Starch - The Delicious Devil

[GreekDemiGod]

Starch - Can't live with it, can't live without it.

Whoever said these words on this forum...were wise words.

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

Starch - Can't live with it, can't live without it.

Whoever said these words on this forum...were wise words.

Right?!!

 

[Philomath]

"Volkheimer found that mice fed raw starch aged at an abnormally fast rate, and when he dissected the starch-fed mice, he found a multitude of starch-grain-blocked arterioles in every organ, each of which caused the death of the cells that depended on the blood supplied by that arteriole. It isn’t hard to see how this would affect the functions of organs such as the brain and heart, even without considering the immunological and other implications of the presence of foreign particles randomly distributed through the tissue."
Ray Peat

I see and hear the "starch vs sugar" debate all the time on this forum, but after reading this quote from Ray Peat, what argument is there? Grains are proven to be one of several causes of Alzheimers. I know is true in my own father's case. It is called "grain brain". My father is a normal healthy person until he eats grains. After he eats a meal, with wheat particularly, he goes into a trance, where he won't talk much for several days and can't remember much of anything.

There is another book I read a few years back written by top cardiologist, Dr. Davis, and is titled "Wheat Belly". It not only makes a convincing case for why everyone is fat, but he also states that it is the number one reason for heart disease. This prompted me to go Paleo right away. Our modern wheat, he calls "Frankenwheat", because it is altered to a destructive monsterous state. It affects the opioid part of the brain, the same as drugs, causing a vicious cycle of unhealthy and unstoppable cravings. He goes so far as to say that our modern wheat is unsuitable for human consumption. From a "Peaty' perspective it is a book worth reading and will make those sweet little cupcakes look like frosted covered demons.

What happened to mankind that we have come so far from valuing food for how it strengthens us, like liver and heart, to choosing foods that we know are going to make us slow, ill and fat? I am not excluding myself from the latter. I justify a good bowl of pasta, by saying it is made with a better wheat from Italy and "look at all the protein I am getting". I know better, but yet I make the weaker choice too. I summize we make less optimal choices because nothing is really expected from our bodies anymore. Tribal hunters NEED to be strong and WANT to prove they are SUPERIOR. They need to be FAST and sustain ENERGY. Their eating optimally meant getting the next meal. Nowaday a meal is there without much effort. We can AFFORD to make LESS optimal choices because we TAKE our health for granted and value INDULGENCES more, never thinking of the COST. Look at the key words in the two different ways of eating.

In my youth when I saw a lot of life ahead of me I chose the "Live To Eat" stance, now that my youth is many years behind me I have changed my mind and now want to "Eat To Live". I just don't see the fun in ruining my health anymore.

I read “Wheat Belly” while on vacation in September. I have not eaten wheat or starch for nearly 2 months. I was more struck by the fact scientists have genetically modified the wheat without testing its effects on humans! It’s clear that wheat is a triple threat... genetically modified, iron fortified and starchy.
Btw, I’ve shed maybe an inch or two and 7lbs along the way.

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

I read “Wheat Belly” while on vacation in September. I have not eaten wheat or starch for nearly 2 months. I was more struck by the fact scientists have genetically modified the wheat without testing its effects on humans! It’s clear that wheat is a triple threat... genetically modified, iron fortified and starchy.
Btw, I’ve shed maybe an inch or two and 7lbs along the way.

Wow! You really commit yourself to trying new things! I appreciate you giving the book a chance. It really changed how I look at wheat too. Interestingly, on your GMO point, I had been using MCT oil for removing my "growths" and documenting them on my thread, and after I had removed 3 of them, I ran out of my oil and Costco didn't carry it anymore, so I replaced it with two others and they weren't working as effectively as the first one. So I finally found my original oil again and compared what the difference might be, and the original one said "non GMO coconuts" while the other one just said coconuts. The original one is doing the job quickly again dissolving those growths. GMO's foods are NOT the same as non-GMO. It is freaky to think what all this GMO stuff is doing to us. Congratulations on your weight loss and willpower! I can't wait to hear what you have to say next, it is always something good :)

 

[Philomath]

We also must take into account the options available for people, considering their metabolic state. I agree with you that when ripe fruit is available, and when a person tolerates liquids well and can drink OJ, these foods are healthier and more beneficial than starches. But people like me, with low metabolisms, cannot tolerate large amounts of juice, and the blood sugar issues from high OJ diets cause more problems than digestible starches do. Relying on OJ as a staple carb source can cause worse health problems in some people, than a diet that includes OJ and starch too.

