It seems like some new superfood is being touted every day in this "Golden Age" post-Dr. Oz. From Acai berries to goji berries and prickly pears, it seems like there's no shortage of super rare, expensive and exotic weird-ass fruit out there that is going to magically solve all of your health issues (citation needed).
In reality, there are no magic bullets, and while I do my best to drill that into the heads of just about everyone, and I imagine that the vast majority of my blog readers are already well-aware of this fact by now (if not, then please just accept it and stop wasting your money on quick fixes. They don't exist). However....
That doesn't mean that there aren't plenty of super healthy, nutritious foods and compounds out there that, when combined with proper diet and exercise, can dramatically change your life for the better. What the people trying to make money off you don't want you to realize is that the most powerful of these compounds and foods are usually very simple, not exotic at all, and even cheap/easy to obtain and make a part of your daily diet!
I'll do a full list of such foods, with plenty of articles pointing out the best, most of which are already well-known (broccoli, beets, almonds, eggs, etc.) but today, I want to highlight the one "superfood" that you're most likely to overlook, even if you already probably consume it on occasion, entirely by accident.
What I'm talking about is something called resistant starch, which, just as its name implies, is a kind of starch that resists digestion by the gut, acting like a type of super-fiber that cleanses the colon like no other (nature's broom, indeed!).
What really makes resistant starch so special when compared to other sources of fiber is its dramatic ability to positively influence the gut microbiome. Basically, this is less of a superfood for you, and more of a superfood for the bacteria in your gut. However, since emerging research continues to prove that the gut is basically our second brain, linking healthier gut microbiomes with better mental and physical health (and weight regulation, of course) what's a superfood for your gut's bacteria is actually one of the best superfoods that you can come by.
Now that we know of the dramatic benefits that adding resistant starch to our diet can provide, where is this miraculous superfood most commonly found?
Wait for it.... White potatoes.
Specifically, potatoes that are several days old that have been left in the refrigerator to cool. Over time spent cooling, the cooked potatoes will turn the majority of their starch into resistant starch, which means all of the benefits mentioned above come with the simple act of waiting a few days to eat your potatoes (and of course, this also lowers the glycemic index and impact on blood sugar dramatically).
Being Irish, you can only imagine how excited this news made me.
Don't like to eat potatoes? Want a quick and easy way to consume the most amount of resistant starch for the least amount of time? Use the widget in the top right of the screen to purchase a 4 pack of 24oz container's of potato starch from Bob's Red Mill, especially processed like no other company does to keep all of the mentioned health benefits intact. At only 12 bucks for four packs with free shipping, this is a no-brainer and an absolute steal when compared to waiting up to a week for potatoes to cool in the refrigerator in order to produce the most resistant starch possible.
There you have it, one of the most powerful superfoods out there, and one that has been hiding underneath your very nose all this time! Stay tuned for more tips on easily obtainable, cheap superfoods that you can find just about anywhere!
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