Better To Avoid Starch In Potato?

[Bluebell]

I hear a lot about how nutritious potatoes are, but then I also hear that sugar always trumps starch.

So is a daily potato a good thing to eat?

Or ideally should I get all my carbs from sugars? (& maybe try the potato juice thing)

 

[charlie]

Yes, way more optimal to avoid the starch. Starch feeds bacteria creating more endotoxin. Starch also messes with the sugar levels more, and starch will tend to pack on the fat faster.

Sugar from approved fruit juice, milk, and pure sugar is optimal with pure sugar only used if fruit is unavailable, or with coffee of course.

 

[Bluebell]

Thanks a lot Charlie, really helpful!

So, then I have a couple of questions.

What do I eat my liver with? I was making pate, but that's pretty gross to eat on it's own!

& if my fruit doesn't taste that sweet (kind of mildly sweet/tart, here in england), then should I add white sugar, or am I better off just having milk with it for extra sugar?

 

[charlie]

I have my liver with Mexican coke. Then about 30 minutes later coffee. It's best to avoid fruit with liver because the vitamin C will increase iron absorption.

I love milk with sugar, yum. :)

 

[Bluebell]

Just liver on it's own, with a drink on the side? Do you just fry it, & does it taste OK?

 

[Bluebell]

Milk & sugar I love too.

 

[charlie]

Yes, that's what I do. I chop it up in really small pieces and fry it in butter and coconut oil with onions. I think it tastes pretty good and actually have been starting to crave it lately. Oh and I add a lot of salt, helps with the taste.

 

[Bluebell]

Yes, that's what I do. I chop it up in really small pieces and fry it in butter and coconut oil with onions. I think it tastes pretty good and actually have been starting to crave it lately. Oh and I add a lot of salt, helps with the taste.

Great I love it, I'll try that. Chopping it up first probably helps a lot. So do you have your 6oz all at once, on one day per week at one meal?

 

[4peatssake]

I hear a lot about how nutritious potatoes are, but then I also hear that sugar always trumps starch.

So is a daily potato a good thing to eat?

Or ideally should I get all my carbs from sugars? (& maybe try the potato juice thing)

I would say no, a daily potato is not a good thing to eat - not in the way a daily carrot is, by comparison.

We recently discussed Ray Peat's views about the potato on another thread and so I asked him to clarify his position and this is what he wrote to me.

When a person has limited money for food, potatoes are a better staple than beans or oats. Starches associated with saponins, alkaloids, and other potentially pro-inflammatory things make them a less than ideal food, if you have digestion-related health problems, and if you can afford to choose. New potatoes are tastier, less starchy, and probably less likely to cause digestive irritation.

He has always maintained that sugars are much better than starch.

Sugar is also less fattening and in certain instances starches should be avoided completely.

Per calorie, sugar is less fattening than starch, partly because it stimulates less insulin, and, when it's used with a good diet, because it increases the activity of thyroid hormone.

For people with really sensitive intestines or bad bacteria, starch should be zero.

Source

Potato juice is unique to Ray Peat and provides good nutrition without the starch. I don't personally do it though - too much work.

 

[charlie]

The chopping it up in really small pieces was the trick for me. I eat 3 ounces every 3 or 4 days. When I first started eating liver it was a chore, but now there is nothing to it and actually look forward to it because I realize how healthy it is for me and it does not taste bad.

Another gem I got from Jenn is that she could not digest over 3 ounces of meat at time. And when I started taking notice, it was the same for me. So now I never eat over 3 ounces of meat at a time.

 

[4peatssake]

Just liver on it's own, with a drink on the side? Do you just fry it, & does it taste OK?

It helps to soak liver in milk overnight or for a few hours.
Incredible how this helps with the taste.
I fry up my onions first in butter til nearly crispy and then fry the liver.
Calves liver is better for taste but this method works even with beef liver.

It's actually quite good and Mexican cokes makes everything go down good.

 

[charlie]

Yeh the soaking in milk thing helps but I find I don't need to do it.

 

[Bluebell]

That is so helpful 4peatssake, thanks a lot. I had not realised quite how much they are not a positive thing!

As avoiding potato completely would be a good thing to do against endotoxin, that is reason enough in itself for me.

I'm quite curious to try the cooked potato juice some day, though it'll feel weird just throwing out the starch like that.

