Potatoes, gardening and healthy Irish women

[tara]

post 106769 Tara, what has your soil been contaminated with? Don't give up on nurturing your plot. Microbes and worms do a wonderful job in bioremediation. It also depends on pH of the soil whether the contaminate is bioavailable to the roots of the plant. Have you been quoted on the soil tests?

Mainly lead, possibly also arsenic.
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7043&p=88230

Others have said 5000-7000 for fairly comprehensive lead tests. I could get a couple of samples analysed for less, but apparently you can get high and low readings quite close to each other, so a couple of readings wouldn't be all that reassuring.

We are currently only eating fruit from the garden, because they apparently don't pick up as much of the lead. If I stay where I am, I think I will either get the soil tested, or build a raised bed or two.

Do you know what kind of pH is best for minimising lead uptake?

 

[BingDing]

Ella wrote
BingDing, I am so sorry you had to throw those carrots out. Have you ruled out some sort of nasty pathogen or had a stool analysis to work out which populations are out of balance, deficient or over represented? I have also seen huge improvements in hormonal balance and liver detoxification pathways and increased conversion of T4 to T3 with carrot and bamboo shoots.
The first step to improving health is removing stress. Just reducing strenuous exercise alone produces a favourable response in hormonal profiles. It takes time and patience for improvements and consistency. How much carrot at one sitting were you doing and how many times a day? It is what you eat that influences your gut flora. For example, simple sugars, monosaccharides and di-saccharides feed your indigenous e. coli population. E. coli are responsible for the synthesis of folic acid, Vitamin K, essential amino acids, tyrosine, phenyalaline and tryptophan. Prescription medications and supplements cause disturbances and imbalances to our indigenous flora. People are taking probiotics and prebiotics sanctified as being beneficial for gut health. But are they really??? A huge population experiment as far as I am concerned. Overgrowth of lactobacillus is problematic and FOS inhibits E. coli populations. Over representation of lactobacillus leads to metabolic acidosis and neurological dysfunction, depressed conscious state, confusion, aggressive behaviour, slurred speech and ataxia. Bifidobacterium spp. increases passive intestinal permeability to small and large molecules

Thanks for that Ella. It's been about three years but I shredded one carrot and added CO, once a day. Like I said, made no difference. I'm going on 60 and never had digestion problems before Peat, when nature called I answered. But in my family being a little gassy was the norm, and I've always had partially stuffed nose, probably some gut dysregulation there.

Totally agree about the population experiment re probiotics. People seem to think the gut biota dies off every night and they have to renew it every day, or something.

I've thought about a stool analysis but have no confidence in anyone knowing what it meant, and never did it. Your facts are the closest I've ever seen to something concrete and usable. If you have references to more information like that I'd welcome it. (We all would, I'm sure).

Don't you love Giraffe's title for the split thread?!

 

[Jennifer]

Haha! Ella, I'd pride myself on how much of an embarrassment I am to my children. Parents deserve to have fun too! Nothing like watching the kids squirm from mum telling yet another far too candid story. And I can just picture your daughter passed out in a corner from boredom as you, your husband and her boyfriend geek out. Hehe!

I just checked and it looks like the Japanese sweet potatoes require 90-150 days of frost-free weather since it's a tropical. I live in the northern part of the U.S. bordering Canada so I'd have to find a way to keep the ground above 65 degrees F. Lining the beds with black plastic and straw could possibly work?

Hmm...for desserts, you could make them into crepes/pancakes and top them with a fruit compote and whipped cream or you could make a type of sweet potato macaroon if you tolerate coconut. There's also sweet potato soufflé or even sweet potato truffles. They'll need a few tweaks to make them Peat friendly, but here are two truffle recipes I found:

http://www.eatrecyclerepeat.com/2012/08 ... -truffles/

http://www.rickiheller.com/2009/02/swee ... ffle-cups/

That's great that you saw the value in real food and were willing to fight for your belief. Though, I'm sorry you had a breakdown, I'm happy it has brought you to a good place and you're now investing in yourself. It's great to give back, but not to the point of losing ourselves. I come from a long line of people who forsake themselves. I'm trying to break that cycle. I'm glad to hear you have. :)

@Jennifer I also use new potatoes or a variety similar. Mash them and agree maple syrup is a brilliant mix with potatoes. I love Dutch creams probably one of my favourites and bake/mash or use them in soups as well.

