounds for the last five years…but guess what happened over the last 6 months of supplementing with resistant starch, plus upping carb intake with no adverse impact? Read to find out.
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Hi Amy:
I just wanted to give you my N=1 with regards to RS and weight loss. Like you, I have been on the roller coaster my whole life. Always losing weight, gaining it back and then some…wash, rinse, repeat. Average of 130 pounds overweight my whole adult life. Now, at age 44, I finally feel like I have found what works…for me.
I am a Type 2 diabetic (10 years), and have been controlling with low carb for about 5 years. It was never easy to stick to for me. I always had those cravings for what I couldn’t have. (Low Carb was great for my blood sugar numbers, however.) I had been gaining and losing the same 20-25 pounds in this time also. Not a good situation. Then came Richard, TaterTot and Potato Starch, and nothing has been the same since! I re-started a good clean low carb diet on May 20, 2013 as a foundation. I started supplementing Bobs PS at the same time, beginning with a tablespoon in my Kefir or Yogurt for lunch every day, as well as a tablespoon in water before bed (oh the dreams!!!). Long story short, 6 months later I have lost 60, yes SIXTY pounds! I supplement 3-4 tablespoons most days, skip every once in a while too, and always have some with a fermented food. (Yogurt and Kefir mostly, but I have been known to dip a Bubbies pickle in PS as I eat it, as well as mixing in with Kimchee too!).
I am truly amazed at how I feel. RS has totally erased my cravings and controls my appetite like no other! Not to mention the blood sugar benefits! Fasting is down 20-30 mg/dl from previous, and I have recently started the cold potato / rice (and beans too, soon!). I can now eat a baked potato (6oz.) that I have cooled for 24h and reheated, and get only a 15-20 mg/dl rise in blood sugar that is back to starting within an hour. This is a pretty normal BG curve and usually only wishful thinking for a Type 2 that is only minimally medicated (Metformin only). And unlike other times I have been low carb for a while, my hair is not falling out, my hands and feet are nice and toasty, and I sleep very well , thank you!
So Amy- try it! It may be the missing piece to your puzzle as it was mine! I could go on and on about this but I wanted to keep it brief (ha)! I am thinking of emailing my whole story to Richard someday on the chance it may help someone else out who is on the fence about this. Personally, I am never looking back and I owe a debt of gratitude to Richard and Tater for all their research! THANK YOU BOTH!!
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You are welcome, Diana. Consider that a first installment on the whole story…though it already looks pretty good to me.
…Oh, and in a subsequent comment, she ads, “…and Richard- after years of reading you, it’s not just my diet that has changed (no more voting etc.) so thanks for that too!!!”
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Being a one eyed Aussie , these 2 links may interest-
1. Freekah!! haha greenwheatfreekeh.com.au/
2. Our David Toppings interview transcript where he highlights the role of a bran layer on brown rice making the whole grain resistant, unless probably masticated to death and also the contribution of time after cooling/ refrigeration to lift the levels of retrograded starch.
@ShameerM, yeah I started with the BP coffee idea, coconut oil, then butter, then cream with eggs. The latter came from a morph of BP coffee and the raw eggs and cream drink that Vince Gironda recommended. If you’re into lifting you should read up on Vince. You will learn some good things from the “Iron Guru”. He was perhaps the first to recommend low carb eating for body builders back in the 60’s. Actually, it was low carb but a carb heavy re-feed every 3-4 days if you feel weak. So he was teaching something similar to CKD (cyclical ketogenic diet) back when nobody was doing that. Way ahead of his time. http://www.theironguru.com
I think Sisson’s Primal Egg Coffee also came from the BP coffee idea or maybe he just mentions BP coffee in the blog post he did, I can’t remember.
Sorry for the tangent subject, I was really trying to focus on what the benefits may be to adding RS to this liquid breakfast.
Btw, you caffeine hounds… I have found the addition of all the fat really lowers the high. Not sure how that works but seems like fat blunts the caffeine effect. But I still love it!
Oops, that link is wrong. The Gironda site is here…
@Ozquoll , Here is a relevant article from MDA/Sisson, but a google for something like “insulin lipolysis hunger” will net you tons-o-info. The below article is more about fasting but the idea is similar for eating a breakfast of high protein/fat and minimal carbs to minimize the insulin spike. Btw, easily digestible proteins (like milk and whey powders) will also spike insulin similar to high GI carbs. Steak and eggs is a good example and will keep you satiated *much* longer than something like musli with milk. Eat your musli at night if you have to – or better yet a cold potato or cold rice.
“… The presence of insulin inhibits lipolysis, the release of stored triglycerides (body fat). Without lipolysis actually releasing stored body fat, it’s rather difficult to, well, burn that body fat for energy. During a fast, fasting insulin decreases and lipolysis increases. This insulin-blunting aspect of fasting quite literally allows the fast to be successful, because without the ability to access stored body fat for energy, making it through a period of zero caloric intake will be nigh impossible. [my edit: and you will get big-time hungry!]
Read more: ”
Sorry if you already know about this stuff. Cheers, -Brad-
My personal experience thus far is that I notice a blunting of blood glucose. No changes in appetite that I’m aware of but no negatives whatsoever.
Adding potato starch to mayonnaise goes over well. I make a batch weekly and recently started adding potato starch. No noticeable difference in mouth-feel.
