Resistant Starch & Bone Broth

Hi:

It’s funny the things that we do because we think that one thing (or another) is “better for” us.

I’ll give you an example. I have always really loved (and sometimes had a craving for) white rice. Butofcourse, white rice is not GOOD for you, BROWN rice is good for you. So I would always dutifully order the brown rice with Thai food, etc. – because, ya know, it’s BETTER for you.

Yeah…….Nope.

I have done a couple of those personalize nutrition (i.e., “match your DNA to what you eat”) tests. My favorite still being Habit for the presentation value alone – but I’ve done GenoPalate, etc.

Funniest thing? My DNA doesn’t like brown/wild rice. My DNA likes white rice.

I’m taking college-level Biology as a required prerequisite for my Nutrition degree, and my husband’s cancer profile has changed (Stage 4), so I’ve been consumed (Ha, ha) by nutrition.

Thought I’d share.

Resistant starch is what your gut microbiota (“gut bugs”) eat. It’s also called “pre-biotics.” (Probiotics are what makes the bugs themselves.) Because hubby was recently put on a huge dose of antibiotics due to pneumonia, we knew that he’d wiped out his gut bugs. And we needed to get them back – fast – especially as the current cancer regime he’s on (Keytruda) relies on you having a good, working, force of gut bugs at your disposal.

Moreover, we were instructed by our non-Western doctor, that, since practically no one eat animal protein “head to tail” (e.g., including offal and bone marrow), the standard daily diet needs to be supplemented for optimal health. Enter – bone broth.

So this post is just a quick one to show you (a) how to make a prebiotic to feed your good gut bugs that is also delicious (if you like white rice!) and (b) give you some pre-made bone broth ideas.

Broth Number One: Shelf Stable Kettle & Fire

Why yes, I do make my own bone broth. But it’s messy, takes a long time, and (since you need to freeze it or it goes off), can sometimes not be available right when you want it. By way of an aside, to be prepared to make your own bone broth, put “wiggly” veggies, sprouted onions, the parts of the chicken you didn’t eat, etc. into a huge gallon Ziploc in your freezer – once you have a couple of them, add them to a stew pot with some apple cider vinegar and water and spices, and then boil, boil boil. But I digress. (How unusual.)

Because it’s shelf stable (without any nasty preservatives, pasteurization, etc.), Kettle & Fire is my favorite. Since both the beef and the chicken have basically zero flavor profile, I use this as a base for everything from smoothies to rice to oatmeal to keto pancakes. Our non-Western medicine doctor actually recommends at least one cup of bone broth a day. It could be as “broffee” (bone broth with some butter, coconut oil and salt in it, blended up frothy in the morning), as a quick pick-me-up mid-day, etc. It’s also great right before you go to sleep – and gives your gut bugs something delish to devour while you’re snoozing.

Not getting what we “need” in what we eat (again – we aren’t breaking bones up to get the marrow, or eating offal) can help cause “leaky gut,” arthritis, inflammation (gout), joint pain, etc. Especially if you are eating any gluten, which wreaks havoc with inflammation/joints/etc., it’s imperative to have something to combat our “standard daily diet.”

Oh and hey – FWIW – if you add turmeric and black pepper (black pepper increases the effectiveness of turmeric by an exponential value), you can even more boost the inflammation -effect. 

HERE is a coupon for Kettle & Fire. If you use it, I get “Healthy Sips” (which basically gives me some free product at some point), and I think you get 10% (or maybe it’s $10) off your first order.

I’ve tried just about all the varieties of the K&F bone broth – my current favorites “as” broth (v. as additions to recipes instead of water) are the Chicken Coconut Keto Curry, the Chipotle Beef, and the Chili. But they’re all great.

Bone Broth #2: Broth Plus Chinese Herbs If You Like: Osso Good.

The other recommended bone broth is NOT shelf stable, so you need to keep it in your freezer. This bone broth, however, has had the Chinese herbs added to it that our non-Western medicine doctor recommends, for use during chemo, for anti-inflammation, ulcers, etc. These four particular ones are Ener-Qi, Revive (the gut), Immuni-Qi, and (Total Body) Recovery. 

HERE is a link to Osso Good. I think if you use this coupon, we both get some $ off – you on your first order, me on my next order. Think it’s $15.

Osso Good has a lot of different flavor profiles, a cleanse, a Whole 30 program, and the like. I have used and liked a lot of their different broths in the past, because they have a good Marketing department (ha!) that about once a quarter does a real blow-out sale. (And, we have a second freezer!)

The bone broths from these two companies are different – I use both, for different things. Again – I tend to reach for the K&F more often because it’s shelf stable, so can be right in the pantry.

White Rice: The Prebiotic

As I mentioned, a great prebiotic (the stuff that your good gut bacteria need to eat) is made out of cold sushi rice and coconut oil. 

Recipe

This recipe “grosses up” perfectly – I usually make 2-3x the below every time. Still (at least at that multiple) only takes about 20 minutes.

Boil 1.5 cups water (I actually use the K&F Bone Broth). Once it boils add to it 1 c. organic sushi rice (wash it after you measure it) and 3 Tb coconut oil. Let simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. The clinical tests have had better results with actually “cooked on the stovetop” rice, i.e., NOT a rice cooker, InstaPot, or microwave. 

Once the rice is cooked, “fluff it up” and then put it directly into the fridge to chill, to re-heat later. Don’t just “steam it and eat it,” or “cool it on the counter” then refrigerate it – again – in measuring the resistant starch that forms, this is the best way. 

When you heat it up to use it, the sugars (digestible starch) are “bound” in the rice grains and the starch is set up into its prebiotic form (what gut bacteria eat) (resistant starch). This also means there isn’t an insulin spike when using it this way. This is because only your gut biome can eat resistant starch, your body can’t break it down so just passes it on (to the waiting gut biota).

REMINDER: white rice is better for you than brown rice. Brown rice has phytic acid (an anti-nutrient that stops us from absorbing minerals) and arsenic (which is concentrated in the thin outer layer that makes brown rice brown). So if you were eschewing white rice for brown on the thought that it was “better for you” (even though you liked white rice more), you can stop that right now. :-)

HERE is a podcast about Resistant Starch.