Fantastic Health Benefits of Butyrate

[cherimoya_kid]

. The only thing close to a raw Paleo food on the list is banana, and most raw Paleos advocate eating them very ripe, not green. It's too bad too, it sounded promising.

Well, oats are not particularly high in phytic acid, especially compared to beans and other grains.  I don't recommend eating oats, though.  They give me a small potbelly when I eat them.

[Muhammad.Sunshine]

It's good to look at the big picture concerning prebiotics. Eating plenty of raw fruits and vegetables will keep you in good condition. Special root vegetables such as Chicory root, Jerusalem artichoke and Jicama have extremely high amounts of prebiotics, especially inulin. These roots are so rich they can be used in small amounts as supplements. However, they are very tasty (I've only had J.artichokes so far) and I enjoy them like regular food.

Regarding raw starch, I think that most of it ends up as food for the gut bacteria i.e. raw starch is resistant starch. A good source can be winter squashes which are technically fruits and probably safer than raw potatoes.

On a side note, prebiotics improve calcium absorption, maybe paleo people had good calcium levels in the absence of dairy because they had plenty of good gut bacteria. Roots and flowers are great sources of prebiotics, and were probably consumed frequently.

[PaleoPhil]

I've tried those inulin foods and supplements and raw winter squashes and didn't care for any of them, nor notice any benefits. I found the raw winter squash particularly awful. Winter squash is allegedly supposed to require cooking, which I can believe after trying it raw and soaked and dried. Raw soaked sweet potato was tasty, though. Jicama is interesting in that it is a legume tuber. Legume tubers are commonly eaten by African hunter gatherers, so I was optimistic about it, but it wasn't for me.

[PaleoPhil]

I'll add an interesting explanatory bit to this interesting thread that helped motivate me to experiment more with foods rich in starch and inulin, as did this explanation of why plant sources of butyrate are superior to butter from Prof. Stephan Guyenet, which makes sense and for which I've found confirmations from other sources, including scientific studies:

Stephan said...
Hi Senta and Ed,

Pastured butter seems to contain about the same amount of butyrate as grain-fed, surprisingly.

I'm not convinced that butter is an adequate substitute for SCFA production by intestinal bacteria. Butyrate in butter is absorbed in the small intestine, so it won't be concentrated in the bowel like it is when it's produced from fiber. The blood concentration will also be cyclical rather than stable as it is when it's produced in the gut. I don't know if that has implications for its effects. I see butter as a supplement to dietary fiber rather than a replacement.

December 12, 2009 at 6:03 PM
http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2009/12/butyric-acid-ancient-controller-of.html

So even though butter has a higher concentration of butyric acid than that in starchy plants, and even though it's more digestible on its own, most of it doesn't get to the part of the anatomy where it's most needed.

I'll post about my experiments in my journal.

[van]

Since you're playing the game, you might try leek leaves, the big Dark green ones, and jerusalem artichokes. 

[PaleoPhil]

Thanks, Van. I've been keeping my eyes peeled for Jerusalem artichokes, but haven't seen any, nor any leek leaves. Sounds like you've got a lot of interesting foods available to you.

On the bright side, the farmers' markets around here have been growing and providing a better variety of foods. That aren't quite the huge embarrassment they once were, but still have a long way to go, and the small number Asian and other ethnic markets around here are a joke--lots of packaged and canned foods and not much else.

[jessica]

Jerusalem artichokes grow like weeds.  if you can get them and find they are useful foods I would suggest storing a bulb in your fridge through the winter and planting them somewhere. they are not very flavorful, kind of like water chestnuts

I have some growing in my parents easement, wish I could harvest them for you.

jicama is one of the only sweet tasting foods I can eat, I love it but it is not very commonly grown organically, I have only seen that once in the last 15 years.  the conventional is hit or miss, some brands are actually ok, you have to look for the ones that aren't shellacked with wax

[Projectile Vomit]

Hi Phil, if you want some jerusalem artichokes get in touch with me. I have a bunch growing in my front yard, and would be happy to hook you up this fall. You can dig them up fresh.

