Potatoes have a comfort food reputation and are often touted as the enemy for those trying to lose a little weight and cut back on carbs.
While it’s true that potatoes are rich in carbohydrates, there might not be a need to say farewell to the humble spud just yet. In fact, potatoes can actually be used to improve your gut health and overall sense of wellbeing – if you cook and eat them the right way.
Lead dietitian at Sustainable Nutrition, Francisca Pereira-Scarfo, says you can maximise the power of the potato by cooking it and letting it cool down before consumption.
In doing this, you increase the resistant starch contained in a potato, making it a gut-health gain.
If you reheat or cook a potato a second time, then let it cool down again, it doesn’t kill the resistant starch.
“When potatoes are hot, they have higher levels of glucose and starch,” Pereira-Scarfo tells SBS. “The starch then gets digested quickly in our small intestine (or upper gut). This can spike our blood sugar levels.
“As the starch is mostly digested in the small intestine, so only a fraction of it is left to pass to our large bowel (intestine).” Basically, your large intestine misses out on all the health benefits it could have received with more starch.
When you cook and cool a potato before eating it, more resistant starch forms. As the name explains, ‘resistant’ starch is a type of fibre that mostly resists digestion in the small intestine. Instead, it undergoes the majority of digestion in the large intestine.
“Resistant starch could have more of a direct effect on good bacteria in the large intestine [than normal starch] because by the time it arrives in the large intestine, it may be more pure or potent.”
Why resistant starch is so beneficial
Once in the large intestine, resistant starch provides fuel for the good bacteria that live there (microbiome). That helps to increase the number of good bacteria and build a gut microbiome with greater diversity.
According to the , when resistant starch is broken down by gut bacteria (or fermented), a favourable environment is created for the production of butyrate: a major bacterial metabolite fundamental for keeping the gut healthy and functioning normally.
“Butyrate is the preferred fuel for cells lining the gut and ensuring the integrity of the gut wall, helping to protect it against cancer and other serious digestive,” the
“Resistant starch also offers health benefits beyond those in the gut, such as helping to reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes by increasing the body’s sensitivity to insulin.”
We use potato a lot in our curries, from potato curry to meat curry or lentil chickpea curry. So in this instance, you could cook the potatoes in advance and let them cool down.
There's more to resistant starch than just potato salads
If you want to benefit from the resistant starch found in a cooled potato but don’t want to be confined to a life of potato salads, fear not. Pereira-Scarfo says you can still eat warm potatoes: just reheat them after allowing them to cool first.
“If you reheat or cook a potato a second time, then let it cool down again, it doesn’t kill the resistant starch,” she says. “It won’t really increase the level by much either (if it does it will be a very small amount). The initial process of cooking and then cooling is the process that counts.”
Pereira-Scarfo, who was born in Malaysia and hails from a South Indian family, says the potato hack can be easily applied to the foods of her culture.
“We use potato a lot in our curries, from potato curry to meat curry or lentil chickpea curry. So in this instance, you could cook the potatoes in advance and let them cool down. Then add them to the curry at the end to finish off the dish.”
Potatoes, rice and pasta are staples in the diet of many people across the world. So it’s great to find a way to eat them in moderation that benefits your gut health as well.
Pereira-Scarfo explains that the same cooling treatment also applies to other foods like pasta, rice and oats that have been cooked and left to cool.
“If you cook a lot of rice one night for a curry and then let the leftover rice cool down, the next day you can eat it and it will have a high content of resistant starch. You could then use the rice in a salad – add some legumes and vegetables, drizzle over some olive oil and you will have a highly nutritious meal.”
The take-home message is clear: you don’t have to fear potatoes or other starchy products like pasta and rice. In fact, it’s better for your gut if you embrace them, cooked and cooled.
“Potatoes, rice and pasta are staples in the diet of many people across the world. So it’s great to find a way to eat them in moderation that benefits your gut health as well.”
