Is Modified Wheat Starch Keto Friendly?

Food is essential in our life as it is directly connected to our health. It bothers me when you are concerned about the food ingredients. You try to choose food after looking at its chemical elements as chemical, or modified foods can harm your health.

I can relate to it as I am the sufferer. Around six months ago, I bought modified wheat starch for my keto diet, but unfortunately, that was the worst experience.

Now, you may be wondering about- is modified wheat starch keto friendly? No worries.

In this article, I will talk about some information related to modified wheat starch, and lastly, its keto friendliness. So, you have to have the patience to know the answer. So, let’s go through the article.

The Moment When A Food Becomes Keto Friendly

The ketogenic diet’s purpose is to get your body into ketosis. In ketosis, fat burns as a primary fuel. It means taking about 70 to 75% from fat, 20 to 25% from protein, and 5 to 10% from carbohydrates.

For most people, carbohydrates intake in keto is 20 to 50 grams each day. However, this amount varies based on some factors.

If I give an example, I can say that people who exercise frequently may be able to take in more carbohydrates.

On the other hand, fiber is often left out of this calculation. It is because it does not absorb the way other nutrients do.

What Exactly Is Starch?

Starch is a type of carbohydrate that plants use to store energy. Photosynthesis produces carbs, which plants store as starch and sugar. After that, animals eat those plants, and the digested sugar (glucose) is stored as glycogen.

Cereal, oats, wheat, potatoes, corn, bread, rice, pasta, and apples are high in starch. Moreover, starches are composed of chains of sugar molecules. The sugar molecule is known as glucose.

Is Starch Fit In Keto?

You know that you have to have more fat and low-carb levels on a keto diet. But why is this happening?

It is happening because of the low-carb level, which keeps blood sugar levels low. Besides, low blood sugar levels keep insulin low.

Moreover, when your insulin levels are low, your body breaks down fat. The fatty acids then go to the molecules for energy.

That is how ketosis occurs. That is how fat-adaptation works. If you eat starch daily, blood sugar and insulin levels will rise, and the supply of fat will be decreased in your digestive system.

Thus, you can say that starch is not keto friendly. There are some starch alternatives that you can use.

What Exactly Is Wheat Starch And How Does It Work?

Wheat starch is a type of starch made from wheat kernels. It is a carbohydrate obtained from plants.

Grind wheat kernels, separate the ground wheat, remove the gluten, and refine the starch further to make wheat starch. You can use wheat starch to thicken and bake.

You may think that the fundamental topic is to discuss modified wheat starch. Why am I talking about starch, wheat starch, and gluten? It is because these things will help you understand whether is modified wheat starch keto friendly or not.

Wheat Starch Is Gluten-free

You have seen that wheat starch is made by removing gluten immediately after grinding the wheat kernels. On the labels of wheat starch packets and foods, you can see that it is gluten-free.

People are concerned about gluten-free food because it can cause immune reactions in celiac disease patients. Also, people, who are worried about pimples and acne, do not want gluten-added foods. However, people, who do not have celiac disease, can take gluten-added foods.

What Is Wheat Gluten?

Wheat gluten or gluten is not wheat. It is simply a type of protein that you can find in wheat. Gluten gives the dough a stretchy and elastic texture.

People use water to activate and hydrate the gluten while making wheat gluten. After that, they remove the rest of the parts of the wheat, except protein (gluten).

As they remove all other parts of wheat, the carbohydrate level becomes low, for example, 1 gram of carb per tablespoon. It is easy to include gluten in low-carb meals because of its low carb count.

Wheat Gluten Or Gluten Is Keto Friendly

Sometimes, people think that wheat gluten in wheat and wheat are not allowed in a ketogenic diet. I said earlier that it is simply a protein.

Wheat gluten or gluten is low in carbs. People use it in small amounts, such as 1 to 2 tablespoons for each recipe or ½ cup per recipe.

If you use the half cup of gluten for bread, muffins, and cookies, you will get roughly 0.5 to 0.66 grams of carbs from wheat gluten per serving.

As you can see, it is present in minimal amounts of carbs. So, yes, wheat gluten is keto friendly.

Nutritional Values Of Wheat Starch

Like other foods, wheat starch also has nutritional values. 100 grams of wheat starch’s nutritional value is given below:

One hundred grams of wheat starch contains 364 calories, 76 grams of carbohydrate, 2.7 grams of dietary fiber, 73.3 grams of net carbs, 1 gram of fat, and 10 grams of protein. You can see that the carbohydrate number is very high.

Additionally, wheat starch does not have vitamins and minerals. It only contains calcium and iron. 0.1% calcium and 2.6% iron is present in wheat starch.

Is Wheat Starch Suitable For A Low Carb Diet?

As described in the previous section, wheat starch has 76 grams of carbohydrate, and net carbohydrate is 73.3 grams. Moreover, you know that a low-carb diet is all about fat which will help gain energy. So, from here, you can say that wheat starch is not suitable for a low-carb or keto diet.

Modified Wheat Starch

Modified wheat starch is wheat starch that people change for specific purposes. Through modification, it increases and decreases some of the quality. You can modify wheat, corn, potato, tapioca, and any other cereal starch in the following methods:

• Chemically
• Physically
• Enzymatically

The objectives of starch modification are given below:

To increase the starch’s flexibility so that people can apply it in various recipes.

