Sago
Food · Grain · Food, Typed Supps
Almost pure starch. Dry sago is dense; cooked sago is mostly the water it swallowed.
Stage by stage
- Intake (Boiled and gelatinised): Dry pearls take up several times their weight in water and turn translucent as the starch gelatinises.
- Digestion (Amylase breaks starch down): With almost no fibre, protein or fat in the matrix, amylase reaches the starch unimpeded.
- Bloodstream (Fast glucose rise): Glucose absorbs quickly; eaten alone the glycaemic response is high.
- Tissues (Stored or burned): Glucose refills muscle and liver glycogen or is stored as fat.
Time to effect
- Under an hour: Blood glucose peaks within roughly 30 to 45 minutes when sago is eaten on its own.
Allergens
None of the fourteen major allergens. Derived from what this food is, not from a product label.
Eating patterns
Fits: Vegan, Vegetarian, Pescatarian, Halal, Kosher, Gluten-free. Depends on the product: Low-FODMAP.
Satiety
97 on the satiety index, where white bread is 100 — low. Modelled from the Holt et al. (1995) measurements.
Environmental footprint
1.6 kg CO2e and 648 litres of freshwater per kg, matched to "Wheat & rye" in Poore & Nemecek (2018), Science 360.
Cost band
Cheap — roughly £2.5 per kg, as a band midpoint rather than a price.
Key nutrients
- Starch carbohydrate
- Very little else
Nutrition per 100g
- Calories: 351
- Protein: 0.2g
- Carbohydrate: 85.5g
- of which sugars: 0g
- Fat: 0.2g
- of which saturated: 0.1g
- Fibre: 0.4g
- Sodium: 3mg
Food vs. supplement
No supplement comparison applies. Sago's genuine value is functional: a neutral, gluten-free, very low-protein thickener and energy source.
Kitchen tip
Soak the pearls first, boil in generous water, and rinse briefly at the end so they do not clump. They are done when no white centre remains.
Common myth
"Sago is a nourishing traditional whole food." In reality: It is traditional, but it is refined starch washed clean of everything else — the AFCD entry records zero thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, folate and vitamin C. Where sago is a staple, the nutrition comes from what is cooked with it.
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