Also, I check the temperature of anything warmish with this easy to use gun
That is really awesome guys. Well done. Nothing like the feeling of helping a fellow human be healthy, feel good, and happy. Not to mention being (correct) amidst all the nay-sayers. Richard, not to get off topic, but this almost makes up for you wishing my brother dead. ;-) I know you said/meant it in the non-specific sense and for political reasons. For those who don’t know it’s Richard’s disgust with police officers, but we won’t go there now and anyway it’s been well covered in earlier posts.
cheers, -Brad-
Jeez Brad, now you’ve gone & made me a bit embarrassed. Yes, not in a specific technical sense. And I’ve got two retired cops in the family.
Well, here’s something to celebrate for sure.
Primal Egg Coffee with RS. Here’s my different perspective N=1 on the effect of RS. I am 5’10” 178lbs, 51 years old. I’ve been drinking my own version of Sisson’s “Primal Egg Coffee” for about a year now (well before he posted on it, incidentally). It is usually comprised of hot coffee, two pastured eggs, a little cream, cinnamon, and up until recently some zero carb/cal sweetener all mixed in a personal sized blender. One or two of these drinks is my daily breakfast and sometimes the only thing I eat all day until the evening (post workout feed window). And yes, without any hunger pangs. It’s a pseudo IF gig that works for ME. More recently I stopped with the liquid carcinogenic sweetener and switched to a heaping soup spoon of blackstrap molasses. Gasp!… sugar! I know. But it tastes good, is a natural food, has minerals in it. Since following the two RS guru (aka, Tater and Richard), it has become a two step process. First blend is with hot coffee added to all ingredients followed by a taste to make sure the temperature has cooled sufficiently. Then a heaping soup spoon of raw cassava starch is added and a second blend is done. This has no appreciable effect on the taste and there is no gritty taste to speak of.
Today I didn’t do a thing but sit behind my computer until my high intensity lifting workout around 7pm and had nothing else to eat all day, just one primal egg coffee with molasses and RS. By the time I got to the gym I could feel the energetic/adrenaline effect that most low-carbers and IF’ers are familiar with when you’ve entered fat burning mode. Side note: Just to kick the adrenaline and fat burning into high gear I drank a shot of black expresso right before entering the gym. This is nothing different than my normal routine… to drink a little strong coffee before working out.
Why do I mention all this? Well, I would have thought, and it could be many carb/sugar phobic “low carbers” think the same… that one or two heaping soup spoons of molasses, especially combined with high fat (cream and eggs) would be a serious kick out of fat burning mode that is associated with IF/low-carb dieting – ie, from the BG/insulin spike and/or non-insignificant caloric intake. Could it be that the RS (in addition to the fat) is blunting the glucose spike of the molasses and thereby allowing an earlier re-entry into the fat burning mode? Seems plausible. RS fed gut bugs may be having some positive effect too. All I know is I had an awesome workout, seemingly limitless energy and I didn’t have to eat a shitty fake sweetener. My egg-coffee is healthier and tastier than ever before. Gonna keep doing this and see if the effects are consistent. So far it seems so.
Btw, I also eat other carbs. A bit of parboiled rice or tubers and lentils and lots of low GI fruit, mainly on workout days (3 per week) and mostly just post-workout.
@ Brad,
“By the time I got to the gym I could feel the energetic/adrenaline effect that most low-carbers and IF’ers are familiar with when you’ve entered fat burning mode.”
Could you describe this a bit more for me? I am wondering if that is what happened to me yesterday – in extremis. I had a horrendous level of adrenaline surging through my body. I wasn’t low carbing particularly, though I was sugar and grain free for the first time for a fortnight.
Years ago when my older daughter was studying history at university, she came home on day and announced “Potatoes are the food of revolution”.
Well, Richard, I guess they are. In more ways than one.
congrats to Tim and you for taking the risks.
Gawd…………………..typo…………………came home ONE day……………tsk.
Your coffee concoction sounds interesting. Almost similar to Bulletproof Coffee. Do you eat starchy carbs throughout the week or just on work-out days? I’m a “rookie” still so it’s great to get ideas.
Cheers.
My results with resistant starch have been excellent. I’ve got a fast metabolism and am prone to blood sugar swings, so used to need to eat every few hours or else I’d crash.
After following all the posts and comments on RS for the last few months, I decided to try my own version. The bobs red mill potato starch took a few weeks to arrive from the US (doesn’t seem to be available here in Australia) so in the meantime I started having cold lentils or beans (properly soaked & cooked of course) for lunch everyday. There was a noticeable improvement in blood sugar control, and I was able to stretch the time between meals a bit further.
The bob’s red mill PS arrived a few days ago, and I’ve been taking it either in water, or stirred into homemade Bircher muesli. It is early days, but having both the cold bean lunches and the PS seems to have stabilised my blood sugar brilliantly – no more highs and lows, just steady energy levels.
Sadly, the dreaded PS ‘fartage’ has been a problem, whereas cold beans alone caused me no problems.
Anyhoo, that’s my experience, hope it is of interest.
