It is true I am eating beans… for science! :)
Do NOT skim over the notes… please. Read all of these notes very carefully… read for comprehension. (it’s important!) :)
Personal experimenting is a way that we can truly learn about our bodies. My chief tool is a glucometer, used for testing blood sugar levels.
I am performing experiments with potato starch / resistant starch. If you don’t know what this is, or if you believe incorrectly that it’s ‘just’ starch … read these posts first, “Intro” and “Q & A“, if interested here’s a tag to all of my potato starch posts.
Notes
1) I have been ‘supplementing’ with potato starch (resistant starch) since 11/22/2013. There is NO QUESTION that my gut bacteria has changed and adapted to consume resistant starch.
If you have not been taking 2-4 TBS of potato starch (or resistant starch) for at least 2-4 weeks, I can all but guarantee your experience will be different. Very different. As always Test, test, test. Do NOT assume your experience will be like mine.
2) I do NOT suggest that anyone eat legumes (beans) unless and until they have beaten the grain / carb addictions for at least 2-3 months AND have normal blood sugar. Why? Starch converts to sugar (glucose) in the blood stream and can reawaken the carb addiction.
3) I do believe legumes (beans) are inflammatory so I do not suggest people eat beans unless they have weaned off of all drugs and especially all diabetes drugs. Beans will spike your blood sugar, I maintain normal blood sugars so it’s not horrible if I spike. However, if you are already ‘high’ and spike… it can be dangerous.
4) Lastly… I’ve eaten low carb, primal / paleo meal plan for 4 1/2 years. I love the way I eat, I love the way I feel … I love the way I LIVE! And I will never go back to the high carb, grain based meal plan of the past… NEVER!
Experiment Set Up
I ate a cup of beans this morning and as instructed by Richard Nikoley via FreeTheAnimal.com.
Why? I want to test my reaction to the pinto beans after eating potato starch since 11/22/13. I have other reasons too which I will get to later in the post.
I …
1) Soaked the beans for 48 hours, changing out the water after 24 hours. Soaking helps to break down the toxins in the beans.
2) I cooked the beans for an hour plus with a few pieces of bacon.
3) I did not eat any potato starch before or during the bean consumption.
Background
For a month (ending a few days ago) my last experiment was eating only fatty meats and leafy green vegetables for 30 days, you can read about it here. I had done this before (read about previous experiment).
For 30 days I averaged 5 grams of carbohydrates, about 1% of my calories came from carbs. 80% from fat and 19% from protein.
That means that I am VERY fat adapted. My body’s burning fat for fuel… either my own (I lost 7 lbs) or fats consumed.
Being fat adapted, any carbs consumed will raise my blood sugar more so than if I was ‘carb’ adapted.
Therefore, the numbers below will be inflated due to this.
The Blood Sugar Tests
My blood sugar before eating the beans (88) was slightly higher than normal, I’m guessing it was due to the intense exercise I’d done about an hour earlier. 
Then … I ate the BEANS!!! :)
30 mins after eating my blood sugar was 91 mg/dl … I was STOKED!!! Only a 3 point rise! FYI, starch usually hits me quick! Even with fat with the starch I get a quick rise… remember, I did add bacon.
My next reading was an hour after eating the beans… 93!!! Wow… I was REALLY excited at this point. Only a 5 point rise an hour after eating BEANS!!!
When fat is consumed with or near the eating of carbs… fat will delay the processing of carbohydrates.
I didn’t eat any obvious fat… what I ate must have been absorbed by the beans or on the beans. I eat a lot of high fat meals and I would definitely not call this meal ‘high fat’ …but I could be wrong.
My blood sugar reading at the 100 minute mark… definitely told me I was wrong. 142!!! I was disappointed no doubt about it. I was really expecting a 100+/- number… I was obviously wrong.
Next came the two hour reading, typically if I do a test and I eat just sugar or just starch, I’m close to or sub 100 mg/dl by the two hour mark… unless I eat a lot of fat.
This reading at (2) hours once again hints that there was more fat than I had guessed. 118 mg/dl.
I measured one more time… at the 2 1/2 mark just to make sure my blood sugar was heading into the safe ‘normal’ zone. FINALLY .. I was back in ‘normal ranges’!!! 85 mg/dl.
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Take Home Message
These numbers were NOT horrible, especially given the fact that I was very fat adapted. This is Phase One of this experiment. After I’m Carb Adapted, I’ll retest the beans and other highER carb foods.
I am going to continue to eat the beans. My plan is to eat two cups per day. In the morning plain and in the evening for dinner with meat and fat.
This experiment is ‘killing two birds with one stone’. Not only will I be testing beans …. but I will also be ‘re-adapting’ my body to burning glucose / carbohydrates for fuel.
I’ve done this before, in fact the last time was after doing a similar ‘fatty meats and veggie’ experiment.
In this post, “Dear Pancreas You Can Rest Now” I have proven that my ‘glucose processing’ improves after eating high carb (150g) for several days. This time, I plan on eating 70-100g of carbs per day for a week or more. I’ll be testing not only beans but rice, white and sweet potatoes and fruits.
Knowledge is power and that is why I am doing this.
I want to increase my knowledge … hoping that it will benefit others and myself.
Once again I want to thank Richard Nikoley of FreeTheAnimal.com for opening up this rabbit hole of potato / resistant starch. Here is the post that started it all. :)