 

[Bluebell]

The chopping it up in really small pieces was the trick for me. I eat 3 ounces every 3 or 4 days. When I first started eating liver it was a chore, but now there is nothing to it and actually look forward to it because I realize how healthy it is for me and it does not taste bad.

Another gem I got from Jenn is that she could not digest over 3 ounces of meat at time. And when I started taking notice, it was the same for me. So now I never eat over 3 ounces of meat at a time.

That is a gem, I will try applying it as it rings true for me too.

Sounds like such a great way to eat it. I do already soak in milk, definitely better that way!

Do you remove all the white stringy bits before cooking, or just cook & eat them too? I always find I destroy the raw liver quite a bit trying to cut them out.

& so you buy just 3 ounces at a time from your butcher, fresh each day you cook it?

Thanks a lot!

 

[Bluebell]

It helps to soak liver in milk overnight or for a few hours.
Incredible how this helps with the taste.
I fry up my onions first in butter til nearly crispy and then fry the liver.
Calves liver is better for taste but this method works even with beef liver.

It's actually quite good and Mexican cokes makes everything go down good.

4peatssake, so you too, just have liver & onions on it's own, with coke on the side?

That is for lunch or dinner?

I do luuuuuurve me a coca cola, too, yum.

 

[charlie]

I try to eat all the white stringy things. lol I figure its connective tissues and such and is prolly good for ya.

No, I cook up a pound or more at a time, then freeze in 3 ounce servings. When I thaw the original pound, I don't let it thaw all the way out, so its still really cold. Then soon as its cooked I portion it and get it right back in the freezer. It's the best I can do for optimization. I know it would be better to do it fresh every time, but my way works best for me.

And to answer your lunch or dinner. Ray Peat thinks meat/heavy protein should be eaten earlier in the day, and not for dinner. So I always have my meaty meals for lunch.

 

[Bluebell]

I try to eat all the white stringy things. lol I figure its connective tissues and such and is prolly good for ya.

No, I cook up a pound or more at a time, then freeze in 3 ounce servings. When I thaw the original pound, I don't let it thaw all the way out, so its still really cold. Then soon as its cooked I portion it and get it right back in the freezer. It's the best I can do for optimization. I know it would be better to do it fresh every time, but my way works best for me.

And to answer your lunch or dinner. Ray Peat thinks meat/heavy protein should be eaten earlier in the day, and not for dinner. So I always have my meaty meals for lunch.

Thanks a lot Charlie, & 4peatssake - now I have a much better routine to try & I think I can eat it without potato now too.

Of course, you are right about the stringy stuff!

Really like the idea of cooking a whole lot and freezing portions, I am all for convenience. & Lunch feels better too for liver. Great!!

 

[j.]

If I don't have digestive issues when eating potatoes, I eat them.

 

[charlie]

If I don't have digestive issues when eating potatoes, I eat them.

I do not think endotoxin causes immediate problems.

 

[Swandattur]

I've heard of marinating meat in coke, I think. Why not liver? Sounds yummy, huh? Maybe not.

I tried extracting the ketoacids with an inexpensive juicer, since I saw where RP used that. The liquid part had some very fine mealy stuff that floated to the top that I skimmed off. I waited a little to let it settle,and the poured off the fairly transparent liquid from the starch in the bottom. However, I know that a good amount of starch remained, because using iodine it tested out as still having starch. I tried a very little bit anyway after cooking, and so did my daughter. Before I tried it she alerted me to the fact that it had a sort of bitter unpleasant taste. I thought so, too. Maybe that was the wrong part? But the only other part it could be would be the foamy mealy stuff on top. I pan fried in butter the potato pulp which my husband tried. He said it tasted bad, too. So, is the moral to the story, don't juice potatoes, because nothing but the starch will taste good? My daughter thought maybe you could add something to it that would disguise the weird taste of what I think was the ketoacids part. To me the liquid part seemed like concentrated potato flavor. Lots of times a concentrated flavor will taste bad, I think. Maybe if the liquid potato flavor was mixed into something else. Hey, if cauliflower were permissible on occasion, mixing the ketoacids stuff into the mashed cauliflower might really make it taste like mashed potatoes. I might try that. Maybe mashed squash would be more the ticket. Then there would be less starch in a serving. Anyway, is there a better way to separate out the starch? If you ran it through a coffee filter, would the ketoacids stuff get through with the liquid? Anybody have an idea?