We can buy Bob’s starch in Australia online at Optimoz.com.au
cheers
@Brad
If you want a non carcinogenic sweetener that will taste “just like sugar” or so, try xylitol (derived from birch tree bark). It has good prebiotic properties so you even add up to the RS. And it sounds like you care a little about the glycemy of your foods so just know that xylitol has an index of ~ 10. ANd xylitol is good for your dental health, good at preventing ear and nose infection, it is slightly alkalizing, etc. The only bad thing about it is that it is pricey and the processing to manufacture it a bit too heavy to my taste … but it is good to have it in the pantry.
Here is my “breakfast”: 2 mugs of black coffee, 1 Tbsp of fermented cod liver oil, 2-3 Tbps of RS. Of course, I DO NOT MIX all these ingredients together :D :D
Richard- Thanks so much for making my comment a full post so more will see it! If my experience can help anyone who is on the fence about trying RS decide to give it a shot, I feel they will not be disappointed. Being a long term low carber and diabetic I would be lying if I said I was not apprehensive about trying this out but it all made sense. Once I tested my blood sugar after 2 Tbsp of Bobs PS in water and saw only a 2 point rise I knew there was nothing to lose so I jumped in with both feet! Like TaterTot, I wish I had done the American Gut Project before I started so I could compare before and after but oh well. I KNOW things are different, I can FEEL it! The commenter Amy that I was responding to said:
” It’s irrational. Can you imagine living a life fighting a war against food and your body forever?”
Yes…I can imagine…I was living it! But no more! Controlling my appetite and cravings is EFFORTLESS and to anyone with weight issues, well, that is everything.
All this is so interesting I can’t get enough of it. There is a whole other world in our guts and we need to respect and nurture that relationship
Thanks Richard, and Diana. I missed this response in the OP.
I decided to try it. I have a bag of PS in the cupboard and added 1T to my morning kefir and berry smoothie. Added another T to my mashed cauliflower, after it had cooled a bit. It gives mashed cauliflower a lovely smooth quality, btw. I don’t monitor my BG, I just go by feeling. I’ve had reactive hypoglycemia for so long, I know what a spike and drop feels like.
No spikes. I continued to do 2T of PS a day, one am and one pm. This week I’ll be increasing to 3T/day, next week to 4T. I also eat small amounts of cooked cold rice, usually as a rice salad with veggies to accompany a meal, if appropriate. I roasted a try of potatoes and put them outside to chill overnight. Yesterday I peeled and sliced them and re-warmed them with some chicken broth and butter, letting the broth and butter cook down until the potatoes were coated and glossy with yummy sauce. I ate about 3/4 of a cup with my venison roast and green beans. So yummy, no BG spike, slept soundly, and didn’t wake up ravenous.
I am looking forward to a good report after a month or so of RS supplementation. I’m dropping weight despite being able to eat more carbs than before (not just RS carbs but fruits and … bread!) One of the immediate changes I’ve noticed: my belly is flat. Not washboard (yet!) but last month, I looked like I was six months pregnant and was bloated beyond belief. I thought it was due to gluten, since I’ve seemed to have problems with it, but more on that in a bit…but whatever RS is doing right in my gut, it’s made my stomach flat and my thighs and derriere feel less puffy. My pants fit better, and I’m only down 2 lbs. or so in scale weight.
Re: gluten. I know much has been made of it (by me, especially, my food-as-medicine paranoia tends to get the better of me and I’ll latch onto anything that might help me feel good sans pills). But as my recent physical, I told my new doc (old one went back to mother Russia) about my GF diet and why I did it. He didn’t laugh, he took me seriously and said if its working, go with it, but if I wanted tests, he’d order them, though I’d have to start eating the stuff again to get any results. So, daily, I eat a small serving of bread, about a 2 oz. slice, or a small serving of pasta. This is only for the past four days, hmmm, about the same amount of time I’ve been doing PS… I’m not experiencing any bloat, any swelling, any BG spikes, or any headaches. I can’t say I’m back to bread full-time any day soon, but I am finding that the first rule of toxicology apparently applies here: The Dose Makes The Poison.
Lately, I feel much more satisfied by food and less anxious about eating, and less tortured by the number on the scale.
Does it help that I’ve started to eat like the French, too? I do genuinely love good food and started to re-investigate the French paradox. I would say my cooking is mostly French-inspired, with good rich sauces to accompany simply prepared meats and vegetables. I adopted a mind-set of no snacking unless I’m truly hungry, eating well at meal times and trying to be conscious of not shoveling food into my mouth. In short, good manners, non? I’m eating less without really trying that hard.
I’m not metabolically deranged on the level of some individuals, and not severely obese, just overweight enough to be tired of it. Maybe I’m finally converging on what works. Even with a daily small serving of bread or rice and potatoes, I’m still in ketosis according to my strips and sleeping better than before.
Thanks, Richard and Tim et. al. for the RS info. I think I’ll find it was the missing piece of my puzzle too. Ketosis for a good start, sanity, and BG control, RS for satiety and good sleep and craving control. And even a good baguette now and then to accompany dinner, all while losing weight. Can’t ask for much more out of a diet than that.
Way to go Amy! So happy to hear of your success :-)
Bonjour Amy,
I am French, so I was glutenizing myself every day for decades … I started RS sup many weeks ago, but I can’t say I can take gluten (almost 2 years without gluten “willingly”) because I got glutenized not long ago and paid for it … that was while I was supplementing with RS … so YMMV :)
Thanks, Diana. Looking forward to more good results.