[PaleoPhil]

Thanks Eric. Do you notice any benefits from them?

[Projectile Vomit]

I can't say that I do. I haven't eaten any since moving in. In the past when I've eaten them they gave me gas, so I stopped. I might try fermenting some this fall when harvest time comes.

[PaleoPhil]

Update:
Muhammad was definitely right and I was wrong, initially, about resistant starch. Hat tip to Muhammad for recognizing the importance of resistant starch early on.

I'm convinced that resistant starch is just as characteristic of "raw Paleo" foods as inulin, and RS has been more beneficial for me. Don't let the word "starch" fool you. RS is nothing like ordinary easily-digestible starch. RS is converted into fat instead of glucose.

The benefits of resistant starch are probably one of the strongest cases for eating raw Paleo, as the richest sources of resistant starch are wild and raw, especially raw fermented (there are those magic words again that keep coming up again and again - "raw fermented") or raw dried or raw frozen, or some combination of those.

If interested in resistant starch, read all you can by Tatertot Tim, aka Otzi, on the subject. He's basically the most knowledgeable guy on the Internet on the topic and he recently had his gut microbiome analyzed and he reported that it was the best ever analyzed by the lab. I have found his advice and info to be helpful and fascinating. You should be able to find some of his writings/postings via Google. He's not a rawist, though he does eat lots of raw foods.

A clarification: winter squashes and sweet potatoes are rich in inulin (I think), but not in resistant starch. Here's Tatertot's list of RS-rich foods (don't let the neolithic ones scare you, there are some Paleo and near-Paleo ones):

http://freetheanimal.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Resistant-Starch-in-Foods.pdf

Indian and Eskimo wild potatoes (some of which are edible raw) grow in North America as well as South America and are another good source of RS. I must learn more about them some day. There are also African wild tubers and "false bananas" that are likely rich in RS which are unfortunately not available in the USA, to my knowledge, and probably not Europe.

I tried Jerusalem artichokes and didn't care for them.

[PaleoPhil]

What are your "more resistant-starch-rich raw Paleo foods" ?

> dried raw green plantains (I used to eat them super-ripe, but found they were quite harmful for me that way if I ate more than a smidgen and I've discovered that I am most sensitive to glucose out of all the carbs; now I take the opposite course and try to get them as green as I can ); the very green ones are like bland crackers when dried and if you let them ripen for two or three days you can get a little bit of sweetness while probably preserving a fair amount of the RS, though the greener they are, the more RS there will be
> raw semi-green bananas or dried raw organic very-green bananas (don't touch the flesh with your fingers or eat them undried--the very-green ones are VERY sticky and astringent when they're moist)
> small amounts of raw fingerling potatoes (my favorite variety is purple Peruvian, and the Russian banana variety is OK - but people who aren't used to raw potatoes probably won't like even these; and yeah, I know, most people don't regard any potatoes as "Paleo," ... to each their own; I try to avoid varieties for which even small amounts sting my mouth and throat, as I figure that probably means I'm more sensitive to the natural plant toxins in those)

On days that I don't get enough RS from whole raw foods, I add Bob's Red Mill unmodified potato starch. The expert on the stuff, Tatertot Tim, says he checked with Bob's and found that their unmodified potato starch is not heated enough to be considered cooked. It seems to have been particularly effective in lowering my BG.

I also use tapioca flour, though Tim is not sure how much that is heated and how much RS is in it. I've also recently been experimenting with some lightly cooked RS-rich foods (I won't get into that here, as it's off-topic for this subforum).

two things phil,  what do you attribute the starch foods in helping lower you fbg?

The "beautiful butyrate" that is generated as a result of eating foods rich in fermentable fibers, especially resistant starch (not other forms of starch).

and is everything else consistent, for I remember you eating a fair amount of fermented honey at times?   And might you be substituting your starch foods for some amounts of  protein which I believe could lower ones fbg's , as would substituting fat for extra protein.

