Resistant Starch: Its Big Benefits & What It Has to Do with Potato Salad

+ an irresistable recipe for Salt and Vinegar Potato Salad

I’ve got nutrition news that sounds too good to be true but actually is true (a rarity online these days). When you whip up a batch of potato salad (or pasta salad or any grain salad), you are not only making crave-able, comfort food, you are also automatically making those potatoes (or pasta, or grains) better for you. That’s because when starchy foods are chilled after cooking, some of their starch transforms into resistant starch, a type which can help you feel more satisfied with fewer calories, lower blood sugar, boost gut-health, and more.

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What is resistant starch?

Most starches are broken down into glucose in the small intestine, but resistant starch –named that because it resists digestion-- cannot be fully broken down, so it passes through to the large intestine, like fiber does, where it becomes food for good gut bacteria.

Whole grains, beans, nuts, seeds, plantains, and unripe bananas are some foods inherently rich in resistant starch, but resistant starch can also be created by cooking and chilling starchy foods. That process –which you are already doing when you make potato, pasta or grain salads--transforms some of the regular starch into the resistant kind, making those dishes better for you than you might realize.

Why it’s good for you