La Frite, I used to experience negative symptoms upon eating gluten foods, but delayed, a day or so after I’d be bloated and have stomach pain. I thought for sure that gluten was the culprit, especially when you read so many negative things about it. Giving it up helped, but not completely. I won’t know the answer conclusively for some time, it takes about a month of eating the stuff daily before any IgE-gluten tests can be done. I think in another week or so I’ll be able to come to some personal conclusions. Normally I’m not into doctors but there are some tests that can clue you in as to what’s going, or not, with your body, and docs are the gate-keepers of those tests so a visit is useful in that respect.
Question: will supplementing additional PS be something that can eventually be left off? Will normal eating be able to take over again, cold potatoes, cold rice, beans and lentils?
@La Frite, thanks. Yeah, I’m familiar with Xylitol, maltitol, etc. In fact I think you and I exchanged some msgs on another thread about this a while back. I think Xylitol is certainly better than the liquid carcinogens ;-) but what I’m also doing with the molasses is supplementing minerals albeit in small amounts. I don’t take any man-made supplements (pills) and so this is part of a strategy to get daily natural nutrients via the egg yolks, cream, and molasses. While Xylitol does not have anything bad in it and it does help promote better dental health it does not supply any vitamins or minerals. It’s also a more processed man-made thing that is certainly not ancestral food, where at least it’s plausible that ancient man would/could have eaten something similar to sugar cane in some locations. Also, Xylitol is not readily available in the country where I live and would be stupid expensive if it was.
Lately, I have really added a focus on trying to get more minerals (and RS) into my diet from *natural* sources. I think it has helped my dental health and muscle hypertrophy. I’ve heard that minerals are precursors to hormones which directly effect muscle growth, among many other important body processes obviously.
@Brad, yeah, I hear you. The cost is so prohibitive … but I find it handy to have when I want to sweeten with something neutral (note that having a good bacterial population in the gut makes the xyltiol “side-effects” a non issue :) ). For minerals, I also try to be as “ancestral” as possible but I don’t sweat it because I don’t think today’s foods are as rich as they used to be. So I am mostly avoiding toxic agents (lectins, gluten, etc) and I hope that I will absorb as many minerals as possible in this way, whichever quantity there is in the foods I eat. So I am not so stressed about it. I feel pretty good every day, sleep well, can sprint whenever I want, and move my butt regularly without overdoing it. The only thing that bugs me these days is an injury at my forearm from too much pull-up training during the summer. I got enthusiastic about it, and neglected the morning push-ups … bad idea. It slowly recovers but I can still feel a little pain when I pull a weight up, regardless of the weight … I should probably increase my consumption of bone broth, have not prepared one for weeks …
@Ozquoll … “am prone to blood sugar swings, so used to need to eat every few hours or else I’d crash.”
You might want to experiment with not eating a high carb meal for breakfast (musli). Spiking your insulin in the morning and thereby shutting off access to your body fat. I tend to eat my carbs at night and try to avoid spiking blood glucose in the morning to any significant degree. This allows me to stay more in “fat burning” mode during the day and significantly reduces hunger pangs for ME. Also, eating carbs at night helps refill glycogen stores and aids muscle recovery/rebuilding from bouts of strength training which happens primarily when asleep. You are strength training right??? If not, get on it man! Muscle mass has a direct effect on Blood Glucose control by way of insulin sensitivity.
@La Frite, we’re getting off topic. I wish there was a way to “fork” a new discussion thread, but… I also had a bicep tendon injury from doing sternum chins (chin-ups) and muscle-ups. Learned my lesson to stick to slow cadence (slow rep’s) now. No more ballistic/fast training for me! The bicep tendon would not get better for over 6 months and I finally had to just stop all pulling exercises for a period of 3 months for it to get better. Now I’m dealing with an elbow tendonitis issue but my bicep is back to full form thank goodness. Both of these problems have a combination of lifting and computer-mouse usage (ie, repetitive stress) at their root cause. I’m almost certain the mouse usage is causing my tendonitis (bent elbow for hours). I think I need to get a standup desk or a low keyboard/mouse platform so I can use the mouse with a straight arm.
Richard,
I decided to try potato starch based on the reports of sleep and vivid dreams. I Jumped right in, getting a bag and some Lifeway “greek style” plain (full fat) kefir from whole foods last night.
I figured start off full speed ahead, to see what a full 4 tablespoons would do right before bed, after never consuming raw potato starch before. So 4 tablespoons PS, 1 cup kefir (quite thick!). First, I noticed absolutely no increase in flatulence. I was actually quite shocked, given the reports. I hope this isn’t a bad sign that my gut is dead, haha. Moving on…
I drank this at 2:30 am. I had fallen asleep at my girfriend’s around 11, woke up, drove home, mixed and drank, then went to bed. I had difficulty falling asleep (always happens when I wake up and drive at 2am). What was different, though, was that I quickly started feeling a sense of well being, and energy. Perhaps the calorie load, or the assorted milk mood properties, caused this, but as I was lying there, I felt an increasing sense of well-being, an increasing sense of energy, and an increasing sense of relaxation (I’ll call it mild euphoria). Finally fell asleep.
Dreams were exactly as you described. Long vivid narratives with complex themes based on current life happenings. Unfortunately, I had just finished showing the first season of 24 to my girlfriend. My dream(s) involved being sent on a mission to kill someone by terrorists that held my family hostage, and trying avoid being killed myself. Regardless, despite the stressful nature of the dream. I didn’t wake up feeling stressed and tired like I normally would have after driving at 2 am, lying in bed awake, and dreaming some crazy stressful stuff.
