Resistant starches, found in wheat-based foods like bread and pasta, can have positive impacts on gut health, digestion, heart health and diabetes.

What are resistant starches? Are they good for you?

Increasing the amount of resistant starch in our diets can have positive impacts on gut health, digestion, heart health and diabetes. Resistant starches are long chains of glucose, found naturally in foods, including bread and pasta. New research is showing that the preparation and storage of foods can impact how much resistant starch is present.

Dr. Megan Racey, from the What About Wheat? scientific advisory council, explains how research is proving that the preparation and storage of wheat foods, including the cooling and reheating of bread and pasta, can create different types of resistant starches that can help slow the breakdown of these carbohydrate-rich foods in our bodies which supports gut health, digestion and management of diabetes.

So, while some foods have more resistant starch than others to begin with, the way you cook and store your wheat foods could impact how we digest and absorb glucose from wheat foods.

Interested in learning more about how wheat foods can support your health goals? Check out the heart health page.