Quality Carbs -- Starches and Greens

[QUOTE=gopintos;1032915]He forgot to use the sarcastic font :p[/QUOTE]

Just joking...thinking back to how much grief we got when we talked about the potatoes amazing AA qualities...

Thanks for clarifying. I was apparently naive enough to challenge my own thinking I googled it for over 30 minutes! Joke's on me this morning!

[QUOTE=otzi;1032916]Just joking...thinking back to how much grief we got when we talked about the potatoes amazing AA qualities...[/QUOTE]
It wasn't the completeness go the potato's AA profile that got grief, we all seemed to agree on that. It was weather potatoes could adequately maintain muscle with such a low amount overall.

I still consider that one to be a bit up in the air. Annecdotal evidence is great, but I'd love more in-depth research.

[QUOTE=Drumroll;1032956]It wasn't the completeness go the potato's AA profile that got grief, we all seemed to agree on that. It was weather potatoes could adequately maintain muscle with such a low amount overall.

I still consider that one to be a bit up in the air. Annecdotal evidence is great, but I'd love more in-depth research.[/QUOTE]

I think using the potato's AA profile is a kind of weak argument...it's there, no doubt, but 1mg of chicken breast also has a complete AA profile. Just because it's complete doesn't mean it's enough. I don't think a 'potatoes-only diet' provides enough AA to prevent lean muscle loss, but I also don't think much lean muscle will be lost over a 7-14 day period if the person has more than 8 or 10% body fat.

I'm sure that some individuals may lose a bit of muscle mass during a week-long strict potato diet, due to their body composition, and on how they exercise. So any individual needs to do a cost-benefit analysis re: muscle loss/fat loss, experiment and hone.

Anyone wanting to try PPD who's concerned about that could add in a little very lean protein. The two key factors contributing to the success of the PPD seem to be cutting fat intake drastically plus the satiety factor. So adding a little lean protein once a day is unlikely to spoil the effect. Anyone coming from VLC perma-ketosis needs to consider that their liver has a lot of adapting to do, and may carry on using amino acids for gluconeogenesis for a while. Context is everything.

My impression is that PPD seems to be most beneficial for those who aren't ultra-lean wanting to make weight maintenance easier, and those who have about 10-20 lbs or so left to lose.

This is a great thread, thanks for all the thought provoking opposing opinions. I've been eating potatoes and blueberries as my carbs, mostly because I can grow and harvest them. Local is my biggest rule. I hunt, fish, harvest, and grow about 50% of my food, but I'd like to make it more. I had been LC and even VLC for many months, and would like to revisit that, but for now I am craving, eating and enjoying a large number of carbs.

I'm very interested in knowing how much healing my body has had in one year of LC/IF/PRIMAL (and 60 pounds of weight lost) and how much more it can do. I think the healing can go on for a long time.

[QUOTE=windypasswheeler;1033218]This is a great thread, thanks for all the thought provoking opposing opinions. I've been eating potatoes and blueberries as my carbs, mostly because I can grow and harvest them. Local is my biggest rule. I hunt, fish, harvest, and grow about 50% of my food, but I'd like to make it more. I had been LC and even VLC for many months, and would like to revisit that, but for now I am craving, eating and enjoying a large number of carbs.

I'm very interested in knowing how much healing my body has had in one year of LC/IF/PRIMAL (and 60 pounds of weight lost) and how much more it can do. I think the healing can go on for a long time.[/QUOTE]

If you are craving carbs, consider that your body is now healed and you can enjoy eating more.

[QUOTE=PrimalStudent;1030074]I'm trying to add some more carbs into my diet. I know leafy greens are generally understood to be the best (particularly in terms of weight maintenance), but I find a half cup of winter squash really satisfies me far more than 2, even 3 cups of raw greens.

If I'm measuring out the amount, and really stick to a 1/2 cup -- which comes to about 11 carbs -- is it an issue for me to eat winter squash every day? Does it matter whether the carbs are coming from starches or leafy greens if my carb count comes out the same?[/QUOTE]

I tend to lean towards mixing it up every day. One day carrots, one day squash, one day an apple. That's just me though. I agree that leafy greens aren't particularly filling, but I'd continue to eat some of them because they are full of good stuff. Although it might not matter that much whether you eat the same thing every day (I certainly don't know), I would try to add some variation. That way you'll get new nutrients every day in varying amounts, and not get bored of the same foods all the time. But 11 carbs is not a large amount, so I should think you'd be safe eating that in pretty much any form.

So the basic answer from me is it's not really an issue per se, and I don't know how much it matters where they come from but changing up the veggies and starches is never bad :)