Potatoes or Omega-6 makes you fat? | Hunt.Gather.Love.

Potatoes Make You Fat? Or Omega-6 makes you fat? | Hunt.Gather.Love.

Potatoes Make You Fat? Or Omega-6 makes you fat?

Posted Thu, 06/23/2011 - 10:29 by Melissa

This morning I clicked on this headline at Grub Street "It's official: Potatoes make you fat. Which still explains nothing about why the French are not obese. [WSJ]"
No, it's not about potatoes, but about potato products:

Eating more potato chips and French fries is likely to lead to a bigger weight gain over the years than the weight change associated with eating more of other foods, new research indicates.

Apparently these are worst than cakes and sugary foods

Marion Nestle, New York University professor of nutrition and public health, expressed surprise that potato products were linked with more weight gain than desserts like cake, cookies and doughnuts, which contribute the most calories to the American diet, other research shows. She says she suspects people who eat potato chips and fries also tend to eat too much in general, making these foods markers for a diet leading to weight gain.

White Potatoes and Human Health, Part I

Whole Health Source: Potatoes and Human Health, Part I

Whole Health Source: Potatoes and Human Health, Part II

Whole Health Source: Potatoes and Human Health, Part III

The Bottom Line

You made it to the end! Give yourself a pat on the back. You deserve it.

In my opinion, the scientific literature as a whole, including animal and human studies, suggests rather consistently that potatoes can be a healthy part of a varied diet for most people. Nevertheless, I wouldn't recommend eating nothing but potatoes for any length of time. If you do choose to eat potatoes, follow these simple guidelines:

• Don't eat potatoes that are green, sprouting, blemished or damaged
• Store them in a cool, dark place. They don't need to be refrigerated but it will extend their life
  
• Peel them before eating
  

Enjoy your potatoes!

Study - Boiled starch lose persorbability

SpringerLink - Plant Foods for Human Nutrition (Formerly Qualitas Plantarum), Volume 17, Number 1

It was found that within a few minutes of the consumption of rolled oats, wheat flakes, whole-meal, or of the same amount of starch in the form of potato- or corn-starch, numerous unchanged starch granules can be demonstrated in the blood. A prerequisite for this mechanism is the persorbability of the starch granules, which is limited by the size and consistency of the uncooked starch granules. Persorption was observed up to a diameter of 110 microns. The persorbability of starch granules may be recognized by their polarizing capacity.

Numerous foods when ready to eat contain masses of such persorbable starch granules. In particular, they are present in cereals in flake form (rolled oats, wheat flakes) in whole-meal, in crisp-bread, also in short-bread pastries, biscuits and cakes in which no milk or water is used in the preparation. Dry heat does not affect the persorbability of starch granules. Boiled starch granules lose their persorbability.

STUDY: Med Hypotheses 1991 Jun;35(2):85-87 “Persorption of raw starch: a cause of senile dementia? Freedman BJ “Intact starch granules in food can pass through the intestinal wall and enter the circulation. They remain intact if they have not been cooked for long enough in the presence of water. Some of these granules embolise arterioles and capillaries. In most organs the collateral circulation suffices for continued function.In the brain, however, neurones may be lost. Over many decades the neuronal loss could be of clinical importance. To test this hypothesis, there is a need to examine brains for the presence of embolised starch granules. Examining tissues polariscopically clearly distinguishes starch granules from other objects of similar appearance.”