Potatoes, Prozac, sugar, & flour & rice---Oh My?

Not sure if this is in the correct forum...Well, we all know that sugar is like a poison and that any of the "whites" such as white flour, rice, potatoes.....is hard on your body.....but now there is research to show that Potatoes are actually very good for you and will help you sleep...here is why

The potato is simply creating an insulin response, which has an effect on the movement of the amino acid tryptophan from your blood into your brain. Why do we care about that? Because your body uses tryptophan to make serotonin. Serotonin is the brain chemical that makes you feel mellow and happy. It also helps you to "just say no" to sweets and other things by putting the brakes on your impulsivity.

If you find that you are having wild dreams on the nights you have your potato, this is a clue that you have low serotonin. This means you are getting a bigger hit of serotonin than you want right yet. The bigger hit means your levels are very low. You need the serotonin, but it is better to go more slowly. Ease into it and let your brain catch up. Have a smaller potato, or eat just a half or even a third of it. Your body is talking to you. Listen.


www.radiantrecovery.com...

I don't understand why the FDA continues to ok foods so bad for us...but that's another thread that's been done here....

I have already been staying away from all whites....but, as one who is, this morning going on day three of very little sleep ::::yawn::: I am going to try this...I have heard of others that have and say yes, it works.

No Lady V we dont all know that sugar is like a poison. That is news to me. I was allways taught that glucose (sugar) was in fact the fuel for every single biological cellular process of the human body. Isn't that kinda like saying Gasoline is poison to a car?

Potatoes are my main food. I love the darn things. It is a good thing too, because I don't eat/like many other vegetables. During the local growing season I do like the harvest of fresh vegetables to a small degree. I don't care much for pasta either.

My stature is small. 5'2" and carrying about 115 pounds usually. And guess what? I normally consume, all by my piggy self, 20 pounds of potatoes a month!

I do not have any sleeping problems and very, very few bad dream or nightmare episodes. My health is fairly good.

Does this help with this new government "revelation" ?

There's a lot of factors here that aren't being addressed, and one of them is how your body responds to foods. As you age, you process some things less efficiently and the amount of calories you burn drops. This can cause problems.

RAW potatoes are great. They're full of complex carbohydrates and are harder to digest. When you bake them, the carbohydrate chains break down into much easier to digest carbohydrates. This also has the effect of adding more calories to your diet (it takes more energy for your body to digest a complex carbohydrate than a simple carbo. It's not a huge difference, but it is a difference.) Eating simple carbs and leading a sedentary lifestyle (that would be most of America) tends to add a bunch of weight.

And that's not good for you.

Now... if you are borderline diabetic, you may also be in a condition where foods with a "high glycemic index" (simpler carbs) trigger eating binges. That's also not good for you.

So, you see, it's not a simple issue. Most foods in moderation and in a lifestyle that includes exercise are no problem. But social changes have made lifestyle changes in our population... and our diet isn't changing to reflect that shift.

You should eat foods like potatoes in combination -as this does impact how they break down and are absorbed. A plate of just pasta as compared to a dish made with potatoes and meat or vegetables break down differently. I notice that alot when I eat indian food with rice or potatoes cooked in sauces in combination with lots of other vegetables and cheeses...the foods in combination break down much slower and my blood sugars are stable (higher yes) but stable for many many hours. A plate of pasta with sauce will break down and spike your sugar and insulin levels within like 30 minutes and this can indeed trigger binging. Mixing starches with proteins will also slow down the spike and keep your sugar levels more stable for hours.

Potatoes pretty much saved Europe from starvation during the era of Catherine the Great. No food vs. potatoes is a much better option.
P.S. leave potatoes alone! They just want to be your friends.

Originally posted by mwm1331
No Lady V we dont all know that sugar is like a poison. That is news to me. I was allways taught that glucose (sugar) was in fact the fuel for every single biological cellular process of the human body. Isn't that kinda like saying Gasoline is poison to a car?

No.
It's like putting rocket fuel in a gasoline useing car.
Refined sugars are way too concentrated. It's better to eat natural
sugars like in fruit.
The frustose in fruit does'nt give a "direct hit" like dextrose does. It
goes into your system more gradually and does'nt cause so much
of an insulin "spike".

My mother whose really into the low carb thing has told me
about potatoes helping her sleep Lady V. So sometimes she has a
baked potatoe even though she sticks pretty closely to the low carb
most of the time.
And she says that it really does work and helps when she thinks her
potassium level might be low.

[edit on 4-3-2005 by elaine]

Originally posted by mwm1331
No Lady V we dont all know that sugar is like a poison. That is news to me. I was allways taught that glucose (sugar) was in fact the fuel for every single biological cellular process of the human body. Isn't that kinda like saying Gasoline is poison to a car?

I'm not LadyV, but, our bodies make glucose (blood sugar) not only from the sugar (carbohydrates) that we eat, but also from proteins and the breakdown of fat stored on our body. The brain uses ONLY carbs for fuel, but not all that much. www.cerebromente.org.br...

The sugar that is bad for us is refined sugar. Excess carbs are bad for us, too, because they cause us to store them as fat on our bodies. We should all be familiar with the glycemic index/scale that rates carbs for the effect they have on the release of insulin in our bodies. Insulin is like a key to the cells that opens the cells door and lets in the glucose (carbs) that are either used for energy or stored as fat. www.truestarhealth.com...

If many more people ate lo-carb diets we would have less obesity in this country...and that means less diabetes and all of it's many unfortunate effects including heart disease and renal failure. homodiet.netfirms.com...

