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Potatoes - Good or Bad?
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Potatoes - Good or Bad?
   
   
   
   
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ItsOnlyMe
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Joined: 10 Jul 2011
Location: Small Village In The Hills, Ireland
Posts: 148
 Posted: 14 Jul 2011 08:14 pm
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Please vote now.

Thanks.

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Last edited on 14 Jul 2011 08:21 pm by ItsOnlyMe

PuffsPlus
Distinguished Member


Joined: 9 Jun 2011
Location: NoVA, Virginia USA
Posts: 209
 Posted: 15 Jul 2011 09:06 am
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I have a particular grudge against white potatoes. During the big low-fat era, the idea of eating baked potatoes with salsa was pushed as being this great low-fat meal in contrast to eating, say, cashews. If you were dieting, you were supposed to fill up on baked potatoes with low-fat yogurt and/or salsa as toppings. I tried that combo; I hated the texture, and I always got very hungry soon after eating it.

I have always hated baked potatoes anyway. I just hate the texture of the potato inside; dry and mealy. Even sour cream and butter never made them appetizing to me. I always felt the very best part was the skin outside, especially if it was a bit crispy.

Then I read Dr. Walter Willet's book Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy. Willett is IIRC the former head of the Harvard School of Public Health, and a good writer. He actually recommends against eating white potatoes (except for the skin!). The inside of a regular potato is basically a simple starch that isn't that different from plain sugar. Dr. Willett says the same about white rice.

Really, the only part of a white potato worth eating is the skin! Reading that made me very happy, of course.

So it turns out, eating the cashews is probably a better choice than eating a baked potato with salsa when it comes to health. Willett's book endorses eating nuts as long as they are eaten in moderation.

So if you're like me and you like the baked potato skin best of all, bake your potato, scoop out the starchy bits, and enjoy just the skin. Maybe with a filling that includes cashews on top, ha.

Nir
Senior Administrator


Joined: 11 Jan 2006
Location: Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom
Posts: 11761
 Posted: 15 Jul 2011 11:43 am
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This is an entertainment segment http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdxVfi632Xw

as far as health goes, practically every starchy vegetable (e.g. sweet potatos) trumps them, though it's all relative they're still better for you than milk chocolate.

I still include a 150g potato daily as part of a meal that weighs 10 times as much.

ItsOnlyMe
Member


Joined: 10 Jul 2011
Location: Small Village In The Hills, Ireland
Posts: 148
 Posted: 16 Jul 2011 06:09 pm
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Nir,

Thanks for the clip. They all had valid things to say, but I found Dr McDougall's words interesting, so I looked him up, and found an online video (over an hour long) talking about ancient civilisations (including the Roman gladiators) eating starches, and an experiment from 80 or 90 years ago where two athletes ate only potatoes, and they never got bored.

Very interesting! It won't stop me eating animal proteins just yet, but still fascinating!

SmittenKitten
New Member


Joined: 23 Jul 2011
Location:  
Posts: 22
 Posted: 24 Jul 2011 10:26 pm
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PuffsPlus wrote: I have a particular grudge against white potatoes. During the big low-fat era, the idea of eating baked potatoes with salsa was pushed as being this great low-fat meal in contrast to eating, say, cashews. If you were dieting, you were supposed to fill up on baked potatoes with low-fat yogurt and/or salsa as toppings. I tried that combo; I hated the texture, and I always got very hungry soon after eating it.

I have always hated baked potatoes anyway. I just hate the texture of the potato inside; dry and mealy. Even sour cream and butter never made them appetizing to me. I always felt the very best part was the skin outside, especially if it was a bit crispy.

Then I read Dr. Walter Willet's book Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy. Willett is IIRC the former head of the Harvard School of Public Health, and a good writer. He actually recommends against eating white potatoes (except for the skin!). The inside of a regular potato is basically a simple starch that isn't that different from plain sugar. Dr. Willett says the same about white rice.

Really, the only part of a white potato worth eating is the skin! Reading that made me very happy, of course.

So it turns out, eating the cashews is probably a better choice than eating a baked potato with salsa when it comes to health. Willett's book endorses eating nuts as long as they are eaten in moderation.

So if you're like me and you like the baked potato skin best of all, bake your potato, scoop out the starchy bits, and enjoy just the skin. Maybe with a filling that includes cashews on top, ha.

I agree entirely. After my mother, a die-hard potato fan, was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, I Googled "potatoes + diabetes" and found quite a few nutritionists and diabetes experts who advised against them.

As you say, potatoes are basically a simple starch, no better than sugar, white rice, and white flour. Nuts, in moderation, make a far better snack because the fat in them provides satiety.

Potatoes taste like @ss anyway. :tongue:

bpourriahi
New Member


Joined: 25 Jul 2011
Location:  
Posts: 2
 Posted: 25 Jul 2011 09:15 pm
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If you eat balanced meals frequently throughout the day, there's nothing wrong with potatoes. It will not cause a major GI spike. If you don't eat balanced meals and skips meals, you can easily overindulge - but the potatoes are not the true problem.

Fat loss and stable insulin levels are about portion size and meal frequency more so than what you actually eat (to a large degree). In many cases the preparation and sides are more damaging than the actual food. e.g. loaded baked potato, french fries, etc.


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