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The Resistant Starch Challenge: Is It The Key We've Been Looking For?

MeSci

ME/CFS since 1995; activity level 6?
Messages
8,231
Location
Cornwall, UK
I have just developed an interest in kynurenine/tryptophan after reading an item on interferon and depression in Journal Watch, and have posted a thread on it here.

I have decided to try 5-HTP for my current low mood.
I have stopped 5-HTP due to possible adverse effects.
 

Biarritz13

Senior Member
Messages
699
Location
France
Hi everyone!

I don't have IBS or other GI symptoms but I would like to improve my sleep since my sleep analysis at the hospital showed that I have half the REM cycle that normal people do. Which is why I am interested in Resistant Starch.

I read a lot about it and how it is better to take it with another prebiotic otherwise it can lower some distinct species such as Bifidos.

I have a bag of organic resistant starch and a bottle of ScFOS. I know that I should increase these very slowly but I have no idea of the ideal ratio. I don't want to have less Bifidos than I already have...

Is there someone here with some thoughts about it?

My Ubiome sample (just in case):
-Firmicutes : 74.3%
-Bacteroidetes : 23.68%
-Verrucomicrobia : 1.23%
-Actinobacteria : 0.37%
-Proteobacteria : 0.31%
-Euryarcheota : 0.25%


Thank you.
 

Beyond

Juice Me Up, Scotty!!!
Messages
1,122
Location
Murcia, Spain
So the experiment is over.
It was just another health fad or buzz subject. All cultural areas experiment the same cyclic dynamics, and alternative medicine is probably the most frantic of them all for obvious reasons (desperation). As a seasoned Youtube conspiracy lunatic, I can tell you that, because lately we have been ravaged by "flat earth" videos. People follow trends and buy into movements all the time. However, this doesnt mean that sometimes, something gets popular because it works, or is the real deal, but very often is just hot air. And such is the human condition...
 

jepps

Senior Member
Messages
519
Location
Austria
The experiment's not over for me either - nor is it only about RS.

There is a wealth of information in the thread about many prebiotics and their effect on the gut microbiota.

Experimentation with these has lead to marked improvement in my gut function.

Same for me, and there are more prebiotic, probiotic and resistant starch sources as well as fermented food sources for me to integry in my diet, to nourish the microbiome. So it´s a longer lasting experiment, but until now Improvement holds on.
 

Christopher

Senior Member
Messages
576
Location
Pennsylvania
Thanks I thought that people stopped experimenting with it due to lack of activity. I myself have been trying it off and on along with other attempts at healing modalities. Lately I have not been having any success with it. However, I just recently started experimenting with large doses of Align($$) but with interesting effects so far. The first day, my sense of smell returned for a bit, and my anxiety and bloating decreased. With subsequent dosage, however, I'm starting to get bloating, white-coated tongue, and symptoms such as sore throat, feverish, sinus inflammation. This is just with the Align, not with any prebiotic at the moment besides what is found in normal diet.

I have lately been dealing with a fungal toxin in my environment that, when encountered, seems to do damage to my gut biome. And I have not been experimenting with oral probiotics in several months. So perhaps there's been nothing for the RS to feed, and the probiotics themselves are more necessary at this point.

My cognitive skills have seen the most improvement, which I am thankful for.

A few years ago, I was relatively stable, especially if I abstained from sugars and breads. If I ate those, I would get bloating, brain fog, and constipation. Then, after a big exposure to this particular nasty toxin, I pooped a lot, my baseline inflammation increased, I seemingly lost my carb intolerance, and I started to develop fragrance intolerances. My hypothesis for that event is that the big exposure to this fungal toxin modified my gut microbiome by killing off commensal bacteria, allowing whatever else was lurking in my gut to flourish. These commensal bacteria seemingly were helping me to process everyday VOC's we encounter in the environment.

At one point, years ago, I was experimenting with a combination of resistant starch and a bifido probiotic (maybe Natren), and I noted in my journal that my chemical sensitivities seemed better as a result. This was prior to the big exposure, which really kicked my MCS up a notch.

Years ago, when I was stable without any healing intervention, the first thing that started my downfall was carb intolerance (first to dairy, then to carbs in general). This followed a course of doxycycline (long term for supposed Lyme) and also Diflucan. I don't know if one, both or neither contributed to my gut issues, but I have never been the same since then, and each insult to my gut makes my overall condition worse (be it from a poor decision to drink alcohol), or further large exposures to this particular fungal toxin.
 