The dream did finally cause me to wake earlier than I usually would have, I fell back asleep, then woke up at a normal time (7:30). Interestingly, I didn’t remember the dream, rather, realized I had intense dreams, the memory of which came after I had been awake for a while (effectively the opposite of the typical “crazy dream” which is forgotten 30 minutes later).
Today, after getting out of bed normally (always a laborious stressful process), I felt awake sooner than usual. Before leaving the house in the morning, I felt very invigorated and alert. My typical first cup of coffee hit me harder than usual. I actually felt a little jittery, and somewhat “overly” alert. Typically, 2 cups of coffee do not have a noticeable impact on my energy and mood, so this was surprising.
I feel both more alert and energetic today, and more “care-free” (nagging issues of the day and upcoming deadlines not causing me as much stress as usual).
I don’t have any blood sugar issues and never test, and any digestive issues I had in the past were largely solved after going low carb primal (PaNu) around 2010 and then reintroducing carbs about 2 years ago.
I look forward to trying PS before bed at a more “normal” bedtime, and am curious to see how my mood is after a couple of weeks (I don’t mind an increased sense of well-being! but in my experience mood is mood and always maintains an average equilibrium despite dietary changes).
If you want a non-carcinogenic sweetener, use sugar. There is nothing carcinogenic about sugar. Messing around with sugar alcohols is a great way to experience gas, bloating and intestinal discomfort. No one ever died from a packet of sugar in their coffee.
Cod liver oil, however, is a wonderfully potent carcinogen. Fish oil contains the same fatty acid profile as seed oils (except it’s even less stable since it’s mostly omega 3 and not omega 6) and it’s generally refined the same way. Even the “cold pressed” stuff can’t get around the fact that fish oil rapidly polymerizes under room temperature once isolated from the fish.
I find your statement ironic.
I use 8-10 drops of stevia in my coffee depending on my mood.
@John
“My typical first cup of coffee hit me harder than usual.”
Glad you brought this up. I have seriously considered dropping coffee altogether. I’ll wake up, feel great, pour a cup of coffee and within minutes feel comparatively shitty. It passes, but why crash a bone right off the bat in the morning?
@Brad
I tend to agree with you about easing off the carbs at brekkie, but the Bircher muesli isn’t as bad as it might seem. I make it by soaking a quarter cup of oats overnight with full-fat yoghurt, a grated apple and a few pecans. In the morning I stir in a few teaspoons of bobs PS, and sometimes add a few pieces of fruit (yesterday it was homegrown cherries – yum). It’s very tasty and since I prepare most of it the night before, it’s a quick brekkie, which is important as I have an eight-month old baby and can’t spend much time in the kitchen ;-)
In a perfect world I would rather enjoy sausages and bacon for brekkie, but I don’t see that happening for quite a few years….
This post is exactly where I wanted RS to be when I started this crusade way back when–other people talking intelligently about RS and extolling it’s virtues without me saying a word. Love it! Everything I read up above is spot on, fact wise, and shows N=1’s that are not talked about in studies on RS directly, only indirectly, ie. the vivid dreams lend credibility to the power of the gut-brain axis.
People like to think of cavemen as stupid, blunderers searching for their next meal…an alternate reality is that they were wicked smart with vivid imaginations and crazy dreams that fueled their existence…and they farted a lot! Maybe modern man is the real blundering idiot.
@Richard,
I think I am on my way to quitting coffee as well (again). Today, I felt exceptionally refreshed with only 6 hours of sleep. I have settled on a 2T PS + 1T Psyllium + Yogurt + Fulvic acid for a couple of weeks now. Will probably increase the PS next week to 3T.
Wanted to go slow because I thought too much of PS too soon gave me joint issues… so backed out a bit and started all over again with 1T. All in all, I’ve been on PS for about 6 weeks now, I think. Still have slight issues with grip strength, but definitely getting better in that regard. Must say though, that I started on MSM+Vit C 2 days ago…I think it is helping too.
One thing I want to say is, coffee is overrated as far as morning alertness is concerned. I have been coffee free on off and actually felt better in the mornings while off of this stimulant. But somehow, I always seem to start back slowly because I like to sip on some hot beverage during the day.
Sorry, for the long rant. But the bottom line is…for those of you who want to wean off coffee, try it, I think you will like it. For me the first 3 days are an issue with withdrawal symptoms. I want to get to a point where I want to treat coffee like a treat 2 or 3 times a week instead of completely ridding it once… maybe only drink when your body “asks” for it. Something along the lines of “eat when hungry”.
T-Nat
@Ozquoll, yeah that sounds tasty and not too bad on the BG front depending. I take it the yogurt is unsweetened? What’s the reason the bacon/sausage is not something you would consider now? Is it the calories or you think the fat content is bad for you? Again, I’m not saying don’t eat your musli, just that as an experiment you might want to try eating it at night instead of in the morning (say for 30 days) and see if it has any positive effect. Just an idea. -Brad-
Everyone with problems sleeping… are you guys also exercising intensely at least a couple times per week? Ain’t nuttin keeping me awake after intense gym work. And the effect usually persists for a day or two after as the DOMS are present (delayed onset musle soreness). The body just demands it’s recouperation time.
