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Potatoes and Glycemic Index - Friend or Foe for a Lean Body?
by Mike Geary, Founder -
TruthAboutAbs.com
I'd like to start a little discussion today about carbohydrates... and in
particular, potatoes. One reason I wanted to mention this is because so many
health and fitness professionals trash talk potatoes about being a bad
carbohydrate choice because of the high glycemic index. Some even say such
ridiculous things as "avoid any and all white carbohydrates."
Ok, now while I certainly agree that white bread and refined white sugar are two
of the worst things we can be feeding our bodies, I definately don't agree with
avoiding any and all "white carbohydrates". Now I know all of the buzz lately
has been about colorful foods and the protective antioxidants that they contain.
They tell you to focus on colors and stay away from white.
It's true that colorful foods are great, but it is a big mistake to
specifically avoid white foods! There are plenty of white foods that have
specific nutrients that are hard to find elsewhere. Let's look at a few
examples...
What about onions and garlic? They are both white and they are chock full of
protective phytonutrients, vitamins, and trace minerals that aren't easy to find
eslewhere in a normal diet... such nutrients as allicin, quercetin (an important
flavonoid), chromium, and other unique anti-inflammatory nutrients.
Another example of something white that is great for you is cauliflower.
Cauliflower is loaded with vitamin C, fiber, minerals, and special compounds
such as glucosinolates and thiocyanates, which are specifically abundant in
cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage.
Not many people realize this, but surprisingly, even white mushrooms have high
levels of unique nutrients and antioxidants. White mushrooms are high in a
couple types of antioxidants called polyphenols and ergothioneine.
Now that also leads us to another example - white potatoes (which by the way,
can also be found in red, yellow, purple varieties, etc). Many health
professionals claim that potatoes are a bad carbohydrate because they are
thought to have a high glycemic index. First of all, if you've read my
Truth about
Six Pack Abs book, then you understand that glycemic index is not
necessarily the most important factor in choosing your carbohydrates.
While a generalization can be made that most low glycemic index carbohydrate
choices will help you lose body fat easier than high glycemic index choices, it
is not all that it's cracked up to be. There are many other factors that
determine how your body will react-to and process the carbohydrates you ingest,
such as glycemic load and also how you combine the high GI food with other
foods.
For example, using glycemic load as an example... it is known that watermelon
has a high glycemic index. However, the glycemic load of a normal serving of
watermelon is just way too low for your body to start packing on body fat just
because you ate a high glycemic index fruit. You would have to eat such an
enormous quantity of watermelon just to get enough grams of carbohydrates to
have any negative glycemic effect, that it is just non-sensical.
Not to mention that watermelon is also a great source of vitamins, minerals, and
lycopene. There's just no reason to avoid it simply because it has a high GI. My
point is... candy bars, cupcakes, and donuts make you fat... NOT watermelons,
carrots or potatoes.
Also, as I mentioned, food combinations are important in how your body processes
the carbohydrates and the associated blood sugar and insulin response you
receive. For example, if you mix a high glycemic index carbohydrate with an
extra source of fiber, healthy fats, or even certain proteins, many times the
blood sugar and glycemic response will be slowed down considerably by the way
you combined the food. Again, I talk in detail about this entire topic in my
Truth about
Six Pack Abs book.
Alright, so back to my point that white potatoes are actually a healthy
carbohydrate as long as you eat them in the right form... with the entire skin,
and please don't ruin them by deep frying them into french fries either! French
fries are one of the most evil things ever invented for your health, but only
because we ruin them by soaking them in a scorching bath of trans fats in the
deep fryer from the hydrogenated oils that are typically used.
Keep in mind that potatoes contain so many vitamins and minerals that the list
is way too long to even try. Also, as long as you eat the skins, you get a
decent shot of fiber too.
On the topic of potatoes not being so bad after all, I don't remember where I
saw this referenced, but I recently saw a particular study that had participants
eat something like 7-9 whole potatoes per day for several weeks.
At the conclusion of the study, the potato eaters had actually consistently
lost weight! I'd venture a guess that the reason the people lost weight is that
they were probably so full from eating all of those damn potatoes, that they
actually consumed less calories than normal! An average sized potato only has
about 100-120 calories, and I can surely imagine you'd be full constantly from
eating 7-9 potatoes each day.
Now I would never recommend going to those extremes, but my point is that an
occasional potato is not going to hurt your efforts to get lean, especially if
you combine it with some other fibrous vegetables and maybe a healthy fat and
some protein. On that note, I have one of my favorite recipes for you, using
potatoes.
Geary's Lean-Body Potato Side Dish
Desired quantity of baby potatoes (I like to use this mixture I found recently
at a health food store... it is a mixture of white, red, yellow, and purple baby
potatoes)
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
1 yellow pepper
1 or 2 onions
a couple cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 or 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
a little salt and pepper to taste (I like using a sea salt instead of normal
commercial salt)
Cut the baby potatoes into slightly smaller pieces and place in a steamer until
soft all the way through. Slice up the peppers and onions into strips and add
with the chopped garlic into a pan with the olive oil. Cook the peppers, onions,
and garlic until tender, and then add the steamed baby potatoes. Stir it all
together and serve. This is a delicious and healthy side dish that goes great
with chicken or red meat.
I hope you've enjoyed this little topic today about potatoes, healthy
carbohydrates, glycemic index, and my killer potato recipe idea!
If you enjoyed this article today, feel free to copy/paste this link and email
to your friends and family that would be interested.
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