Moss, that Roesti dish is an excellent idea! It reminds me of hash browns. For weeks now I've had latkes stuck in my head. I honestly have no clue how I knew what they were. I must of seen them featured back during my Food Network marathoning days. LOL

I tried finding the Dutch Creams online, but I've only come across Australian suppliers. Seafood chowders are popular here in New England so I wanted to try the potatoes in a vegetarian chowder recipe. I've also become addicted to leek soup. I let it simmer till the leeks are melt in your mouth creamy. I've been making mine with white and portabella mushrooms, which add a nice meatiness to it, but I want to try it with the potatoes for something heartier during the winter.

 

[narouz]

Hey Jennifer!
Great to hear from ya!!
So happy you're able to get along with potatoes now.
I see leeks work for you too.
Have you tried any other starches/soluble fiber foods?

 

[tara]

post 107666 I've also become addicted to leek soup. I let it simmer till the leeks are melt in your mouth creamy. I've been making mine with white and portabella mushrooms, which add a nice meatiness to it, but I want to try it with the potatoes for something heartier during the winter.

Hi, Jennifer, nice to hear from you. Yes to leek and potato soup. :)

When I was at school ~40 years ago, and we were studying the Middle Ages, I learned to make a Ladies' Abess Pudding (sp?). I've just been googling for it with various spellings, but only found a bread variant. I guess the Internet hasn't captured the whole of human historical culture. Or maybe that search engine isn't optimised for my interest. :) What I made then was based on mashed potato, with lemon and sugar and I don't remember what else. I'm going to have to see if I can find my old cook-book.

(From the same time, I also made a mean fruementy (sp?), consisting mainly of long slow-boiled whole wheat grains and raisins and spices. )

 

[moss]

post 107666 Moss, that Roesti dish is an excellent idea! It reminds me of hash browns. For weeks now I've had latkes stuck in my head. I honestly have no clue how I knew what they were. I must of seen them featured back during my Food Network marathoning days. LOL

I tried finding the Dutch Creams online, but I've only come across Australian suppliers. Seafood chowders are popular here in New England so I wanted to try the potatoes in a vegetarian chowder recipe. I've also become addicted to leek soup. I let it simmer till the leeks are melt in your mouth creamy. I've been making mine with white and portabella mushrooms, which add a nice meatiness to it, but I want to try it with the potatoes for something heartier during the winter.

If I could, I would hurl a container load of Dutch creams your way.
Love seafood chowder and sounds like you are doing well. Great to hear.

 

[Jennifer]

Hi narouz and tara!

Narouz, I follow a plant-based diet now so I'm eating lots of soluble fiber and starch rich foods. As soon as I dropped the dairy, my body seemed to tolerate fiber without all the previous bloat I suffered so I've taken advantage of it and have gotten creative in the kitchen. You know me, I'm a total foodie! I still avoid PUFAs, but now eat lots of veggies, fruits with or without seeds and gasp...even bananas! I even enjoy starches like rice, French bread and wheat pasta and do just fine with them.

Currently, I'm consuming lots of potatoes, veggie soups, fruit smoothies and oddly enough, dill and sweet pickles. My digestion is perfect now. I no longer get gut pain or bloat and elimination averages 3x a day with stool quality up to Ray's standard. LOL Plus, the last three months, I've gotten my period and on time, all without the use of progest-e. My hormones are finally balancing out on their own.

Tara, I tried googling the Ladies' Abess pudding and up came ladies wrestling in pudding. Umm...no google! That's not what I was looking for!

Anyhow, the dish sounds great and I'd love it if you could post the recipe if you come across it. Lemon and sugar is one of my favorite combinations and I can see that alone giving the potatoes a great flavor. Even the Frumenty sounds tasty. It reminds me of a porridge I make out of Thai sticky rice, raisins, cinnamon, vanilla and maple syrup.

Haha! Thanks, moss! I'll get my pot of water going in the backyard and we can test how good your aim is.

 

[Amazoniac]

post 107827 Hi narouz and tara!

