Cheese & Potatoes page

[awallrising]

My husband is doing the primal diet, I am not doing it 100% mainly b/c I'm pregnant & don't feel like it. We already eat a mainly whole foods, organic diet.

I am doing all the grocery shopping & cooking & am trying to support him though. I have not read the book (it's on his Kindle) but I do have the cookbook & understand the basis premises of the diet. I do have a few questions though.....

He seems to be eating a lot of cheese & that concerns me. I know cheese is allowed, but I'm not sure that he should be consuming it daily.

Also he told me that potatoes aren't really allowed & that seemed odd to me. I don't think of potatoes as being an agricultural product. Can someone briefly explain the deal with potatoes?

Another other non-processed, non-legume, non-grain foods I should be considering when buying food for him?

[yodiewan]

Welcome! Good on you for supporting your man and giving Primal a shot!

Potatoes are usually not included because for most people, Primal Blueprint is a low carb diet, and potatoes are definitely not that. A lot of the leaner, more active folks do include potatoes with no issues. Also, white potatoes are in the nightshade family and some people have issues with that.

I don't think there is an issue with daily cheese consumption personally.

[Dragonfly]

I consume cheese daily. It's fine. If he is not trying to lose weight and doesn't have any problems digesting potatoes, they are fine, too.

[Griff]

Read the book, and your questions will be answered.

Also, if you're pregnant, eating Primally is far better for you and for your baby than eating the way you've always eaten. Eating Primally can help prevent the tendency towards diabetes that mothers eating a high-carb diet during pregnancy can trigger in their unborn children.

[MalPaz]

i eat potatoes and upwards of 10-12 oz of dairy everyday

[aktres]

Everything you need to know is here:

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/primal-blueprint-101/

[tfarny]

Potatoes - depends on his goals. They aren't so bad. Cheese - wide range of opinion on cheese. It's a gray area, but no one would recommend huge amounts. Lots of people are dairy free though (I'm not).

[Hedonist]

I'm Irish. I have to eat potatoes.

[Chaohinon]

If you're going to consume dairy, I suggest using goat products as often as possible. They're more expensive, but have a better fatty acid profile (short and medium chain) and less lactose.

[jammies]

Potatoes are generally considered to be a neolithic food - probably not available in large amounts for all that long.

I think this is a nice description of why one should avoid potatoes. http://www.earth360.com/diet_paleodi...zer.htmlGrains, Beans and Potatoes (GBP) share the following important characteristics:

· They are all toxic when raw- there is no doubt about this- it is a fact that no competent source would dispute- they can be extremely dangerous and it is important never to eat them raw or undercooked. These toxins include enzyme blockers, lectins and other types. I will talk about them in detail later as they are very important.

· Cooking destroys most but not all of the toxins. Insufficient cooking can lead to sickness such as acute gastroenteritis.

· They are all rich sources of carbohydrate, and once cooked this is often rapidly digestible-giving a high glycemic index (sugar spike).

· They are extremely poor sources of vitamins (particularly vitamins A, B-group, folic acid and C), minerals, antioxidants and phytosterols.

Therefore diets high in grains beans and potatoes (GBP):

· Contain toxins in small amounts

· Have a high glycemic index (ie have a similar effect to raw sugar on blood glucose levels)

· Are low in many vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and phytosterols- ie they are the original "empty calories"

· Have problems caused by the GBP displacing other foods

As grains, beans and potatoes form such a large proportion of the modern diet, you can now understand why it is so common for people to feel they need supplements or that they need to detoxify (ie that they have toxins in their system)- indeed both feelings are absolutely correct. Unfortunately, we don’t necessarily realize which supplements we need, and ironically when people go on detoxification diets they unfortunately often consume even more Neolithic foods (eg soy beans) and therefore more toxins than usual (perhaps they sometimes benefit from a change in toxins). More detail on these issues follows in subsequent pages.