Kids, for me. Or at least one kid. My youngest is still nursing, weaning actually, but he’s a total breast man. Four hours and no tit, he’s squalling like rusty pliers pulling out his toenails. It used to take me hours to fall asleep after a wake up. I’m much more restful during and after a feeding than even two weeks ago. No change in his patterns, but an improvement in mine.
@Amy
How to put this… Thank you, Amy, for paying it forward. I initially thought “self serving,” but then realized, women typically like their breasts paid attention to by their lovers, so that needs to be imprinted. Other women did it for you, and now you’re paying back and it should go without saying, benefiting your son as well. :)
Not sure how that squares for daughters….. OK…. I’ll stop now.
I would never deprive my kids of love or nourishment, despite an inherent selfish love of sleep. I want my daughters and son to grow up knowing real intimacy, and that comes from the first drop of milk they drink, the first smell of their parents’ skin and the feel of a strong father’s embrace saving them from the closet monsters and driveway dragons.
A good diet helps keep the spiritual, mental, and physical home fires burning strong for future generations. I’m glad I’m not a genetic dead-end and that I have a chance to pass on the feel-goods to the little ones.
I used to be a teacher, and I know the value of being a mentor, but there is no replacing the intimacy a child receives, in infancy, from a caregiver totally devoted to his development. That kind of intimacy can only come from one selfless source. You need not be a biological parent, but you must be totally selfless, and aware of when your own desires conflict and must accede to those of the young one. Something I think the vanity children of choose-your-own-family-model miss out on.
i.e., sometimes it’s more about having a child than being a parent.
Make of it what you wish. Kids should be neither status symbols nor meal tickets.
“you must be totally selfless”
I don’t believe you. I think you’re as selfish as they come, and I think that’s wonderful and your children will benefit immensely from your selfish nature.
Please don’t confuse selfishness with an abhorrent value system. You adore your offspring and have a suitable long term view of how you can continue to enjoy them until you’re on death bead and they’re finely situated.
You are selfish. Rationally so, and that basic Animal drive in a humanely rational context is enough to drive it all.
And good for you, Amy. We need millions more like you. Hold ’em and feed ’em until they don’t want to be held anymore, and want to chew. Easy. Hard for you, but easy in concept and how might the world change?
I understand, Richard. It’s selfish and selfless at the same time, perhaps inconceivable because they seem so distant from one another. I want our genes to move on, and the kids are the only route to that. We invest a lot in our kids. Most of it is heavy on me right now. Our eldest is five and she is Daddy’s girl 100%, always following him around. Last week she watched and “helped” in her little girl way while he skinned and quartered a deer. She carried in a hind quarter herself and Daddy helped her wrap it and write the label on the package. The other two will follow in kind, we’re fairly sure. Yes, we insulate them from TV and pop culture for now and hope these early experiences will give them a good road map for life. Like nursing = intimacy, skinning deer = intimacy. Different levels, good outcomes all around.
Some more news on how LC affects the gut
npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/12/10/250007042/chowing-down-on-meat-and-dairy-alters-gut-bacteria-a-lot-…
EF: Another typical bad science, bad reporting article. Who wouldn’t be surprised the microbiome changed? And they even admitted that the animal based diet was “extreme.” And the dominant animal based bacteria MIGHT cause inflammation? Unlike all those grains eaten on the plant diet?
Sheesh. Not worthy of a high school science project.
@Amy
“I understand, Richard.”
Knew you would.
“Our eldest is five and she is Daddy’s girl 100%, always following him around.”
We don’t have kids—a bazillion nieces and nephews, though, and Beatrice dotes on them as much as an aunt can. But she has a track record as the favorite aunt of a number of college grads, including tons of her own students (she is in her 31st year teaching elementary, so we see former students, some now adults with family, regularly, no matter where we go, and she always gets a big hug)
We have dogs, two of them. The male is mommy’s boy and the female, daddy’s girl. Weird and wonderful how that works.
“Yes, we insulate them from TV and pop culture for now and hope these early experiences will give them a good road map for life.”
When I was a kid, TV would have been boring compared to running across 100 yards of pitch dark grass at night, focussing on the lights from my grandparents’ river house on Truckee, assured I get to their safety before the boogyman behind me, got me.
@ChocoTaco369, white table sugar is not food. Zero nutrients in it and so no reason to consume it especially since things like honey, molasses, and palm fruit (dates) exist which have nutrients. A caveat might be if you are eating fresh pressed cane juice but even that has only trace nutrients. No you will not die from consuming a little sugar, but so what, its irrelevant. Its very simple, eat real food. Thats my take.
@Brad
LOL – my hubby would crack up at the idea of me being afraid of calories – I eat more food than he does!
No, the cooked breakfast thing is not happening because it takes too long, makes too many dishes, and in the case of bacon, hubby does not eat pork and so dislikes the smell of it cooking, which is fair enough.
Speaking of dogs, I’ve never been able to figure out why my raw-meat-eating carnivorous dog drools like crazy whenever I cook up potatoes, sweet potatoes and rice… until now:
That is all beyond my comprehension, but I have a hard time believing that my carnivorous dog needs starch. And yet, all the intense drooling…
@ChocoTaco369
Funny that you tell Brad to use sugar when you yourself use stevia. But anyway, when you have a clear set of data showing without ambiguity that _fermented cod liver oil_ triggers cancer, please share.