Narouz, I follow a plant-based diet now so I'm eating lots of soluble fiber and starch rich foods. As soon as I dropped the dairy, my body seemed to tolerate fiber without all the previous bloat I suffered so I've taken advantage of it and have gotten creative in the kitchen. You know me, I'm a total foodie! I still avoid PUFAs, but now eat lots of veggies, fruits with or without seeds and gasp...even bananas! I even enjoy starches like rice, French bread and wheat pasta and do just fine with them.

Currently, I'm consuming lots of potatoes, veggie soups, fruit smoothies and oddly enough, dill and sweet pickles. My digestion is perfect now. I no longer get gut pain or bloat and elimination averages 3x a day with stool quality up to Ray's standard. LOL Plus, the last three months, I've gotten my period and on time, all without the use of progest-e. My hormones are finally balancing out on their own.

Tara, I tried googling the Ladies' Abess pudding and up came ladies wrestling in pudding. Umm...no google! That's not what I was looking for!

Anyhow, the dish sounds great and I'd love it if you could post the recipe if you come across it. Lemon and sugar is one of my favorite combinations and I can see that alone giving the potatoes a great flavor. Even the Frumenty sounds tasty. It reminds me of a porridge I make out of Thai sticky rice, raisins, cinnamon, vanilla and maple syrup.

Haha! Thanks, moss! I'll get my pot of water going in the backyard and we can test how good your aim is.

So nice to see you here..
Hope you are doing great!

 

[tara]

post 107827 Currently, I'm consuming lots of potatoes, veggie soups, fruit smoothies and oddly enough, dill and sweet pickles. My digestion is perfect now. I no longer get gut pain or bloat and elimination averages 3x a day with stool quality up to Ray's standard. LOL Plus, the last three months, I've gotten my period and on time, all without the use of progest-e. My hormones are finally balancing out on their own.

Fantastic. :)
If you are managing to get enough protein and calcium and overall calories to not be fading away anymore, sounds like you've got it sorted. So pleased for you.

post 107827 Tara, I tried googling the Ladies' Abess pudding and up came ladies wrestling in pudding. Umm...no google! That's not what I was looking for!

 

[Philomath]

If eating potatoes causes problems, then it is best to drink the potato water. Just the water from boiling the potatoes to death is beneficial due to the antimicrobial peptides which have been shown to be thermostable.

Hmmm... Maybe I'll try making coffee with the potato water

 

[Such_Saturation]

post 107850

If eating potatoes causes problems, then it is best to drink the potato water. Just the water from boiling the potatoes to death is beneficial due to the antimicrobial peptides which have been shown to be thermostable.

Hmmm... Maybe I'll try making coffee with the potato water

Skin or no skin?

 

[Philomath]

No skin. I'll probably try it with the Peat suggested four teaspoons of instant coffee (4x strength).
You won't be able to taste any hint of potato behind that!

 

[Jennifer]

So nice to see you here..
Hope you are doing great!

Hi G!

I'm doing much better, thanks! I hope you're doing great also!

post 107830

post 107827 Currently, I'm consuming lots of potatoes, veggie soups, fruit smoothies and oddly enough, dill and sweet pickles. My digestion is perfect now. I no longer get gut pain or bloat and elimination averages 3x a day with stool quality up to Ray's standard. LOL Plus, the last three months, I've gotten my period and on time, all without the use of progest-e. My hormones are finally balancing out on their own.

Fantastic. :)
If you are managing to get enough protein and calcium and overall calories to not be fading away anymore, sounds like you've got it sorted. So pleased for you.

Thanks, tara! :)

Honestly, I have no idea what my protein and calcium intakes are. I've just been following my cravings and I notice by doing this, I got my appetite back. I knew when I was having to force myself to get in even 1000 calories a day, that as nutritious as milk is, it was doing me no good. I'm now back to getting in at least 2500 calories a day and I look forward to eating again. I still stick to nutritious foods because I care about nourishing myself, but if I get a craving for something less than ideal, I no longer feel guilt from indulging. In fact, I had a piece of strawberry cake the other day and enjoyed every bite of it.

 

[Such_Saturation]

But are these peptides in the skin?

