Resistant starch helps the body resist colorectal cancer through mechanisms, including killing pre-cancerous cells and reducing inflammation that can otherwise promote cancer, according to a new study published in the journal Current Opinion in Gastroenterology.
Once it enters the bowel resistant starch does some important things, including decreasing bowel pH and transit time, and increasing the production of short-chain fatty acids. These effects promote the growth of good bugs while keeping bad bugs at bay.
“Resistant starch is found in peas, beans and other legumes, green bananas, and also in cooked and cooled starchy products like sushi rice and pasta salad. You have to consume it at room temperate or below—as soon as you heat it, the resistant starch is gone. But consumed correctly, it appears to kill pre-cancerous cells in the bowel," said Janine Higgins, Ph.D., CU Cancer Center investigator and associate professor of Pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
She said studies showing rats fed resistant starch show decreased numbers and sizes of lesions due to colorectal cancer, and an increased number of cells that express the protein IL-10, which acts to regulate the body’s inflammatory response.
"Resistant starch may also have implications for the prevention of breast cancer," she said. “For example, if you let rats get obese, get them to lose the weight, and then feed half of the rats a diet high in resistant starch—these rats don’t gain back the weight as fast as rats fed a regular, digestible starch diet. This effect on obesity may help to reduce breast cancer risk, as well as having implications for the treatment of colorectal cancer."