Also, we must remember that many unripe fruits, like melons for example, contain starch, so by eating raw unripe fruit you're actually consuming uncooked starch, potentially more harmful than well cooked potatoes or masa.

I also found it interesting that when asked on this ORN interview (at 00:44:30) what three foods he would bring with him on a desert island, Peat said "cheese, tortillas, and oranges." Masa then must not be so bad.


View: https://youtu.be/HWBqzz3lguo

I wonder if the ground particle size is what matters? Some masa harina is powder-like, while others are more coarse.

 

[Philomath]

Wow! You really commit yourself to trying new things! I appreciate you giving the book a chance. It really changed how I look at wheat too. Interestingly, on your GMO point, I had been using MCT oil for removing my "growths" and documenting them on my thread, and after I had removed 3 of them, I ran out of my oil and Costco didn't carry it anymore, so I replaced it with two others and they weren't working as effectively as the first one. So I finally found my original oil again and compared what the difference might be, and the original one said "non GMO coconuts" while the other one just said coconuts. The original one is doing the job quickly again dissolving those growths. GMO's foods are NOT the same as non-GMO. It is freaky to think what all this GMO stuff is doing to us. Congratulations on your weight loss and willpower! I can't wait to hear what you have to say next, it is always something good :)

Thank you! I did make some corn muffins with Einkorn flour over the weekend (chili cook-off). I have a lot of Einkorn around the house from pre-wheat belly.
I’ve been making tortillas from scratch, but my goal is to make soda bread with masa harina (and maybe rice flour or sprouted wheat because I don’t think masa on its own will work). I’d also like to make sour-dough einkorn bread, but that’s hard work for something that may ultimately be “less bad”

I do miss bread, but mostly because I need something to mop up my egg yolks!

Big picture though, if I can learn to avoid flour and starch all-together, I’ll probably be better off.

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

Thank you! I did make some corn muffins with Einkorn flour over the weekend (chili cook-off). I have a lot of Einkorn around the house from pre-wheat belly.
I’ve been making tortillas from scratch, but my goal is to make soda bread with masa harina (and maybe rice flour or sprouted wheat because I don’t think masa on its own will work). I’d also like to make sour-dough einkorn bread, but that’s hard work for something that may ultimately be “less bad”

I do miss bread, but mostly because I need something to mop up my egg yolks!

Big picture though, if I can learn to avoid flour and starch all-together, I’ll probably be better off.

I stay away from grains and potatoes for the most part, but when I do make something I use the Jovial Einkorn too. I have had a small bag that has lasted me more than 8 months now. I use sprouted oat flour or masa harina once in a while for baking, and lately I have found sprouted brown rice and sprouted brown rice cereal to be a good fill in once in a while. RP says the sprouting becomes more of a plant and not an "anti-nutrient"grain. I would be interested to hear how your sourdough with Einkorn turns out. Did you enter a chili in the "cook-off"?

 

[Philomath]

I stay away from grains and potatoes for the most part, but when I do make something I use the Jovial Einkorn too. I have had a small bag that has lasted me more than 8 months now. I use sprouted oat flour or masa harina once in a while for baking, and lately I have found sprouted brown rice and sprouted brown rice cereal to be a good fill in once in a while. RP says the sprouting becomes more of a plant and not an "anti-nutrient"grain. I would be interested to hear how your sourdough with Einkorn turns out. Did you enter a chili in the "cook-off"?

I entered with this Mexican Cowboy Chili. I liked it a lot but had to make my own adobo sauce since every can on the shelf was loaded with seed oils?