I tried lowering my protein and upping the fat and that didn't help in my case, though it did help Jimmy Moore. Maybe if I used the expensive testing equipment he used it might have worked better for me, I don't know. Resistant starch has been a quick, easy and cheap solution for me, with the only downside being excessive fartage when I overdo it, which is quite a contrast from the near-absence of fartage I had when eating very little RS and can be humorous at times, but is not overly concerning to me and I find it happens less with increasing adaptation over the weeks since increasing my RS intake.

By extra protein, I mean that to be any  amount not needed by the body for maintenance and repair.   Lex eating one meal a day imo falls into that category, as the body can only utilize so much protein at any given meal, or so I've read.  I don't have direct experience with that though.

Yes, though Lex is so far not concerned by his high FBG. LC advocates refer to it as "physiological insulin resistance" and many claim that it's totally benign. I'm not so sure about that in the longer run. One thing that puzzled me is that I haven't seen a single case of any population eating a wild Paleo diet reported having high FBG numbers, even those with the lowest carb intakes. When I learned about "Eskimo potatoes," it seemed it might be one of the missing puzzle pieces, though I didn't understand why until I learned more about RS.

Note: not all soluble fibers are fermentable and not all fermentable fibers are soluble. Tatertot Tim has answered every question about this and other aspects of the topic that you could probably ever possibly imagine.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=tatertot+%22resistant+starch%22

Another benefit I seem to be getting from RS is less need for P5P supplements. I agree with the many people who advocate trying to get your nutrients from foods rather than supplements and RS appears to be helping with that.

[cherimoya_kid]

I'm glad it's working for you, Phil.  I know I'd have stomach cramps for half the night if I ate green plantain, but I'm glad it works for you.

[paper_clips43]

I must attest to my personal beneficial experience as well. At first I started with the green plantains dried on a rack which gave me excessive gas and small stomach cramps and shortly after added in bobs red mill potato starch which increased the gas. After 5 weeks in it has become some of my favorite foods. I love green plantains and the way they make me feel. I have been mixing my potato starch with fermented coconut water, since I believed I was dairy intolerant, and am AMAZED at how good it makes me feel. It gives me such a euphoric and uplifted feelings having this drink in the mornings. Plus it completely takes away the constant hunger feeling I used to have prior to this. It has also stopped my cravings for coffee. I used to crave coffee in the mornings and would substitute hot water with coconut oil and/or lemon all the while still craving coffee. I have no interest in coffee what soever now. I kept meaning to thank you phil, just for sharing your experience because it inspired me to research into it. I am really thankful for everyone on this forum for sharing their experience for IMO that is the only true way to learn. Anyway RS is a staple in my diet as is Raw fat, and raw liver, and raw bones. IMO those are my most important and life giving foods right now. On days that I consume all four I feel truly blessed to have ascended from the various diseases and ailments I have been afflicted with all my life, until now

So I give RS a +1  !!

[PaleoPhil]

I'm glad it's working for you, Phil.  I know I'd have stomach cramps for half the night if I ate green plantain, but I'm glad it works for you.

I probably would too if I didn't thoroughly dry them first so that there is zero astringency. They're very different when they're thoroughly dried. I find Bob's potato starch even easier to deal with, though it's a bit gritty if I only mix it in water.

I must attest to my personal beneficial experience as well. At first I started with the green plantains dried on a rack which gave me excessive gas and small stomach cramps and shortly after added in bobs red mill potato starch which increased the gas. After 5 weeks in it has become some of my favorite foods. I love green plantains and the way they make me feel. I have been mixing my potato starch with fermented coconut water, since I believed I was dairy intolerant, and am AMAZED at how good it makes me feel. It gives me such a euphoric and uplifted feelings having this drink in the mornings. Plus it completely takes away the constant hunger feeling I used to have prior to this. It has also stopped my cravings for coffee. I used to crave coffee in the mornings and would substitute hot water with coconut oil and/or lemon all the while still craving coffee. I have no interest in coffee what soever now. I kept meaning to thank you phil, just for sharing your experience because it inspired me to research into it. I am really thankful for everyone on this forum for sharing their experience for IMO that is the only true way to learn. Anyway RS is a staple in my diet as is Raw fat, and raw liver, and raw bones. IMO those are my most important and life giving foods right now. On days that I consume all four I feel truly blessed to have ascended from the various diseases and ailments I have been afflicted with all my life, until now

So I give RS a +1  !!

