Potatoes and the Glycemic Index: Eat Spuds for Tighter Abs and a Lean Body?
By Mike Geary
Founder, TruthAboutAbs.comLet's break down carbohydrates... and one in particular, potatoes.
A lot of health and fitness professionals call potatoes a bad carbohydrate as they rank high on the glycemic index.
Some of these fitness gurus even say such outrageous things as to "avoid all white carbohydrates."
Well, now while I certainly agree that refined white sugar and white bread are two of the worst things we can eat, I definitely don't agree with avoiding all "white carbohydrates." Of course 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.
Yes, colorful foods are great, but it's a big mistake to specifically avoid white foods! There are plenty of white foods that have specific nutrients that are tough to find elsewhere. Let's look at a few examples...
What about garlic and onions? They are both white and they are chock full of protective phytonutrients, vitamins, and trace minerals that aren't simple to find elsewhere in a normal diet... such nutrients as quercetin (an important flavonoid), chromium, allicin, and other unique anti-inflammatory nutrients.
Another example of something white that is good for you is cauliflower. Cauliflower is loaded with fiber, minerals, vitamin C, and special compounds such as glucosinolates and thiocyanates, which are specifically abundant in cruciferous vegetables like cabbage, broccoli, and of course cauliflower.
Not too many folks know it, but surprisingly, 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, and purple varieties). 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's not all that it's cracked up to be. There are lots of other factors that determine how your body will react to and process the carbohydrates you consume, such as glycemic load and also how you combine the high GI food with other foods.
Using glycemic load as an example... it's known that watermelon has a high glycemic index. However, the glycemic load of a regular 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 a ridiculously vast quantity of watermelon just to get enough grams of carbohydrates to have any negative glycemic effect that it makes the notion nonsensical.
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.
And anyone who says otherwise is misinformed or doesn't know what they're talking about!
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 healthy fats, fiber, 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.
Back to the topic. White potatoes are actually a healthy carbohydrate as long as you eat them in the right form... with the entire skin, and be sure to not 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 hydrogenated oils.
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.
Now, 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 filling potatoes that they actually consumed less calories than usual. An average sized potato only has about 100-120 calories, and I can surely imagine you'd be constantly full from eating 7-9 potatoes each day.
I wouldn't 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, here is one of my favorite recipes:
Geary's Lean-Body Potato Side Dish
Desired quantity of baby potatoes (I like a mix of white, red, yellow, and purple baby potatoes)
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
1 yellow pepper
1 large onion
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 or 2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
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 onion 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.
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