Does cooling cooked potatoes change their starch?

Yes. Cooking potatoes and then cooling them forms a type of carbohydrate called resistant starch, according to the Cleveland Clinic, and that starch reaches your large intestine instead of being digested like ordinary starch. Most carbohydrates get digested in your small intestine. Resistant starch is different. It passes through to your large intestine, where it feeds the beneficial bacteria that make up your gut microbiome. Registered dietitian Beth Czerwony, RD, LD, explains it this way on the clinic's site: “Resistant starch is a type of carbohydrate, but it doesn’t digest the way some other starches and carbs do.” The clinic describes four types. Type 1 sits in the cell walls of whole grains, legumes and seeds. Type 2 is found in unripe bananas and raw potatoes, foods most people do not eat. Type 4 is an artificial ingredient added to some processed foods. Type 3 is the one that forms in your kitchen. It appears when you cook starchy foods like rice, potatoes or pasta and then cool them. The cooling process causes this starch to form and slightly reduces the calorie content. So chilled potatoes in a potato salad, or yesterday's rice from the fridge, carry a type of starch the freshly cooked version had not yet formed. Why does that matter? The clinic says the main benefit is a healthier gastrointestinal tract, and a healthy gut positively affects almost every other body system. Resistant starch may also help you better manage your blood sugar. It may help with appetite too. “Eating foods with resistant starch can help you feel full for longer, so potentially you may eat less or not as often,” says Czerwony. The clinic adds that your body uses more energy to digest resistant starch than sugary carbs. Resistant starch is close to fiber but not identical. Some resistant starches contain fiber and some do not, and many high-fiber foods carry both. Beans, legumes and whole grains such as barley, brown rice and oats are the best sources. The clinic notes that most people in the U.S. get only about 5 grams of resistant starch a day, and that much like fiber, most of us could probably use more of it. The clinic's tip is simple: cool your cooked rice or pasta in the fridge overnight before reheating them to eat. Potatoes follow the same rule, since they are on the clinic's list of foods that form type 3 resistant starch when cooled. And if you already eat plenty of legumes and whole grains, the clinic says you are getting the resistant starch benefits. This does not make cooled potatoes carbohydrate-free, and it does not guarantee a particular blood-sugar response. If you manage diabetes or watch your carbs, talk to your doctor before changing how you eat starchy foods.

Curtesy of www.thrivingguide.com