 

[Philomath]

post 107666 When I was at school ~40 years ago, and we were studying the Middle Ages, I learned to make a Ladies' Abess Pudding (sp?). I've just been googling for it with various spellings, but only found a bread variant. I guess the Internet hasn't captured the whole of human historical culture. Or maybe that search engine isn't optimised for my interest. :) What I made then was based on mashed potato, with lemon and sugar and I don't remember what else. I'm going to have to see if I can find my old cook-book.

Found this online in Google Books. It appears to be some historical recipes. The third one down has lemons, eggs and potato's…maybe what you're thinking of?

Here's the link:
https://books.google.com/books?id=BMFCA ... et&f=false

 

[SQu]

post 106756 Tara, keeping it simply is the way to go. If we complicate it too much we never get around to doing anything. I always slice the potatoes thinly and cook them well with plenty of filtered water. I serve mash to the rest of the family and bottle the water and keep in the fridge. Like you, I add it to soups, an other meals. During the day, I just drink it like a tea with plenty of salt and add the gelatin broth with it and it does just fine when I am too busy to have lunch. Luckily my family love plenty of potatoes, so I always have plenty on hand. I am currently collecting all sorts of potato varieties and have just harvested my first lot. Peat says the protein value of potatoe is more than milk and eggs, so I will be growing a ton of them. I won't be able to grow enough the way my family demolish them. Organic potatoes are about $7.50/kg in Australia, so it is a worthwhile pursuit. My temperatures, pulse rate, and % muscle comes up nicely when I am drinking the potato water. I tend to prefer it to OJ as I tend to react to too much OJ but absolutely no issues with potato water. I do what Peat does to get extra Magnesium, cook up a big batch of leafy greens and beet greens and mix the liquid with my potato water. I was so relieved to find out that potato starch is ten times bigger than rice starch. Potato is my go to starch now. In the past, the humble potato was overlooked for more exotic vegetables but now it get centre place on my dinner table.

Hey, it kept those Irish gals fertile and they were extremely tough women having to contend with poverty, a hoard of snotty nose kids hanging around their legs, the moronic Catholic priest putting the fear of god in them, coping a bashing from their drunken husbands, while the priest remindered them to be dutiful and better wives. Thank god for the potato.

Such a simple, brilliant idea. Thank you. The juicing is a chore, uses tons of potatoes, and doesn't even taste great. so i seldom do it. but that has made potatoes (which i love) out of reach for me because i avoid starch because it definitely fattens me. this is a way around that. something to seamlessly incorporate into normal meals as i have done for a few days now, it's working well, is not wasteful, and is a great way to get lots of salt too if you drink it straight. Like broth it absorbs lots without getting too salty.

 

[halken]

Awesome thread.

Coconuts and white potatoes are supreme.

I have decided (with great timing thanks to this thread) to fully integrate the white potato into my diet.

 

[Lilac]

I'm trying the potato cooking water, looking for that weight falling off and muscle definition. :) It tastes OK.

 

[leo]

Looking for weight loss too.

After I boil the potatoes, (small yellowish round potatoes) I store the water in fridge and notice next day that "something' is settling to the bottom....thicker looking liquid below and clear lighter liquid above. Is the lower liquid starch and should it be discarded?

Also, for those who have lost weight.....how much of this liquid did you consume a day? And approximately how much weight loss per week?

Last question....since this is pure protein does it need to be ingested with a carb source? Or just drink straight on empty stomach?

Thank you.

 

[tara]

post 108686 After I boil the potatoes, (small yellowish round potatoes) I store the water in fridge and notice next day that "something' is settling to the bottom....thicker looking liquid below and clear lighter liquid above. Is the lower liquid starch and should it be discarded?

I've noticed the same effect. I assume it is higher starch in the settled stuff. I'm happy to drink that too - and I eat the solid potato too, but if you have reason to avoid starch, I guess you could leave most of this this behind. I'm hoping the protein/keto-acids are throughout the solution, but I don't know. I expect the minerals are dissolved rather than settled.

post 108686 Last question....since this is pure protein does it need to be ingested with a carb source? Or just drink straight on empty stomach?

It's not pure protein, but it may be enough protein to require some carbs with it, if you remove the sediment?