When it comes to "carbon water", many people avoid it, worried that eating too much will gain weight, raise blood sugar, and even regard it as a "stumbling block" on the road to their health. In fact, there is a class of "carbon water", not only will not cause obesity, and even reduce the role of fatty liver, that is - resistant starch!

In 2023, a study published in the journal Cell Metabolism by Jia Weiping and other researchers from the Sixth People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine showed that a diet rich in resistant starch can change the composition of intestinal bacteria, and reduce the level of triglycerides and liver enzymes related to liver damage and inflammation, and reduce fatty liver.

After a 4-month experiment, the study found that compared with the control group, resistant starch significantly reduced the content of triglycerides in the liver of participants, with an absolute reduction of 9.08% and a relative reduction of 39.42%, and also significantly reduced the body weight, BMI and fat content of participants.

In addition, liver damage was also improved in the resistant starch group participants. In addition, participants in the resistant starch group showed improvements in total cholesterol, triglycerides, low density lipoprotein and high density lipoprotein, which alleviated dyslipidemia.

Resistant starch is simply a starch that is difficult to digest. Resistant starch exists in many natural foods, the following foods rich in resistant starch, slow blood sugar, strong satiety, can be used as a high-quality staple food.

1. Whole grains

Recommended food: oats, sweet corn, barley, wheat, sorghum, etc.

Unprocessed whole grains and seeds on the market generally contain resistant starch. It is recommended to keep the intake of whole grains to 1/4 or 1/2 of three meals a day, and to include at least one meal of whole grains.

Tip: Whole grains are not easy to digest in their own right and are more acceptable when paired with rice. The ratio of rice to whole grains is 1:0.5 to make rice or porridge, which tastes better and controls blood sugar.

2. Beans

Recommended foods: chickpeas, peas, soybeans, black beans, lentils, red beans, mung beans, pinto beans, etc.

Drink soy milk in the morning and snack on chickpeas or peas between meals. Pay attention to increasing the staple food beans. For example, when cooking rice, add red beans, mung beans to make red bean rice, mung bean rice, etc.

Tip: Beans alone can cause bloating. Rice and beans can be made into rice or porridge in a ratio of 1:0.3, and beans need to be soaked overnight in advance. This not only ensures the taste, but also facilitates digestion.

3. Tubers

Recommended food: sweet potatoes, potatoes, etc.

One or two meals of three meals a day can be appropriately added to some tubers. At the same time, reduce the intake of other staple foods.

Tip: It can be cooked or roasted as a main dish, or it can be cut into pieces and cooked in rice. There are sweet potato steamed bread or potato steamed bread made of sweet potato flour on the market, which is also a good choice.

Kang Jingwen, Clinical nutrition Department of Yuhuangding Hospital in Yantai, Shandong Province, published an article in the public number of the department in 2024, and it is necessary to understand these knowledge when eating resistant starch food.

1. It is recommended to cool the staple food before eating

After cooked rice, steamed bread and potatoes were refrigerated, the content of resistant starch increased significantly, and the glycemic index decreased significantly. After reheating, the resistant starch will also be partially retained, like rice after refrigeration and reheating, the blood sugar response is still lower than fresh hot rice. Overnight fried rice, for example, is an option that combines resistant starch and flavor.

At high temperature, starch absorbs water and gelatinizes, the resistant starch content will be reduced, the food will be easier to digest and absorb, and the blood sugar reaction will be higher.

2. Cook with less water

Cooking methods with less water such as baking and microwave heating can reduce starch gelatinization, such as baked potatoes with higher resistant starch content than boiled potatoes. This is why it is recommended to reheat refrigerated rice, steamed bread and bread by baking or microwaving.

3. Make multigrain rice a little more sturdy

In addition, high-pressure cooking also reduces the content of resistant starch. The content of resistant starch in the thick multigrain porridge cooked in the pressure cooker is less than that in the steamed multigrain rice.

4. Don't eat too much fat

Also, don't eat too much fat. A high-fat diet can cancel out the health benefits of resistant starch.

5. Don't buy resistant starch blindly

We should not feel that resistant starch is good for health, blindly buy and increase the intake of resistant starch. Eating too much resistant starch may also cause intestinal side effects such as nausea, vomiting, bloating, increased intestinal peristalsis or changes in bowel movements.

Simply increasing the intake of resistant starch in a daily balanced diet through appropriate food choices can make our diet a little healthier.

In addition to staple foods such as rice, noodles and steamed bread, vegetables and fruits are also carbohydrate foods. Xia Yanqiong, chief physician of the Nutrition Department of Guangdong Provincial Maternal and Child Health Hospital, said in the Health China public number article in 2023 that the intake of carbohydrates is essential, but carbohydrates are also divided into "good carbon water" and "bad carbon water", how should you eat?

1. Eat more "good carbs"

Such carbohydrates, of course, include "resistant starch." Also, increase your intake of green carbohydrates. Vegetables and fruits are high in fiber and contain certain carbohydrates, which can also be considered "good carbohydrates".

This type of food is usually green, that is, green carbohydrates. The more colors on your plate, the healthier you'll eat.

2. Eat less "bad carbs"

Too much of this type of carbohydrate can increase cardiovascular burden, increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, and hinder blood pressure and weight control. These carbohydrates are mostly white or beige foods, such as rice noodles, candy, etc.

Reduce your intake of "bad carbs," especially refined rice noodles and added sugars. Added sugar refers to sugars artificially added to food, sweet, including monosaccharides and disaccharides, common sucrose, fructose, glucose, high fructose syrup and so on. It is recommended that the daily intake of added sugar is best controlled within 5% (about 25 grams).