Can starch equal sugar?

Think you don't have a sweet tooth, but crave bagels, chips, or french fries? These starchy foods are complex carbs that the body breaks down into simple sugars. Eaten without better foods, starches can make blood sugar surge and crash like sugar. White rice and white flour do this. Highly refined starches like white bread, pretzels, crackers, and pasta are worst.

However, there is a hidden ingredient in much of our food that causes our blood sugar to surge then crash like sugar.  That ingredient is Modified Corn Starch (i.e. potato starch, wheat starch, tapioca starch

Modified food starches are used in a variety of products - luncheon meats, orange juice, baked goods, and the list goes on - for a variety of reasons. Modified food starches are used as gelling agents, ensuring that foods maintain the correct texture in both frozen and microwaved foods. They're used as thickeners in fat-free dairy products. They're used as bulking agents to increase the bulk of a food without affecting its nutritional value. Modified food starches might be used as an anti-caking agent to keep foods free-flowing, or as an inexpensive way to control moisture in a food product. In low-fat meat products, modified food starch is used as a binder.

Cornstarch is high in calories and carbs, but it lacks important nutrients like protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Cornstarch is rich in carbs and has a high glycemic index, which is a measure of how much a specific food affects your blood sugar levels. It’s also low in fiber, an important nutrient that slows the absorption of sugar into your bloodstream (1Trusted Source, 4Trusted Source). For this reason, cornstarch is digested very quickly in your body, which may lead to spikes in your blood sugar levels.

Bottom line:  

• Cornstarch is a thickening agent often used to improve the texture of soups, sauces, marinades, and desserts.
• Each serving is high in carbs and calories but low in important nutrients like vitamins, minerals, fiber, and protein.
• Consuming high amounts regularly may increase your blood sugar levels and be associated with adverse effects on heart health.

Based on these facts, begin reading the ingredient labels and avoid anything with the word starch in the ingredient label, such as modified corn starch; Particularly, if you are diabetic or prediabetic.