You're welcome, Paperclips. Glad it's working for you. I also found it took some weeks to adapt to and that it helps to start out slowly, say with the equivalent of 1 tsp to 1 tbsp per day of total RS, and to try to not go over the equivalent of 4 tbsp or so per day to avoid excess fartage. 

I notice more energy throughout the day from resistant starch. I find myself getting the urge to sprint around. With the increased energy and well being from RS and P5P, I'm also finding less urge to drink coffee.

Raw fat, raw liver, and raw bones are all elements in my diet too. I go somewhat easy on the liver now, though, as a precaution, because of the high copper content and my pyroluria-type symptoms.

A caveat to others - I recommend that folks read up on RS before trying it and don't rush into anything just because I report some success. I think it helps avoid mistakes and increase comfort level if folks extensively research something themselves before trying it.

[paper_clips43]

I definitely agree starting out slowly. It was not like my first experience with raw meat where I could eat tons of the stuff anytime and feel like running a marathon afterwards. I once ate a whole raw sweet potato early on in the trials and experienced way too much gas and uncomfortable digestion. I haven't tried it again although I would bet it would digest a lot easier. I can now eat 4 tablespoons potato starch in one sitting and only feel comfortably full

I am also curios if I can go into ketosis now, my first experience with ketosis proved disastrous.

I really hope to one day try poi as well.

[Ioanna]

ok, probably a stupid question, but is raw butter not a source?

[sabertooth]

Im still not very clear on precisely what is RS. Is it just a catch all praise that includes all plant starches that are resistant to being broken down in the small intestines? 

The list on the link seems to be centered around grains, starchy roots,  plantains and legumes.

Are there differences between the indigestible fiber of Plantains to that of coconut, or other tree nuts and seeds?

I have eaten bits of raw sun-chokes, and other RS foods but it seems if I eat more than just a little I get very bloaty. This is in regards to all starchy foods in general seeds, nuts, roots, grains ect.

Even raw coconut if I eat more than a little will have the same effect, which is why I eat coconut butter, for some reason dehydrated coconut is not an issue with me.

Prehaps there are enzyme inhibitors with some RS foods which have to either be cooked, soaked, fermented, or dehydrated before the bacteria flora of the gut can utilize them.

There must be antibacterial properties of RS foods which make them resistant to being broken down enigmatically in their Raw state.

Perhaps with continued ingestion of RS the gut does begin to build up the bacterial flora and enzymatic production required to assimilate such foods?

 There has to be a number of other factors to explain why some people can eat extremely large amounts of these foods without an issue, while others have a bad reaction to very small amounts.

[sabertooth]

http://freetheanimal.com/tag/resistant-starch

Interesting stuff on the subject here.

[PaleoPhil]

ok, probably a stupid question, but is raw butter not a source?

LOL We think alike. Butter (and suet, etc.) is the first thing I brought up in this thread. I learned that fermentable fiber, especially resistant starch, is a much better source of butyrate than butter. Thank goodness I kept an open mind and didn't just dismiss resistant starch.
 

http://freetheanimal.com/tag/resistant-starch

Interesting stuff on the subject here.

Yeah, Tatertot Tim, the uber-expert on resistant starch, provided Richard with a lot of info and both of them wrote interesting stuff on the topic, including reports of their own experience. They've already answered any question you could ever imagine many times over. If you don't find an answer to a question, Tatertot is very helpful in answering them.

[goodsamaritan]

Sharing my instinctive experience, you can do a search here when i was craving raw starch and it just so happened i found my cravings quenched by Jicama / singkamas and Yacon.  Which we now have as part of our family's diet. 