Great comments, folks… I’m a LC’er for two years now after years of eating lots of beans and popcorn as a semi-vegetarian. Haven’t had any beans or popcorn in two years now. Am thinking about adding them back in, based on comments here. Any advice? I do eat sweet potatoes on occasion. Also: I mix in Metamucil (psyllium) every day for fiber. Is psyllium a Resistant Starch? Which is the best RS? Thanks for any help here!
I can echo what others have said N=1; 1 TBS PS in water before bed, within 10 – 20 minutes I feel mild to strong euphoria, sometimes arousal even while awake. To squelch the psychosomatic conclusion, I had this prior to reading others comments about the same effects. As a male with low T (adrenal fatigue and gut issues) here’s hoping this is helping. Either way, its fun as hell!
Another note, I am someone struggling with chronic fatigue/fibro symptoms. When I eat even moderate carbs at night, my muscles are painfully stiff in the morning when I get out of bed. I have been on PS for about a week now, and I have been sleeping much better. Last night I was weak and gorged myself on some dark chocolate almonds. Usually I would have stayed awake from the chocolate, then woke up in the morning in pretty bad physical pain, and feeling super tired. I got up an hour and a half early, no pain, feeling energized, and was early to work for the first time in several years. Did I just happen to get a good nights sleep which can happen ocaccionally? Not sure, but I am holding out hope here. BTW, I am not going to start up the high carbs again, but its good to know when I slip up, I might have help with my metabolism. Lastly, down 5 pounds in the last week or so without much work at it. Thanks to all for the great info and support.
I had a couple of questions about all of this (RS).
How much in grammes is 2-4 (US tablespoons)?
When should we be taking it – morning/night with food or without. There’s seems to be a lot variation there. Should we take it before food? Actually with the food? Does it matter?
Just to be clear we’re saying that RS will you to consume a greater level of carbs without getting high blood sugar, weight etc?
It’s also been stated repeatedly that this will help you to lose weight. I have to note that I have actually put on weight over the last two weeks whilst supplementing with PS (bob’s red mill). I’m not sure if it’s down to the PS but it’s a bit concerning.
On that last point, seeing as I’m getting 40g of carbs from 4tbs of PS, should I be dropping my fat intake considerably?
On what sort of timescales have people noticed weight loss? How much weight loss? Were you lean already (doing paleo low or medium carb)? ETC.
I do apologise greatly if these have been answered elsewhere but i haven’t read every comment in every thread. I’m just a bit unclear on a few points and I want to do this properly. I’m grateful for any help.
My personal experience (went in hard on 4tbs once a day) does far has been:
– Unbelievable mega farts (very frequent and frankly awful for the first week, tapering off
– Possibly feeling a bit hungrier (although its borderline)
– Unmentionables are smaller and bitty
– Weight gain
– No intense dreams, sleep is possibly better
@the_whizzer
2-4T is 15-30g RS
You take it when it’s best for YOU, either splitting it up, all at once, with meals or not. You have to figure it out for yourself. Some people like to eat dessert first.
“Just to be clear we’re saying that RS will you to consume a greater level of carbs without getting high blood sugar, weight etc?”
Repeated for the millionth time: RS is not carbs for you. If you heat is past 140F and burst the granules like popcorn, then it will be carbs for you. In its natural state, it’s carbs for your colonic gut bacteria, who give you saturated fat (SCFAs) in the trade. RS will not affect your BG, insulin, or fat burning, except by consequence, as the SFCA production appears to be satiating for a lot of people, so they eat less.
Gaining weight can come from a number of things, I speculate. There is a gut/brain connection and invigorating the guys might have downstream consequences in terms of nutrient deficiency, body recomposition at a hormonal level, etc. I’m pretty confident this will stable out for most people. That’s what I’ve been seeing. I initially gained too, but after some months am dropping fat pretty markedly.
I don’t post pics because I love to see the assumptions the trolls post in comments daily about my current state. It’s like candy for me.
“On that last point, seeing as I’m getting 40g of carbs from 4tbs of PS, should I be dropping my fat intake considerably?”
This is where you have misunderstood. Those 10g carb per T are in its cooked form. Raw, it passes right through and is not digested by you. Hint: RESISTANT.
They should have called it IMPOSSIBLE.
“On what sort of timescales have people noticed weight loss? How much weight loss? Were you lean already (doing paleo low or medium carb)? ETC.”
Did you read the post?
…In terms of your experience, that’s you. Nobody knows what condition your biome is, how it affect your hormones, or anything. What we do know is that our biome is inviolable, so it might as well be healthy and LC and LC Paleo are likely pretty dismal for that, and even SAD may be betting in some respects because grains have bits of RS (but also promote bad guys, so it’s a mixed bag tradeoff deal, so far as I can tell).
I’m the sort of guy who dives in and doubles down and I never worry. Others may need to ramp up slowly. I had unbelievable fartage the first few weeks, and unmentionable toilets. Now, I can take 40-60g per day (5-6T) and unless taken alongside beans, have zero issues, no fartage above normal, and excellent toilets.
And the benefits are pretty astounding. Continual fat loss (I’ll have the last laf), superb sleep and a dreaming event I still can’t believe. Morning wood, and regular wood at the drop of a thought. So much satiation that I can’t recall what it’s like to feel hunger before 2-3pm. And more.
