Posted on 10/21/2023 8:16:31 PM PDT by ConservativeMind
Researchers conducted a phase I pilot study to assess the feasibility of using potato starch as a dietary intervention to modify the gut microbiome in bone marrow transplant patients.
The study is the first part of a two-phase ongoing clinical trial evaluating the effect of modifying the microbiome on the incidence of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), a major complication that develops in up to half the patients who receive a bone marrow transplant and can lead to injury and death.
Previous pre-clinical data from the Reddy lab demonstrated that butyrate, a compound produced by healthy intestinal bacteria when they digest resistant potato starch was significantly decreased in the gut of mice experiencing GVHD. Restoring butyrate levels by increasing intestinal butyrate-producing bacteria reduced experimental acute GVHD severity and mortality.
"Having more butyrate in the gut is helpful for healing the intestine, and therefore beneficial for alleviating GVHD," Reddy said
The goal was that 60% or more of the patients would take 70% or more of the potato starch doses. "Our findings surpassed our expectations," Reddy said. "We found that more than 80% of the patients took 84% of the doses with no negative side effects, suggesting that it is safe and feasible for most patients to regularly take the food supplement. We also found that butyrate levels in the stools were significantly higher in the participants that took potato starch than in those that did not, as we had seen both in mice and healthy adults."
Reddy said: "Of the 10 patients in this study, only one developed GVHD, while typically about half of bone marrow transplant patients develop the condition."
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
It seems the only side effect is possible gas.
can you find it over the counter easily?
Cook the potato, then refrigerate/freeze...converts regular starch to “resistant starch”:
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/cooling-resistant-starch
https://www.elizabethrider.com/guide-to-resistant-starch/
https://youtu.be/YvJGvoJtokA?si=lLVhhQ-6rbBukVW3
Potato salad! Yum!
They’ll never learn.
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