20 replies to this topic

[Luna]

I remember reading here that potatoes are bad. what about sweet potatoes? I keep hearing they are good for the heart.

[khakiman]

staple of my diet after chicken!

[rwac]

Sweet potatoes are a comparatively better source of carbs.

The question is, do you want to eat carbs ?

[niner]

I actually do want to eat carbs. Not too many, and not bad carbs. Sweet potato is pretty good. I don't have a problem with them. The glycemic load it pretty low.

[Luna]

Sweet potatoes are a comparatively better source of carbs.

The question is, do you want to eat carbs ?

Its not that I *want* to eat carbs, it's that I find it hard to get rid of all kinds of carbs.
I am not a meat person and there isn't much of fish available here. I just find it hard to fill my diet. Any ideas would help me a lot!

So I was wondering if sweet potatoes is ok for me, as a thing I can keep, as I can get rid of quite a lot of things but the problem is what to fill them with. Sweet potatoes I already *love*, so I wanted to know if it is allowed.

[DukeNukem]

Sweet potatoes are likely a slightly better choice that white potatoes, because of having extra nutrients. But still, a potatoes is a glucose bomb as far as your body knows. I don't recommend eating much of any potato. Non-starchy vegetables are a much healthier choice. When I eat a rare potato, I load it up with cheese, sour cream, bacon, and butter. I really mean load it up! And I still only eat less than 50 grams of actual potato.

[Forever21]

I only eat it as fries and chips.

[Luna]

I love my sweet potato with white cheese or goat strained yogurt (yumm!)
What kinds of cheese do you put in?

And what recommendations (to eat, unlike the usual NOT to eat) would you have for the one trying to get rid of carbs but doesn't have much of meat and fish sources, as well as doesn't like them much?

[Jay]

Potatoes are great for you. I don't think the glycemic index or load has any negative impact on healthy (non-insulin resistant) persons. If you are fairly young, you are unlikely to be insulin resistant. You can check with a blood meter if you really want to be sure.

If anybody disagrees, show me evidence that high glycemic index foods are assocaited with negative health outcomes in healthy humans.

[Luna]

Well.. as I posted in another post, which follows my blood test over time (mainly cholesterols), this time I decided to post the whole tests the doctor does for me every few months due to a development disorder.. I asked them to add insulin.

My insulin was lower than their minimum mark, my sugar was normal although a bit higher than most times..

Insulin was 4.2, the minimum they had was 5. Sugar was 76.
But just because I am not resistant now doesn't mean I should abuse it and ruin it for later!!!

[Jay]

But just because I am not resistant now doesn't mean I should abuse it and ruin it for later!!!

You are assuming that insulin resistance is an overuse injury.

[Luna]

But just because I am not resistant now doesn't mean I should abuse it and ruin it for later!!!

You are assuming that insulin resistance is an overuse injury.

I am assuming it could be one of the things that starts it.
But even if it doesn't, people here seem to keep repeating that fructose is bad because some of it doesn't leave the liver and stuff. I also see the results on triglycerides tests on a week after a lot of carbs and a week with less carbs and differences can be of 10 or 20 I think. So why not avoid them if it's healthier? Accumulate less damage, allow your body to repair more than you gain.. It will take time until we find an enzyme or something to fix our liver anyways.

[SloMoSandy]

Potatoes are great for you. I don't think the glycemic index or load has any negative impact on healthy (non-insulin resistant) persons. If you are fairly young, you are unlikely to be insulin resistant. You can check with a blood meter if you really want to be sure.

If anybody disagrees, show me evidence that high glycemic index foods are assocaited with negative health outcomes in healthy humans.

Or better - try to tell that for a raw vegans. Doesn't seem like they develop any probs due to high fructose intake. I'm far from convinced too that it may be bad for non insulin-resistant people. Insulin resistance develops into what..? Diabetes? Obesity? Yeah... tell that to half of my family members who are sugaroholicks for decades and none of them is even slightly overweight or has any probs with blood sugar (my grandmother is the extreme example as she eats load of sweets and fruits and her sugar is just approaching the "dangerous" zone, but still not there, and she's almost 80).
I guess it's the similar example as with the people who has genes that protect them from lung cancer. They can smoke for decades and lungs are still in a great condition (my grandfather for ex.).

So from my personal observations - if it's not in your genes - you hardly ever get that ins-resistance no matter what you do with your diet. Take it or leave it.

Edited by VidX, 26 February 2010 - 05:51 PM.

[Luna]

Well while my blood tests might suggest I am not resistant I do have an easy time gaining weight.. my metabolism is REALLY slow.

[mustardseed41]

Incredible tasting sweet potato chips. Add Ms. Dash table blend to give it an extra kick.

http://www.joyfulabo...-with-cinnamon/

BTW....recipe taken from marksdailyapple.com

[SloMoSandy]

Incredibly good source of AGEs too..

[maxwatt]

Sweet potatoes are a very rich source of Vitamin E. Incredibly so. And vitamin A, and B vitamins.
It's glycemic index is much less than regular potatoes, and is ranked as low in most charts.

The traditional Okinawan diet consists of 50% or more calories from sweet potatoes, and they are among the longest lived peoples on earth.
Sweet potatoes and other root vegetables are a staple in the diet of hunter-gatherer groups extant today, and archaeological evidence indicates our neolithic ancestors ate such foods too.

So if you like them, eat them. But not with sugar and marshmallows like my mother-in-law.

[Luna]

Incredibly good source of AGEs too..

a lot? so you say they are bad?

[SloMoSandy]

Incredibly good source of AGEs too..

a lot? so you say they are bad?

Well unless my eyes deceive me and these potatoes aren't fried in that picture from a recipe.

[Mia K.]

I remember reading here that potatoes are bad. what about sweet potatoes? I keep hearing they are good for the heart.

Hi Luna,


Don Matesz, co-author of Garden of Eating, writes about sweet potatoes in his blog, "Primal Wisdom."  He writes:  Note:  I don't intend this as a promotion of a high carbohydrate, sweet potato based diet, just an exploration of the properties of this tuber.  See:

http://donmatesz.blo...Primal Potatoes

As a species we have salivary amylase evolved or designed to digest starch.  The sweet potato seems to healthfully fit onto our plate, with some caveats.

Best, Mia

Edited by Mia K., 27 February 2010 - 02:38 PM.

[Brain_Ischemia]

Sweet potatoes are fine....maybe better than fine.
At the very least, we can infer that they're not "bad"; sweet potatoes comprised 69% (!!) of the diet of the CR cohort in the 2007 Okinawan study.

Edited by Xanthus, 08 March 2010 - 02:47 AM.