• To improve the properties of native starch
• To reduce the harmful properties of starch

Benefits And Uses Of Modified Wheat Starch

You can use modified wheat starch to add on foods to thicken, stabilize, and emulsify. By processing the wheat starch, you can change some of the properties.

Thus, the changed properties can stay good in different temperatures such as freezing and extreme heat. Modified wheat starch can also be a thickener and reduce the thickening time.

Some benefits of modified wheat starch are:

• In gluten-free baked foods, It develops polymeric structures
• Lower-temperature gelling ability
• Control the superior moisture
• Extends the shelf life
• Enclose the evaporative scents and flavors

Moreover, you can use modified wheat starch in numerous products. So, some uses of modified wheat starch are given below:

• Doughs that have been mixed with yeast
• Batters
• Cereals for breakfast
• Soups\Sauces
• Toppings
• Products similar to pudding
• Fillings for pies
• Icings
• Whipped cream
• Jellies
• Meringues

Is Gluten Present In Modified Wheat Starch?

Fibersym® RW is a gluten-free RS4-type modified wheat starch. You can use it to improve the fiber content of gluten-free food products.

The gluten content in this modified wheat starch is less than the serving limit. According to the R-Biopharm RIDASCREEN® experiment, the serving limit is 20 parts per million.

As a result, Fibersym is labeled as modified wheat starch. Also, you can consider it a gluten-free source of fiber. So, as Fibersym is modified wheat starch, you can say that modified wheat starch is gluten-free.

Keto Friendly Bread With Modified Wheat Starch

In this section, I will be talking about two keto bread with modified wheat starch as their ingredient. Furthermore, I will be talking about keto friendliness.

L’Oven Fresh Zero Net Carb Bread From Aldi

It is the first bread that has modified wheat starch in it. It is a famous bread which is keto.

Each slice or 28 grams of this bread contains 40 calories, 5 grams of protein, 1 gram of fat, 9 grams of total carbs, and 9 grams of fiber. So, the net carb is zero.

The ingredients of this bread are:

• Water
• Yeast
• Whey protein
• Modified wheat starch, wheat bran, wheat gluten
• Vegetable fiber, oat fiber
• Vinegar
• Soybean oil, salt, and preservatives

Zero Net Carb ThinSlim Bread

It is another bread that has modified wheat starch in it. This bread is also famous for its low carb content, and it is entirely made up of fiber.

The ingredients of this bread are:

• Modified wheat starch, wheat gluten, wheat protein isolate
• Apple cider vinegar
• Flaxseed meal
• Chicory root
• Oat fiber
• Olive oil
• Yeast
• Salt

The Keto Friendliness Of Those Bread

L’Oven Fresh Zero Net Carb Bread from Aldi does not come under ‘strictly keto’ (a category of the keto diet). The reason is that there are non-keto ingredients such as modified wheat starch. However, it is suitable for a low-carb diet or ‘dirty keto’ (another category of the keto diet).

On the other hand, Zero Net Carb ThinSlim Bread is also not ‘strictly keto’ friendly. Though it has the lowest carb, it still comes under ‘dirty keto’.

If you look at the ingredients, you can see modified wheat starch. However, modified starches are not suitable for the keto diet. You should avoid them.

The Side Effects Of Modified Wheat Starch

There are numerous side effects of modified wheat starch. If you search Google, you can find several negative comments regarding modified food starches. Some side effects are given below:

• Stroke
• Diarrhea
• Allergy
• Migraine
• Bloating and gas
• Rashes and itchiness
• Depressed and angry mood
• Stomach ache
• Dizziness
• Wound

At last, you know about modified wheat starch, its benefits, uses, etc. There is yet to know something.

I still did not answer the question, is modified wheat starch keto friendly? Sorry for the delay. It is time to give you the answer.

Whether Modified Wheat Starch Keto Friendly Or Not?

I will tell you the answer in a different way. You need to cooperate with me.

• Firstly, if you look back to the beginning part of this article, remember that starch is not keto friendly because it increases insulin if you eat starch daily. Also, it creates a shortage of fat. So, starch is not keto friendly.

If you look carefully, you can understand that as starch is not keto friendly, there is a presence of starch in modified wheat starch. So, starch will affect modified wheat starch. Ultimately, modified wheat starch is also not keto friendly.

• Secondly, I have talked about wheat gluten. Gluten is keto friendly because it has low-carb, 0.5-0.66 grams. On the other hand, modified wheat starch is gluten-free, as described above.

So, you can understand that wheat gluten is keto friendly, but it is not present in modified wheat starch. Thus, gluten could not make it keto friendly, at least in a small portion.

• Thirdly, wheat starch is not keto friendly as there is high carb. Moreover, wheat starch is also present in modified wheat starch. So, the amount of carbs is also high in modified wheat starch as it has gone through a chemical modification.

• Fourthly, the bread where there is a presence of modified wheat starch. You have come to know that that bread falls under ‘dirty-keto’. I must say, ‘dirty-keto’ is equal to not being keto friendly.

• Lastly, the side effects stated above can make modified wheat starch unsuitable for the keto diet.

All in all, modified or processed foods are not keto friendly. So, modified wheat starch is also not keto friendly.

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Thoughts

As I have said, food is essential in human life. So, it is natural to think about its processing.

However, modified starches are a matter of tension because they are processed and contain chemicals. It also contains complex carbohydrates.

Likely, modified wheat starch also contains complex carbohydrates. The question again comes, is modified wheat starch keto friendly? The answer is no. Modified wheat starch is not keto friendly at all.

So, I hope you get all the answers to your questions.