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aaron_c

Senior Member
Messages
691
I did a RS enema. It didn't seem to do any more than just eating cooked-and-cooled potato starch, so I didn't stick with it very long.
 

kangaSue

Senior Member
Messages
1,851
Location
Brisbane, Australia
Has anyone tried the RS enema ?

What are your thoughts on mixing RS into a fecal transplant?
Resistant starch is still one of the elements that comprise dietary fibre. With having gastroparesis, RS alone orally is just as poorly tolerated by me as for any other form of fibre but I haven't tried it as an enema.

One of the first effects from doing FMT is increased butyrate production which is also a mechanism stimulated by RS so it could be a good idea to add RS to FMT where as a food source for the new FMT biome when there is an inadequate fibre intake to begin with.
 
Messages
76
Yeah.
Resistant starch is still one of the elements that comprise dietary fibre. With having gastroparesis, RS alone orally is just as poorly tolerated by me as for any other form of fibre but I haven't tried it as an enema.

One of the first effects from doing FMT is increased butyrate production which is also a mechanism stimulated by RS so it could be a good idea to add RS to FMT where as a food source for the new FMT biome when there is an inadequate fibre intake to begin with.


Thanks for the reply.

Yeah oral fiber is a no go.

Today i am adding 1TBSP RS into the enema. Will update later.

Not sure how well FMT will work. As im doing a liquid diet + a daily enema. 4th fmt is today so far feel no change apart from a mood boost right after it.

If i respond to the RS+Fmt i might add inulin to it
 
Messages
76
Today i did another FMT.

This time i used 2tbsp RS and 500ml water with a healthy donor stool.

I felt a mental rush which faded away.

Tomorrow i will be doing another FMT. This time 1000ml water with 4tbsp RS. Should be a solid theraputic trial.
 

heyitisjustin

Senior Member
Messages
162
I read some concerns about its safety, and it seems like it's something we should be making internally and not supplementing directly. I'm going to try adding some RS as well.
Do you remember the safety concerns. It will make the stomach more acidic, but is supposed to encourage good bacteria.
 

outdamnspot

Senior Member
Messages
924
I tried to read through the early portions of this thread (Ripley's posts) but am pretty brain-fogged. I'm on a heavily carb-restricted diet and have also been diagnosed with a Candida problem. Yet, due to my 'adrenal fatigue', I was experiencing blood-sugar crashes every 1-2 hours prior to adopting the Keto diet. So, according to him, it accelereates fungal/yeast overgrowths .. yet, my fear is that stopping it will just regress me back to my previous state of having to eat throughout the day to feel vaguely normal. It's a catch-22. I used to really benefit from resistant starch, but when I tried adding it in post-CFS, it 'crashes' me .. I never use it for more than 1-2 days in a row, so perhaps it's a Herx?

My gut is quite heavily dysbiotic, so I know I need to try and address that with my doctor. But it makes me concerned about being on Keto ..
 

Crux

Senior Member
Messages
1,441
Location
USA
Why do you ask? My doctor thinks I have high biounavailable copper (i.e. copper toxicity), so I've been doing coffee enemas under her guidance .. I do eat some copper-rich foods though.

Copper deficiency is associated with glucose intolerance. It's also been shown to increase susceptibility to infections.
In animal testing, increased fungal infections occurred.

In my searches about copper deficiency, the internet is just inundated with alternative copper toxicity posts. They don't provide much science.

Part of the problem is that it's difficult to assess copper deficiency. For instance, increased serum copper may mean inflammation/ infection.

Since you are eating copper rich foods though, my guess may be wrong.
 

outdamnspot

Senior Member
Messages
924
Copper deficiency is associated with glucose intolerance. It's also been shown to increase susceptibility to infections.
In animal testing, increased fungal infections occurred.

In my searches about copper deficiency, the internet is just inundated with alternative copper toxicity posts. They don't provide much science.

Part of the problem is that it's difficult to assess copper deficiency. For instance, increased serum copper may mean inflammation/ infection.

Since you are eating copper rich foods though, my guess may be wrong.

Well, from my understanding, once the copper becomes biounavailable, it induces a kind of copper deficiency. It may just be pseudoscience, but once I started doing the enemas, I experienced symptoms that were identical to what Dr Lawrence Wilson describes in copper detoxing. My doctor thought I had a copper issue because my Zinc is low and so is my Ceruloplasmin.

I don't go overboard in copper-rich foods, but eat dark chocolate and avocados daily; I also read that coffee is a source of copper, which I drink too.