The Study
Impact of lipid modification on the structural and digestive properties of starch in cooked chestnut paste: A comparative study of butter and soybean oil.
This study is like testing two different types of butter on a mashed potato to see which one makes it harder to digest. It shows one works better than the other in the lab, but it doesn't tell us if eating it will make people healthier or sicker.
Analysis score
Maximum 44 for a cross-sectional study.
Where the score came from
When you add oil to cooked chestnut paste, the oil wraps around the starch like a shield, making it harder for your body to break it down.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 56 / 100
Quality score
Snapshots of a population at a single point in time, or descriptions of small groups. Can identify correlations and prevalence, but cannot determine cause and effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes — this means foods made with soybean oil could cause slower blood sugar spikes, which is good for people managing diabetes or weight.
- 2Soybean oil created 37.43% more starch-oil complexes than butter, making the starch less digestible and improving texture (harder and chewier).
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
International journal of biological macromolecules
Year
2025
Authors
Bing Liu, Yanwen Wu, Ouyang Jie
Related Content
Claims (6)
Adding fats to cooked starch creates molecular structures that make the starch harder for digestive enzymes to break down, more than starch retrogradation alone.
Cooking chestnut paste with soybean oil results in lower starch breakdown during digestion compared to using butter, due to structural changes in the starch that make it harder for enzymes to act.
Cooked chestnut paste becomes harder and chewier when soybean oil is used instead of butter because soybean oil promotes the formation of starch-lipid complexes that make the food structure more stable.
When soybean oil is used in cooked chestnut paste instead of butter, it forms more stable complexes with starch, leading to slower breakdown of starch during digestion and a slower rise in blood sugar levels.
Adding soybean oil or butter to cooked chestnut paste makes it less stiff and more deformable under stress, with soybean oil having a stronger softening effect than butter.
Cooked chestnut paste forms more starch-lipid complexes when made with soybean oil than with butter, due to the higher levels of linoleic and oleic acids in soybean oil.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.