I was reading a news article that came out the other day in Science Daily about this substance that can reverse food allergies in mice [1].
I was eagerly looking at what this was exactly so that I can try it out!
It turns out, that compound is butyrate, which has always been my number one favorite thing to counter food sensitivities.
I’ve always said the problem with butyrate supplements – and why I don’t take them – is that they taste really bad and cause nausea.
I tried butyrate pills before, but I would have to take 6 pills, 3 times a day for it to really have a big impact on my food sensitivities.
I’ve taken thousands of these pills in the past, but once I finished all of the bottles I had bought, I just decided, no more.
Don’t take my word for it, even the article mentioned butyrate’s nasty smell and taste: “butyrate has a very bad smell, like dog poop and rancid butter, and it also tastes bad, so people wouldn’t want to swallow it.”
In the article, they mention creating a new form of butyrate that doesn’t have this smell, and that they would like to get FDA approved.
I also tried butyrate-producing probiotics, but I had to take 1 trillion species a day to feel something significant, and they never seemed to have more than a short lasting effect.
Better than a Pill
Here’s the thing, there’s already a technology that can get loads of butyrate into your system without swallowing loads of pills, and it’s called resistant starch.
When it hits the large intestine, resistant starch is like a miracle sprout for butyrate producing bacteria. These bacteria digest it and produce huge amounts of butyrate from it.
I’m talking about A LOT of butyrate. More than you can ingest with pills. Therefore, there’s no need to take butyrate pills, even if it doesn’t smell.
In addition, there are other benefits of increasing butyrate producing bacteria in the gut that you can’t get by just swallowing pills.
It’s basically like you have a butyrate producing factory all ready to go in your large intestine, and it’s just lacking the fuel (i.e. resistant starch) to be able to get it up and running.
The Best Resistant Starch
I’ve tried every fiber out there, and there’s none that works like Jo’s Resistant Starch to increase butyrate, and the research backs that up as well.
I’ve also tried every product promising to have resistant starch. 10 years ago, I remember scarfing down resistant starch from raw potato or green bananas and getting serious brain fog and GI problems from both of them, which are filled with lectins. That’s when I knew I needed to find a resistant starch that didn’t have the harmful lectins.
I’ve been experimenting for years with a purified resistant starch that doesn’t give me brain fog and also increases my focus once the butyrate kicks in (which is usually about 20 hours later).
Butyrate is the single best tool for reducing food sensitivities and improving my mood. It has allowed me to eat many more foods that I would ordinarily not be able to eat. Getting confirmation about this new study makes me feel vindicated.
Not only that, resistant starch has the great side effects of improving blood sugar stability, helping lose weight, and even helping increase muscle mass in mice [2]. My abs didn’t show on their own 😉
It works in part by increasing GLP-1 – besides all of the microbiome goodness and butyrate that come from it.
Heck, it might even make you more likable: a light smell of butyrate in another person’s body odor may indicate that they are healthy, strong, and a good person to socialize with [3].
Historically, humans consumed a huge amount of fibers, and these were critical for so many body functions. Resistant starch is the most powerful fiber of all – I’ve megadosed them all in large quantities.
We even have an article about 7+ butyrate benefits.
If you have brain fog, food sensitivities, inflammation, fatigue, blood sugar issues, or want to lose weight, then I think clean resistant starch is a must. Jo’s Resistant Starch is the only clean resistant starch on the market. Glycine is also added to it for extra anti-inflammatory and longevity benefits.
Not sure if you have food allergies or food sensitivities? SelfDecode has reports to see what your genetic predispositions are for these issues – including to dairy, gluten, and lectins. I highly recommend you go and check that out!
How to Use Resistant Starch
Since resistant starch is a powder that you have to take a decent sized scoop per serving, I can’t add it to my all-in-one personalized supplement pill.
But, you better believe I always have a container of this stuff around.
I mix some in my nutritional yeast that I consume daily, as well as a shake.
My mother uses it in baking brownies and other baked goods, and she has replaced 100% of the flour she uses with this resistant starch. She did an experiment with different levels of resistant starch and found that the baked goods she made tasted better with 100% resistant starch.
Since I don’t bake, I add it to any smoothies, shakes, or juices that I consume.
What Dosage Should You Take?
One of the best things about Jo’s Resistant Starch is that you can use however much you want, because the effects are dose dependent.
I recommend starting at 20g/day, which for me is the minimum dosage to notice effects. The level of butyrate you would get from that would be consistent with a very high fiber diet.
It would be approximately equivalent to swallowing 2 pills of butyrate 3 times a day, based on my subjective judgments of taking thousands of pills at various dosages.
The reason why I say 2 pills 3 times a day is because the butyrate from resistant starch doesn’t hit you all at once. It gives you a steady dosage throughout the day, as the bacteria consume it slowly, for about 8-10 hours.
So let’s say you take 20g of Jo’s Resistant Starch at 12 PM noon. There are some immediate effects because fiber can increase GLP-1.
At about 8 AM the next day, the butyrate will start to kick in, and those effects will last until 4-6 PM.
These are all very rough estimates, because everyone’s gut motility or pace of movement is different, and can change from day to day depending on a huge number of factors – things like caffeine, stress, what else you ate, and more.
At 40g/day, you will get more resistant starch than you can possibly get from any diet. This is the point where I can feel it significantly, and no matter how much fiber I’ve eaten in various diets, I was never able to get the same effect as 40g/day of Jo’s Resistant Starch.
40g would be considered like taking 4 pills 3 times a day. Yup, it’s a lot of butyrate that your large intestine is creating! Like I said, you already have a butyrate producing factory ready to go, it just needs the fuel to run on.
60g I would consider a strong dosage, too strong for daily use by me, but if you aren’t seeing an impact on 40g, then 60g is the next dosage to try. At this level, you will likely get some gas, but will adjust over time.
You should keep increasing the dosage by 20g until you get the desired impact you’re looking for.
I’ve done mega-dosing experiments where I consumed 120g a day (60g/2X a day), and that was too strong. On the plus side, my food reactions went way down or even disappeared.
But even if you take 5 or 10g/day, that is still a healthy practice.
The takeaway is, you can consume anywhere between 5g to 120g depending on what you want to achieve. I recommend starting at 20g/day, and building up to 40g/day.
If you are not meeting your goals, then up the dosage by 20g/day every 2 weeks, and continue this until your desired objectives are achieved.
Where to Get Resistant Starch
I’ve been pretty clear that I believe Jo’s Resistant Starch is the best out there. You can order a 3lb container directly from the website here. It’s the cleanest formula out there at the best value.
