Dear Loren,,

Thanks for your well-documented facts about amylase inhibitors.  My
understanding is that these are all very heat labile and denatured by cooking.
If we eat raw starch we get a bad pain in the belly because raw starch per se is
resistant to digestion.

Best wishes  Jennie



In message <[log in to unmask]> Paleolithic Diet
Symposium List writes:
> There is one message totalling 54 lines in this issue.
>
> Topics of the day:
>
>   1. Starch digestion
>
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> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Date:    Sat, 26 Apr 1997 15:28:00 -0600
> From:    Loren Cordain <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: Starch digestion
>
> In yesterday's digest, Jenny writes,
>
> "Dean Esmay indicated a week or so ago, that there are good reasons to
> suggest that starch is a relatively recent addition to human diets.
>
> It intrigues me then, why humans have such extraordinary ability to
> secrete
> aplha-amylase, the starch digesting enzyme, present in both saliva and
> pancreatic secretions.  We have so much, that some biochemists call it
> alph-amylase overkill.  Any suggestions?
>
> Jennie"
>
>
> The highest levels of alpha amylase occur in human pancreas followed by
> the parotid glands.   The amylase isozyme levels in parotid glands are
> of an order of magnitude less than those in pancreas (Sobiech KA et al.
> Determination of amylase by measurement of enzmatic acitivity anb y
> enzyme immunoassay and radioimmunoassay. Arch Immunol Therap Exp 1983;
> 31:845-8).   Because starch boluses do not remain in the mouth for more
> than a few seconds, parotid derived alpha amylase has little influence
> upon immediate starch digestion.  Additionally, if the starch is wheat
> based, there are endogenous alpha amylase inhibitors in wheat (also in
> legumes) which effectively inhibit salivary amylase (O'Donnell MD et al.
>  Purification and properties of an alpha amylase inhibitor from wheat.
> Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 1976;422:159-69.).   Further, wheat alpha
> amylase inhibitors also influence pancreatic amylase secretion
> (Buonocore V. et al.  Wheat protein inhibitors of alpha amylase.
> Phytochemistry 1977 16:811-820) and  have been shown to result in
> pancreatic hypertrophy in animal models (Macri A. et al.  Adaptation of
> the domestic chicken, Gallus Domesticus, to continuous feeding of
> albumin amylase inhibitors form wheat flour as gastro-resistant
> microgranules. Poultry Science 1977; 56:434-441).   Legume starch
> contains trypsin inhibitors which inactivate native pancreatic trypsin
> so as to abnormally increase pancreatic cholecystokinin levels and also
> cause pancreatic enlargement in animal models.  (Liener IE.
> Implications of antinutritional components in soybean foods. Crit Rev
> Food Sci Nutr 1994;34:31-67.).   The point here is that humans obviously
> have adequate salivary and pancreatic amylase levels to digest moderate
> amounts of certain kinds of starch, however, antinutrients in our main
> starch sources (grains and beans) , when consumed in excessive
> quantities may negatively impact endocrine function.
>
>                                         Loren
>
> ------------------------------
>
> End of PALEODIET Digest - 25 Apr 1997 to 26 Apr 1997


Assoc. Professor Jennie Brand Miller
Human Nutrition Unit, Dept. of Biochemistry G08
University of Sydney, 2006, Australia
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FAX: 61.2.9351.6022
Ph: 61.2.9351.3759