[PaleoPhil]

Sharing my instinctive experience, you can do a search here when i was craving raw starch and it just so happened i found my cravings quenched by Jicama / singkamas and Yacon.  Which we now have as part of our family's diet.

That's great, GS. Those foods are rich in inulin, which is another good fermentable fiber, rather than resistant starch. Resistant starch reportedly generates even more beautiful butyrate than inulin. Some foods rich in resistant starch include green plantains and unmodified plantain flour, green bananas and unmodified banana flour, potatoes and unmodified potato starch. Bob's Red Mill unmodified potato starch is raw by most standards. Raw potato starch is the richest known source of resistant starch. I also find it to be the easiest to deal with and one of the cheapest sources at under $4/lb in my local supermarket (though green plantains are cheaper). You can also buy organic unmodified potato starch for a higher price.

Some other sources of RS include garbanzo/chickpea beans and hummus and flour, lentils, oats and wild African foods that are generally unavailable outside of Africa, unfortunately (such as false bananas and various wild African tubers). These foods can probably be eaten raw, though most of them should be properly prepared first with drying and/or fermenting, which increases both the edibility and the RS. Freezing can also increase the edibility and RS in at least some of them, including potatoes.

Garbanzo beans and lentils are legumes and some don't consider any legumes to be "Paleo," though humans have been eating them for millions of years, including raw for most of that time. I was curious to try garbanzo/chickpea flour and found I seem to tolerate it, even though I tend to have problems with legumes. I'm guessing that much of the lectins are removed, though I'm not sure. I doubt it's raw, so it probably wouldn't appeal to many here.

Oats are generally regarded as not-Paleo, though some Paleo and Primal-Blueprint dieters added small amounts of them after they found that they could tolerate them once they included more RS in their diets.

Tatertot Tim, who eats plenty of foods rich in both RS and inulin, recently had his gut fecal bacteria analyzed and he reported that it was the best the American gut project ever measured:

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/forum/thread73514-42.html#post1366157
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/forum/thread73514-46.html#post1369765
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/forum/thread73514-46.html#post1369960

This video shows Bushmen people eating raw tubers after 6:05:
The Hunters - PREVIEW

[PaleoPhil]

Here's an interesting study that finds cooking to have a "negligible effect" on the nutritional value of Hadza tubers:

Negligible effect of cooking on nutritional value of Hadza tubers, http://www.eshe.eu/files/Schnorr.pdf

> High simple sugars make raw consumption feasible and cooking unnecessary
> The results indicate high intra-species variation in nutrition availability with low impact from brief roasting.

One of the possible reasons given for briefly roasting tubers posited in this study was "faster peeling," which matches what was reported in a science documentary about Bushmen years ago. A Bushman was asked if they briefly roast tubers for taste or digestibility and he said no, that it was just to make them easier to peel and that they often eat them raw.

The study used a machine that simulates human digestion and it confirmed that the brief cooking that the Hadza used doesn't do much to the nutritional value of the food, contrary to Wrangham's hypothesis about cooking tubers being of major nutritional importance.

[Ioanna]

i've had good results with rs myself, so not knocking it in the least bit, but what say you to this
http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/metabolism/resistant-starch/

[Inger]

Interesting. I have not tried rs myself yet because it feels so unnatural. Those things does not grow here naturally this time of the year, or not at all... bananas.. potatoes.. beans... those are not even wild foods. I could believe wild tubers would be of benefit but here in the north they are very hard to get and small! I have tried! And only in summertime of course. And some powder... I would rather do without.

Now, I think high meat is the way to go  and all kind of wild berries and greens and such in summer and fall! No restrictions 
I bet when we eat fresh RAF with lots of good quality fat (no rancid PUFAs) and wild edibles, mushrooms and organs - everything amazing that nature offers we will do just fine

I am careful because the rs might have a downside... I have to admit I am no expert, and I might be wrong too. This is just what my intuition tells me....