Thoughts On Starch

[narouz]

its like when I tell people im a master chef, theyd expect me to cook like ornate dishes with tons of spices and stuff...i'd serve them ripe fruit and milk hahah or like, potatoes boiled properly without burning and milk in it

theres an intelligence in efficiency, and a HUGE net benefit not only for the body and mind, but time and energy

pboy-
I'm gonna have to ask you about this phrase:
"...potatoes boiled properly without burning and milk in it..."

I think you may be withholding a Peat potato secret... :)

 

[Vita3]

I think cooking peeled potatoes with enough water and minimum for 40 min.then you remove the water, add some salt and milk to it :)
Cooking for too long is not practical, because they will break in pieces in the water, messy really.
I made once, and I didn't like the taste(watery).

 

[narouz]

With this milk thing and potatoes:
I've added cream when making mashed potates.
Is that what you guys are talking about?

 

[tara]

My boy insists on both milk and butter.
I bet cream tastes good too. :)

 

[pboy]

haha, its no secret. I haven't cooked a potato in ages, but theres techniques I learned when I used to cook more things. If youre attentive you can avoid having to add any oil, and the cleanup will be near nothing, just water and one wipe of the hand and its done. Basically add whatever youre cooking, it could not even be starch, to a pot, add enough water to cover and then some, as much as you want really...start boiling it, with the lid on...check it periodically, then when it seems nearly done, take the lid off and let the water start evaporating out. This is better than draining cause not only do you not lose nutrients, more flavor stays in. It takes more skill, but if you want the best results its the best way...then as the water gets low...just low enough to where its still fluid, like you can move everything around with a spoon still and nothing sticks to the bottom, turn it down of off, cover it, let it go another couple minutes, th en take it off the burner. You retain everything and if you do it just right nothing will stick and it also wont be watery, it will just be slippery. If you have a refined palate, youll notice that anything that burns, even if it doesn't stick...if it dehydrates at all...when you chew it, it has an effect of blockin salivary secretion, its kidn of a gummy feel...and im sure that carries farther into the GI, the blocking secretions. If you cook it where its still slippery, the starch will like burst in your mouth and saliva will be easy. Its much lighter on digestion that way. And then you can add whatever you want at the end but you don't have to add anything if you don't want.

having said all this...even perfectly cooked potato/sweet potato cause a little to a lot of gas, so I just prefer not to eat them, but the best thing about cooking it that way is that the cleanup is like instant, and also...its slipperiness carries to the it coming out the next day!

and I always peel the roots well, even like...a centimeter under the peel just to be sure

 

[tara]

Another way to cook potatoes really thoroughly without losing nutrients to waste water is to boil the spuds in a soup or stew. Eg peel and cube potatoes, add to oxtail soup, irish stew, etc, and boil for at least 40 mins. If it gets mushy in this context, it just thickens the soup or stew, and you still get to eat all the leached minerals and protein.

 

[narouz]

"So let it be written; so let it be done."

 

[tara]

"So let it be written; so let it be done."

But only if you like it, and can be bothered cooking it, and the starch doesn't mess you up too much. :)
Marcar posted a related recipe with beef mince, I think.

 

[dd99]

Thanks for the great cooking tip, pboy, I'll try it out. Just one question. When you say

...turn it down of off, cover it, let it go another couple minutes, th en take it off the burner.

Do you mean turn off the heat completely our just turn it down to the lowest setting?

 

[Such_Saturation]

When you cook pasta you can go down to almost half of the cooking time (the latter half, that is) with no flame and get outstanding results. The starch is so much better preserved and al dente is easy to achieve. Of course you wouldn't want that though.

 

[barbwirehouse]

Fructose malabsorption?: I have wondered whether the possible fructose malabsorption issue might contribute to starch cravings and a feeling of lacking satiety without at least a little starch. I've read but not verified that fructose is most easily absorbed with an equal amount of glucose, which is what you get from sucrose and some fruits. I'm not sure if the theory says this aplies to everyone or just some people. If you drink a lot of juice from apples and pears etc, and honey, you could get quite a bit more fructose than glucose. So I speculate that maybe for some people a problem with high fructose to glucose ratio can be easily solved by eating a little starch to redress the balance. So for some people, sensing this might result in a rational craving for starch.

Thoughts on satiety: Before reading and trying some of Peat's ideas, I was convinced that sugar was harmful, and I didn't eat much of it. I probably wouldn't have distinguished a full belly from satiety. Especially while pregnant and breastfeeding, I tried to always have food in my stomach to prevent morning sickness (at any time of day).
Now that I drink a lot of my calories, go for easier to digest food, and the solids I eat are higher calorie density, I am often satisfied (not hungry) without being full. It took a while to get used to this, and during the transition I think I was sometimes eating more starch than I needed because I felt like I needed it to be full.
G Olwyn refers to people sometimes feeling full and hungry at the same time during recovery from anorexia etc, while their energy needs are very high (sometimes many thousands of calories a day for a period) but their depleted digestive tract is nowhere near up to processing the food that fast - it's full and sluggish, while the cells are still needing more fuel.

Great post Tara, ever since switching to a Peat diet I've certainly had more energy and the food has been easy to get down, unlike high satiety starches and what we're told is healthy and should be eating. I'm certainly not fat either.

 

[johnwester130]

It seems hard for me to answer... I eat to satiety... I mean there's more to satiety than just expanding the stomach.

a starch in coconut oil is safe though ?

like bread, potatoes etc.