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

I entered with this Mexican Cowboy Chili. I liked it a lot but had to make my own adobo sauce since every can on the shelf was loaded with seed oils?

I admire your tenacity!

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

I Have Started And Stopped Starch Like 50 Times And The End Result Is Always The Same

Every damn time i ditch the starch (potatoes, white rice) my well-being improves in every aspect. I once again noticed this and it surprises me every time but i quess i'll never learn. For few months i was eating potatoes daily ranging from 500-1000g. For one day i ditched them and next day is...

raypeatforum.com

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

CLEAR VISION AFTER QUITTING STARCH FOR 2 DAYS

My vision is so clear right now, all I did was stop eating starch for 2 days (this is my second day) and I'm shocked, is this how great life feels from simply eating only fruit as carbs? It wasn't this clear in the morning but towards the afternoon of the second day (which is today) I feel so...

raypeatforum.com

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

Autism cured when quitting starch?

So I've been diagnosed with a mild form of autism a couple years ago, something that really interests me is that almost all my autism symptoms are gone as soon as I cut out starches. Like any diet I've ever done that had no starch, the keto diet, the carnivore diet and now the meat and fruit...

raypeatforum.com

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

"Most diets are promoted for a single purpose, such as weight loss or heart protection, and usually they don't work even for a limited purpose. If a diet allows you to adapt to varied activities with a minimum of stress, it will help you to avoid many serious problems. Years ago, a retired dentist studied healthy people and their diets around the world, and found that many different diets supported good health, but when they began eating the "western" diet, based on grains, they quickly developed all the degenerative diseases. There are some simple biochemical reasons for avoiding grains and beans, that I have discussed in more detail elsewhere. Plants put their most effective poisons into their seeds to protect their progeny. These toxins block digestive enzymes, lowering the food value of the material, but they also poison many other physiological processes - hormone production, immunity, and brain development, for example. People who are accustomed to eating wheat shaped into dozens of foods that differ only in appearance and flavor sometimes say "there's nothing left to eat" if they eliminate grains, or stop relying on them for their main source of calories. If we restrict ourselves mainly to animal proteins and low starch fruits, we avoid the nutrient poor foods, and still have an almost infinite variety of very pleasant foods. These foods are generally so rich in nutrients that a person could choose just a few of them, and be assured of an abundance of vitamins, minerals, and proteins." -Ray Peat

A LOGICAL DIET - Ray Peat

"Most diets are promoted for a single purpose, such as weight loss or heart protection, and usually they don't work even for a limited purpose. If a diet allows you to adapt to varied activities with a minimum of stress, it will help you to avoid many serious problems. Years ago, a retired...

raypeatforum.com

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

This clip with Ray Peat talking about what his daily and weekly diet consists of does not include starches, not a one. He is like me happy to have a SPLURGE of buttered yeastless sourdough or masa tortillas fried in coconut oil once in a while. I like my masa tortillas fried in ghee it's the ??


View: https://youtu.be/iSlgnvswjdU

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

Here is what sprouted oats and short and long grain rice looks like. It looks and tastes like unsprouted, but because the the soaking process of the grain has shed it's toxic starchy outer protective shell, it's nutrients are accessible and it digests and feels better too.

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

View: https://youtu.be/oK5zPpc_my0

 

[SamYo123]

View: https://youtu.be/oK5zPpc_my0

What would/does it mean if my stomache is more flat after starch but cause gas later, where as say I drink milk it protrudes my stomache, for a bit but no gas later...

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

What would/does it mean if my stomache is more flat after starch but cause gas later, where as say I drink milk it protrudes my stomache, for a bit but no gas later...

Gas is a bad sign and so is bloating.

 

[SamYo123]

Gas is a bad sign and so is bloating.

Yeh... gas from eggs too... no bloat from those tho

How is possible to have no bloat but gas with 1 food, and bloat and no gas with another?

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

Yeh... gas from eggs too... no bloat from those tho

How is possible to have no bloat but gas with 1 food, and bloat and no gas with another?

That is a good question. I would imagine bloat is either a histamine or inflammation issue while gas would be a bacterial "feeding" issue. It is just a guess though.