Manitoba study looks at benefits of potato starch for chronic kidney disease

A Manitoba clinical trial is testing if a starch derived from raw potatoes can slow the damaging effects of chronic kidney disease.

University of Manitoba assistant professor of community health sciences Dr. Dylan MacKay says prebiotic supplements that improve the gut microbiome — the bacteria in the gut — have health-improving potential.

MacKay says resistant starch, which is abundant in uncooked potatoes and unripe bananas, passes through the upper intestine without being digested and is a source of food for the gut microbiome when it reaches the lower intestine.

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The trial will ask people with the disease to mix a flavourless powdered supplement into a drink, such as a smoothie, each day.

A Manitoba company, MSPrebiotic, is providing the supplement for the study.

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