Friend or Foe for a Lean-Body?

by Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer

I'd like
to start a little discussion today about carbohydrates... and in
particular, "white foods" as well as 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...

Onions & Garlic

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 elsewhere in a normal diet... such nutrients as allicin,
quercetin (an important flavonoid), chromium, and other unique
anti-inflammatory nutrients.

Cauliflower

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. And a little-known fact is that some of the
compounds in cruciferous vegetables help to combat other estrogenic
compounds in our food supply and environment and can help prevent
excess belly fat. So eat up on that cauliflower!

Mushrooms

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.

Potatoes

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!

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