I have been approached by many who are on the Paleo diet inquiring about resistant starch (RS) because the Fast Tract Diet systematically limits RS as well as other fermentable carbohydrates in your diet for functional gastrointestinal disorders, SIBO and related condition.
I am a big fan of the Paleo Diet consuming healthy whole foods that we evolved to eat.
Our ancestral diet included RS and other fiberous energy sources which our diverse microbiota helped us digest. Fast forward to modern times, our microbiota is becoming less diverse due to the following:
- Antibiotics
- Cesarean section births and formula feeding
- Preservatives
- More refined, processed and cooked foods in our diet
And also what I call the “Food Wealth Affect” which is our easy access to food 24/7, especially highly fermentable carbohydrates.
Despite this fact, many people are able to tolerate RS and may enjoy potential benefits, modulating blood sugar and adding healthy fats (short chain fatty acids like butyrate, etc.). On the other hand, many also become sensitive to imbalances in gut microbiota especially as we age and also likely due to the factors I mentioned above and possibly following gastrointestinal infections.
For these who have SIBO or dysbiosis, I would be very cautious about consuming too much RS. Though there is a rational for using RS to help SIBO, I think the evidence favors limiting resistant starch and other fermentable carbohydrates at least until symptoms are controlled.