Hi-maize resistant starch significantly increased insulin sensitivity in 10 people with insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome in a study at the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom. Diabetes UK funded the study, which appeared in the March issue of Diabetic Medicine.

The overweight people consumed 40 grams of Hi-maize resistant starch per day and increased their hepatic insulin sensitivity by 54%, their peripheral (muscle) insulin sensitivity by 24%, and their glucose uptake into forearm muscle by 68%.

"These improvements are actually bigger than you get with most blood glucose lowering drugs," said Denise

Robertson, principal investigator of the study and a lecturer at the university.

National Starch Food Innovation, Bridgewater, N.J., offers Hi-maize resistant starch. For more information, visit www.resistantstarch.com.

This article can also be found in the digital edition of Milling and Baking News, July 28, 2009, starting on Page 40. Click