I'm not going back to a full on no starch diet but seriously considering a low starch diet.

This is a big question, but I'm wondering if you guys can help me list as many low starch foods as possible? I'm trying to see wheather I can create a plan and clearly identify in my head all the potential meals/snacks on a low starch diet.

I really gotta get outta this pain!

Thanks for any help!

Hi Seb.

Low starch means:
http://www.kickas.org/londondiet.shtml

and the essence is:
"Essentially, it means REDUCE BREAD, POTATOES, CAKES and PASTA and INCREASE the intake of MEAT, FISH, FRUITS and VEGETABLES."

That's all

Hi. I'm new here, so forgive me if I mess up in posting. I'm wondering if anyone knows the starch content of butternut squash, banana squash, acorn squash, and spaghetti squash. Thanks!

Spaghetti squash: for a 42-calorie serving, 36 calories are from carbs, with about 16 calories from sugar, leaving 20 out of 42 calories from starch (almost 1/2).
http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2942/2

Butternut squash: for a 82-calorie serving, 76 calories are from carbs, with about 16 calories from sugar, leaving 60 out of 82 calories from starch (almost 3/4)
http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2938/2

There was no entry for banana squash, and the acorn squash entry didn't break out sugar from general carb calories. However the general rule seems to be that squash is not a high-starch food like bread, pasta, or potatoes, but does not qualify as a low-starch food either.

So it's:

carbohydrate content = sugar content + starch content

Sorry, I'm new. My dietician told me about this site this week (she had a copy of the starch content list from the site). I commented to her that it's unfortunate that the starch content isn't shown on the nutritional information label. But it sounds like you should be able to figure it out for all foods from the label if you're given carbs and sugar. I just want to make sure I have the equation correct. Thanks!!!!!

That's the general idea.

Additional detail:

carb calories = starch calories + sugar calories

Sometimes
carb weight = starch weight + sugar weight

but other times
carb weight = starch weight + sugar weight + fiber weight

In other words sometimes they DO count fiber in with starch and sugar and sometimes they DO NOT when calculating total carbs on the label, just to make things more confusing

However the fiber doesn't have noticeable calories, while both sugars and starches both have 4 calories per gram. So if you know the sugar and total carb calories, then you know that any remaining carb calories come from starch, not fiber.


One thing to watch out for when calculating starch from labels is that the info is only approximate. Also there is a lot of "cheating" by picking very small serving sizes, because then they are allowed to round down anything under 1g to "zero".

Do you think cream has no carbs, because the label always says "0g carb"? Surprise!!! Up to 4% of the total calories comes from carbs, but in the customary tiny serving size of 1 tablespoon they manage to round it down to zero. At least that's what they do in the US; I've heard from Alinus that European nutrition reporting tends to be more accurate.

The same is true for most cheeses, only a few really have close to zero carbs -- most have a small percentage of lactose remaining. Which may or may not be a problem for you; depends on how efficient your digestion is at metabolizing lactose sugar. Some of us need to avoid lactose about as diligently as starch (e.g. I make home-made yogurt with lactose-free milk because store-bought had too much lactose).

Anyways my point is that you can get starch estimates from labels, but it still takes some careful experiments to discover whether a particular food is really good for you. I take it as a first cut, to determine whether it is even worth trying something out.

Thanks. In the beginning I was focusing both on sugars and starch content. But now that the gut itself is more under control (at least that shows up in all the tests), my dietician thinks it's just the starch content of foods that's messing with me.

I appreciate your time in explaining this to me! It will be very helpful!

That's very cool that you've seen measurable improvement! What tests have you done? A couple times I took an "intestinal permeability" test where you drink a special type of sugar water, and it showed about 1% permeability. I guess people diagnosed with Crohn's or UC have worse results, but it still didn't so sound good.

When you first start adding back sugar, recommend starting with simple sugars (green grapes and white grape juice for instance). Those are most likely to work out, especially in moderation; save more complex sugars like lactose and rice syrup for later.

Been laying off the starch for a few days and the pain has subsided at a very tolerable level. Will be good to keep this habit up for as long as possible

>> took an "intestinal permeability" test where you drink a special type of sugar water


Was curious so I googled it. One result said they use lactulose/mannitol in the test..