Foods high in Starch
Long chains of glucose found in grains, potatoes, legumes. Digested into glucose for energy; impact on blood sugar depends on the food matrix.
About Starch
Starch is the storage carbohydrate of plants, long chains of glucose that the plant packs into grains, tubers, legumes, and some unripe fruits. Cooking ruptures the starch granules and makes them more accessible to digestion.
How quickly a starch digests depends on its structure. Amylopectin (in waxy rice, glutinous starches) breaks down fast; amylose (in basmati, beans) digests more slowly and produces a gentler blood-glucose response. Cooling cooked starch, then eating it cold or reheated, increases the share that resists digestion and behaves like fiber.
Starch is the dominant energy source for most of the world's diets. Within a healthy pattern, intact whole-grain or legume starches outperform refined-flour starches for blood sugar, satiety, and long-term health.
Foods high in starch, sago, arrowroot, tapioca, and more
Ranked by how much you get per calorie, so foods are not rewarded for simply being dry or concentrated. Values from USDA FoodData Central, McCance & Widdowson's CoFID, ANSES Ciqual, and other public nutrition databases. Amounts in grams.
Per calorie is the default here because it answers what to eat: ranked purely by amount, a list of the richest foods fills up with dried and concentrated things nobody eats a plateful of. Switch to per 100 grams above if concentration is what you are after. Our foods low in starch list is measured per 100 grams instead, and that is deliberate too: per calorie would reward a food for carrying plenty of energy and none of the nutrient, which puts cooking oil below lettuce on a low-sodium list.
- Sago, raw 26.48g per 100 grams
- Arrowroot 26.48g per 100 grams
- Tapioca, raw 26.46g per 100 grams
- Flour, corn 25.99g per 100 grams
- Cassava, frozen, raw 25.21g per 100 grams
- Flour, gari (cassava flour) 25.15g per 100 grams
- Cassava, steamed 24.86g per 100 grams
- Cassava, raw 24.86g per 100 grams
- Cassava, baked 24.84g per 100 grams
- Cassava, boiled in unsalted water 24.69g per 100 grams
- Sago, cooked 24.45g per 100 grams
- Tapioca, cooked 24.42g per 100 grams
Common questions about Starch
- Is starch the same as carbs?
- Starch is one type of carbohydrate, long chains of glucose. Other carbohydrate types include sugars (short chains) and fiber (indigestible).
- What foods are highest in starch?
- Grains (wheat, rice, oats), tubers (potatoes, sweet potatoes), legumes, and unripe bananas are the densest sources.
- Is resistant starch good for you?
- Yes. Resistant starch, found in cooled cooked starches (cold pasta, leftover rice) and unripe bananas, escapes digestion and feeds beneficial gut bacteria like fiber does.
- Are starchy foods making me fat?
- Starch itself isn't the cause, total energy balance is. Whole-food starches (intact grains, beans) are satiating; refined-flour starches are easy to overeat.