Starches, Glycemic Index, and "White Foods" - Friend or Foe for a Lean-Body? (tai chi practice)

Written by Webmaster

Monday, 05 January 2009

By Gabe

Facts about Carbs

Many of health and fitness gurus bad mouth carbohydrates - in particular potatos and starches. Ocassionally, the statements go as far as to trash talk all "white" carbs.

I certainly agree that white bread and refined white sugar are two of the worst items we can be feeding our bodies, I do not agree with abstaining from "white carbs".

Certainly all of the hype lately has been about colorful foods. In particular the protective antioxidants that colorful foods provide. Convetional wisdom says to focus on colors and stay away from white. Truth be known colorful foods are excellent. However, it is an error to intentionally avoid white foods!

The reason is that many white foods provide nutrients that are hard to find anywhere else. Lets look at a few examples...

Onions & Garlic

Onions and garlic are white. Both contain protective phytonutrients, vitamins, and trace minerals that can't be found elsewhere. (At least in a normal diet.) Some examples of these nutrients are allicin, quercetin, chromium, and other unique anti-inflammatories.

Cauliflower

Cauliflower is another white food. Cauliflower is generally considered quite good for you. Nutrients provided by cauliflower include vitamin C, fiber, and minerals. Cauliflower also provides special compounds glucosinolates and thiocyanates. These special compounds are especially abundant in cruciferous vegetables such as cauliflower, broccoli, and cabbage.

Little known fact: Compounds in cruciferous vegetables help combat estrogenic compounds in our food supply and environment. And they can help prevent excess belly fat.

Potatos

A high glycemic index makes many health professionals to claim that potatos are a bad carb. However, the eBook at the end of this article will explain why glycemic index isn't always the most important factor in your choice of carbohydrates.

Usually, foods with a low glycemic index will help you lose body fat easier than high glycemic index foods. However, it is not that simple. There are many factors. The other foods you eat with your high glycemic index foods can have a noticeable effect on how the "bad carb" is digested.

An Example: A high glycemic index food that will not make you fat

Using glycemic load as the exclusive decision variable in diet choices can lead you to abstain from watermelon. Watermelon has a high glycemic index. However, the glycemic load of a typical serving of watermelon is far too low for you to start gaining body fat. You would have to ingest such a large a huge serving of watermelon just to ingest enough grams of carbs to have any negative glycemic effect, that it is just non-sensical.