Archive for the ‘Healthy Eating’ Category

Are Potatoes Good for You?

Posted on: May 8th, 2012 by No Comments

Did you know…A potato is a root, but it still qualifies as a vegetable. And you buy potatoes in the vegetable section of your supermarket, right? And vegetables are good for you, right? Actually, no…potatoes are not as good for you as you might think.

Yes, potatoes contain B vitamins, vitamin C, and some minerals. But all those good things can’t save it from being a starch bomb that hits your system like a bag of candy.

As Dr. Allan Spreen explains, a baked potato is as close to a pure, refined starch as you can get without actually refining it.

Dr. Spreen: “As soon as a starch hits enzymes in your mouth, the starches begin the digestion process, and breaks down to (you guessed it) sugar. As soon as the starch breaks down to sugar, you’re back to a refined simple carb.”

And those refined simple carbs are the ones that increase abdominal fat, promote weight gain, and help set the stage for type 2 diabetes.

This is what Dr. Spreen and Dr. Jonathan Wright have been telling us about potatoes for years. And now, with a Harvard study in the New England Journal of Medicine, the mainstream has finally caught up.

The Harvard team examined general health data collected from more than 120,000 healthy adults who were not obese at the beginning of the study. Follow up periods ranged from 12 to 20 years.

Here are the top three food items that caused yearly weight-gain spikes, significantly above the national average:

  • Potato chips
  • Potatoes (any type of serving)
  • Sugar-sweetened beverages

However, The American Heart Association considers potatoes “heart healthy.” The United Nations declared 2008 the Year of the Potato. And on the American Diabetes Association website, a recipe for mashed potatoes calls for two cups of peeled potatoes. The hot potato is a political potato!

The skin is where most of the nutrients are! Take away the skin and you’re just shoveling sugar in your mouth, says Dr. Wright.

Instead of sharing a wide variety of potato recipes, the ADA should be warning website visitors that potatoes prompt blood sugar spikes causing overproduction of insulin, which leads to pancreas stress and type 2 diabetes.

Hopefully that day will come. Until then, warn your spud-loving friends and family to go easy on the potatoes unless they are sweet potatoes which, surprisingly, in light of their sweetness, are low glycemic.

(excerpted from Dr Jonathan Wright’s newsletter)

Do share these important findings with everyone you know. It’s a blessing to be able to help one another.

Until next time…stay healthy, think peace, be love and see love in everyone!

About Andrea Candee, MH, MSC
Andrea Candee is a master herbalist for over 25 years with a consultation practice in South Salem, NY. She lectures throughout the country and at corporate wellness centers about taking charge of your health naturally. Media expert and author, her award-winning book, Gentle Healing for Baby and Child (Simon & Schuster), received The National Parenting Center’s Seal of Approval. Andrea is noted nationally for her unique and successful approach to Lyme Disease and works with clients and their pets anywhere in the country.