starch? page

[cutepeachbunny]

does are body need starchy foods to survive? everything on the internet says we do. but doesnt give reason for it. wouldnt we get enough carbs through better vegetables and some fruit?

[iniQuity]

Sure, but some vegetables are also great starches such as sweet potatoes, squash, turnips, white potatoes, rutabagas, etc etc etc …

[Furan]

Hello there,

Don't hesitate to read this recent blog post on MDA : Why Fat, Not Carbs.

The idea of eating Primal/Paleo is pretty much what you're saying : we're already getting a decent amount of carbs through other vegetables and fruits.
Though the Paleo diet really does not recommend any starches at all, Primal is more likely to say : "want carbs ? well, get them if you really need them (especially if you're a high-intensity athlete, willing to recover swiftly from workouts), and try sweet potatoes or plain white rice."

[DaisyEater]

Yep. If you did not do high intensity work today, you probably don't need an intense hit of starch. It seems likely you could have some tubers anyway and still maintain your weight easily by eating carbs at the 100-150g/day range. If you're looking to lose fat, then you'll likely have to get into the 50g-100g range (occasionally lower) to meet your goal. That generally means not eating fruit very often, sticking to lower carb fruit options like berries when you do, and concentrating on the less starchy veggies out there (more greens, fewer carrots).

Still, when you compare this to the popular low carb diets of the past, this is much more lenient. Primal concentrates more on getting healthy sources of carbs than getting you into constant ketosis the way Atkins did. That requires severe carb restriction.

[jaysond]

one thing you need to learn fast and learn for yourself is the data out there is more about corp. puppet. in my 1yr going primal i didnt put one starchy carb into my mouth. no bread, no rice, no granins, no wheat, no potatoes, nothing! as my opinion you do not need it to survive.

i dont do starch at all unless its naturally in a vegtable. i workout pretty good and do well with out it

[Lewis]

does are body need starchy foods to survive?

No, people do survive without them. Take the Evenk (aka the Tungus):

Their food is almost exclusively of animal origin: reindeer meat and fish. Reindeer bone marrow is the favorite food of the Evenk, as well as reindeer liver and kidneys. At the end of the summer, they gather forest berries, the last to ripen being cranberries, which are frozen for the winter. They also make reindeer cheese provisions.

The Evenk | Dans la peau d'un papou

Of course, that doesn't mean starchy foods might not be a useful addition to your diet.

. wouldnt we get enough carbs through better vegetables and some fruit?

Yes, you would. (And you would even without that many vegetables and that much fruit, as the Evenk and various Siberian and Eskimo-Aleut peoples and so forth used to do (and as some still do)—although that doesn't mean anyone should do without, and vegetables and fruit are a really good, cheap, and readily available resource for a lot of nutrients.) But, you know, if you want a sweet potato or whatever that's fine, too.

[Conner P.]

I think my favorite meal is salad and a strip or ribeye steak with a nice fat sweet potato with lots of cinnamon. I personally need starch at the moment because my work schedule (6pm to anywhere between 10pm and 2am) is crap for eating. Starches -help- keep me going and help me refuel after work out.

[Balance]

does are body need starchy foods to survive? everything on the internet says we do. but doesnt give reason for it. wouldnt we get enough carbs through better vegetables and some fruit?

There are only essential fatty acids (fats) and essential amino acids (proteins) that the body requires to function correctly. There is no essential carbohydrate. I am not saying that they are bad but your question asked if they are essential to survival, and carbs are not.

[AndreaReina]

There are only essential fatty acids (fats) and essential amino acids (proteins) that the body requires to function correctly. There is no essential carbohydrate. I am not saying that they are bad but your question asked if they are essential to survival, and carbs are not.

The word essential in biology means that the body cannot produce it, AND that it is needed. Glucose is needed by the body, but we can manufacture it from protein; thus it is not "essential". That being said, if you're getting them from healthy sources a certain amount of glucose in the form of starch is certainly beneficial as converting protein to glucose is somewhat stressful on the liver. Without factoring intense physical activity, the amount of glucose the body needs to supply through diet or manufacture is 100-150g; I'm sure that it is just coincidence that this is also the PB maintenance range

[JPA]

On workout days I have up to 300 grams of carbs. My post workout meal was 1kg of sweet potatoes along with meat and raw goat milk. +200g of carbs in one meal alone. You couldn't do this with vegetables alone, and if you read The Perfect Health Diet, Paul Jaminet says vegetables don't count as carbs (in his view) due to being devoured by our gut flora. That's why his 400 calories of safe starches per day (100g of carbs from starches, 1gram is 4 calories) are in the form of sweet potatoes, taro, cassava or fruit. Vegetables aren't counted as carbs (too weak).

In either case, I'm only eating this amount of carbs on days I workout, 2x a week, so it's no big deal. I also have my occasional binge at a birthday party here and there (carb dessert gluten fest), or even if I don't eat gluten and keep it clean, I just eat a lot on Sundays.