FWIW, Here’s my experience with PS so far:
1. I think it’s about 8 g of RS per 1T or it could be a little bit lower
2. I have settled on taking it in the evening with Yogurt and 1T of psyllium husk about 2 hours ahead of dinner. I started out, like you, with a full blast 4T PS but did not like the results- one of which was smaller and bitty TMI and had some joint issues- so backed out and started at 1T a few weeks , now upto 2 T…I’ll eventually top out at 3 – 4T. Reason for taking it with Yogurt and fiber is – the probacteria in yogurt binds with RS so more of them will make it to the colon; fiber will push it to the distal parts of the colon so RS is spread out more in the colon instead of all of it being consumed at the top portion of your colon. Taking it on empty seems to make more sense.
3. I noticed better dream activity after combining with yogurt.
4. Initial fartage was slightly painful but not unbearable or anything. I think the consensus is that the worst your gut bugs are to begin with the worse and longer the fartage will be. But eventually it should settle down. But be aware that bad foods will trigger fartage.
5. I don’t think you can expect weight loss with RS. Any weight loss will be a bonus.
6. Vivid dreams, BG regulation, lower FBG and second meal effect are the most commonly reported results.
T-Nat
@the_wizzer, my above response was for you. I just want to add one more thing…STICK WITH IT AND GIVE IT A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME. It could be 1 month, 3 months or 6 months. Like Richard said, it’s different from person to person and depends on how badly their gut microbiome is f*kced up.
T-Nat
[…] @livinlowcarbman If you didn't see this, Jimmy… bit.ly/IF8bNY […]
Richard, about weight loss, I’ve been meaning to share an old observation, but, you know…
Alors : when we were doing the experiments with tatertot on RS in ketosis and for blood glucose control, I happened to notice among all those combinations that taking the RS in water one hour before eating suppressed appetiteor caused satiety earlier – either way you look at it, I ate less. I confirmed this later in various other combinations, like trying to get yogurt with honey into a ketotic diet.
I know I’m not the only one, there have been various anecdotal reports on this.
The thing is, this appetite suppression worked both in ‘regular’ metabolic state and in ketosis.
Heck, it even worked when finally breaking a 48-hr fast, which impressed me (and why I started making note of it).
There’s a condition: taking RS together with the food, or during the day or morning or bedtime etc. did not have the same effect.
One hour before meal, 4 tbsp in water. Those were the magic numbers.
So there may be something more immediate at operation that can help weight loss, quite apart from the idea that a healthy gut biome improves metabolism/weight control/hormonal feedback, causing weight loss in the overweight – as suggested by biome comparisons of obese vs. lean people and those famous rats (!).
By now all family and many friends are taking it and…..drum-roll please……several have noticed the same appetite effect – without any bias since I never thought to ask them (!), though I have asked those reporting it to try other combinations to see if similar effect. No luck yet.
So given these several independent observations, I thought to mention it as a decent possibility.
Appetite is so very, very suggestible that any reports after this post sadly won’t be confirmations, but who cares – if it helps someone no matter how, pourquoi pas, eh?
My two yen from Japan. RS works. I’ve had good luck with foods that naturally contain RS, but not so much with PS supplementation. After experimenting with timing, dosage, and co-supplements, it turns out the Japanese use “potato flour” interchangeably with “potato starch”, and few know the difference. Not much luck sourcing plantain flour yet, but tapioca flour is readily available. Reading of mixed results with that.
[…] are doing that. Have you been plagued with problems for years like slow metabolism, yo-yo weight (did you see the girl who LC yo-yoed for 5 years 20-25 pounds and dropped 60 in 6 months by only addi…) cold hands & feet, sleep problems, bathroom problems including constipation and infrequency? […]
Turns out some tapioca flour in Japan uses sulfur dioxide as a preservative/bleaching agent.
I may have missed this somewhere, but how “low” are we talking with “low carb”? I am pretty low, eating 4-6 ounces of meat with most meals, but adding in a very generous serving of vegetables with every meal. I eat more vegetables now that I’m low-carb than I ever did before. I am interested in trying RS again, but will go the cold rice, cold bean, cold bean-thread and cello noodle route this time, as I seem to be really intolerant of potatoes at this time. I am also going to order some plaintain chips and see how I do with those.
I am in the throes of some kind of gut bacterial (possibly SIBO) problem, and also a systemic yeast overgrowth. I’ve been encouraged by MD and ND both to cut back on simple carbs so as not to feed the yeast, and have been very strict with this, but as RS is not a simple carb it makes sense to me to use it to help feed the good guys so they can fight the bad guys.
Does Jaminet’s reasoning that LC encourages yeast really make sense? Is it really possible that yeast can become keto adapted? I know “yeast theory” is fairly new, and not well accepted anywhere but functional and natural medicine, but it seems that the keto-adaptation theory is unheard of, and I’ve been doing a LOT of reading. Any thoughts?
I started taking RS a week ago. Around the same time I started using MCT oil in my tea. Now I am experiencing adrenal fatigue. Has that happened to anyone else?
A little bit about myself. I was on the paleo diet for 11 months and now I’ve been on a the ketogenic diet for a few months.
What do you mean by “adrenal fatigue?”