What are the "protected carbs"?

Protected carbohydrates are carbohydrates that normally would be digested but are not digested for some reason. Maybe they have been somehow chemically protected by the manufacturer.

Hi Ana-Maria,

Protected carbs are better known (or more classically known) as "resistant starch". Whatever you care to call it, it is pretty much the same thing as fibre. The reason some people may not consider it a fibre is that originally, fibres included "soluble" and "insoluble" fibre but resistant starch isn't either but has some of the effects of each.

The main feature that makes resistant starch so similar to fibre is that they both cannot be broken down and absorbed in the small intestine of the gut, which is where most food / nutrients / calories are absorbed. This has several advantages including that it doesn't add extra calories to your diet, improves gut health and digestion, etc.

Most resistant starch is naturally-occurring but there are some "functional foods" like certain pasta products that claim to be from specially-manufactured protected carbs.