Lo-carb diets used to be known as ketogenic diets and have been used in history to treat many disorders, including epilepsy. my.webmd.com...
In fact, before the creation of phenobaritol, this was the only treatment known. And it worked well in many cases. Sadly, greediness of the corporate drug companies has changed all that.

And what about the effects on ADD??? Ritalin or lo-carb? www.homeschoolmath.net...

??

is this coincidence.....or what?

a major fast food chain is currently showing the meek timid customer

ordering a baked potato, instead of fries!... he asserts.

the whole fast food place commences to get dis-combobulated
with patrons fainting, chairs tipping...the universal force is awry...

remember the adage--> "there are no coincidences"

No, no, don't say that about rice, I am a rice fanatic served with all meals that is not pasta based or BBQ standbys like burgers when potatoes stand in.

well...if i eat something kinda sugary, say like a bowl of frosted flakes before i go to bed i sleep pretty good. if i dont eat something sugary before bed i wake up and i have low bloodsugar and im grumpy

i like those food companies that change the food dna to suit there own needs.yummy food good for you and your children when they grow a thrid arm lol.some places dont every use sugar.Indigenous to Central and South America, potatoes were probably first domesticated in Chile. They were discovered by Europeans when Pizarro destroyed the Incan empire in Peru and were brought back to Europe around 1570. From Spain they moved to England and Ireland it's said that Sir Walter Raleigh introduced them in 1586, but they were popular by 1610

Calories 100
Calories from Fat 0
Total Fat 0g 0%
Saturated Fat 0g 0%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 0mg 0%
Total Carbohydrate 26g 9%
Dietary Fibre 3g 12%
Sugars 3g
Protein 4g
Vitamin A 0%
Vitamin C 45%
Calcium 2%
Iron 6%

eat your spuds there good for ya mmmmm.

I like potatoes, rice and pasta. I like Minnesota wild rice the best, though most people think it's nasty. I'm also hypoglycemic and when I don't have enough sugar I get shaky,cranky, and pass out.

SO I guess in my case it's Lithium not Prozac ,potatoes,rice and pasta oh my.

[edit on 4-3-2005 by Veltro]

I have eaten very few of the white foods for the last two years. I lost over 25 pounds, and kept it off. If I exercised regularly, I'd lose more I'm sure.
I eat whold grain granola that I make myself to limit the amount of sugar in it or a homemade whole grain hot cereal. The granola I make is wonderful and even the dog enjoys it. (She doesn't eat highly processed dog food. Even dogs get diabetes these days ;( )
I use a little sugar, but not many processed sweets. I'm not a fan of the substitute sugars, either. I use some molasses and honey, though. HFCS, high fructose corn syrup, is verrry evil and is in many, many foods, including those not sweet.
I have greatly increased my intake of fiber.

Not only have I lost weight, but I sleep better and don't fall asleep after lunch. Very few days do I get really hungry anymore. I have better energy. I don't crave candy or other carby foods any more. I attribute these things to a more even levels of insulin in my system.
Those insulin spikes are very hard on our bodies.

Lady V, good luck on your new eating plan

Originally posted by LadyV
I don't understand why the FDA continues to ok foods so bad for us...but that's another thread that's been done here....

Lady V, I'm putting my libertarian hat on for this reply
Do we really want the FDA and the USDA telling us what we should and shouldn't eat? It seems we have too many rules and regulations already. Those two groups also are puppets of big lobbyists and can't be counted on to have our best interest at heart.

Here's my thread about a group trying to get salt regulated:
www.abovetopsecret.com...

MMM, sliced RAW potatoes with salt. Nice little treat. I guess raw potatoes are good for you? Part of the problem with food is that the wholesomeness is taken and processed it out, and wierd things get added to it that hurt us. Crazy things like MSG get added, I saw another big name product today with MSG, Pringles. Flour gets bleached, hearing the word bleached sends off a warning signal to me. What the crap is so important about pastey white bread to people, with it's fiber stripped from it? Because it's pretty? How about I put some pretty bows on a box of rat poison, and shape the pellets into hot dogs, does the rat poison suddenly become good for me? It's pretty, so it must be good for me? Some white bread can be disgusting and tasteless once you go whole grain. I realized how pathetic some of this white bread was the other day. Maybe it was just a cheap brand. I told my mom it was tasteless, but she didn't see it that way?

Troy

Society has been programmed to desire "white bread". years of Advertising promoting the "white bread" as an important necessity has brain washed society. Why did they do this? Because its like cutting coc aine with baking powder, more profit per pound of "AIR" and sugar, which white bread is mostly.

You people eat raw potatoes? I was always taught that raw or undercooked potatoes are poisonous.

Also since so many chemical, even radioactive fertilizers are used by commercial growers, I would suspect a root such as potato to be the most likely candidate for dangerous food.


As for the post mentioning pringles. read the label on that stuff..its like 99% chemicals, its like they might "salt" the chemical chip with powdered potato just to say the thing is a potato chip.
They sure taste good....but you can bet cash money that those things are poison sold as food.

Pringles do taste good, but I've been trying to weed the crud out of my diet, so good buy tastey poisonous chip. I'm a bit upset over the fact that I can't buy any type of sandwich meat of any type, be it ham, turkey, or chicken, without it having nitrates or nitrites in it. And some get the Label "Healthy Choice", but turn it around to the ingredients, Nitrites or Nitrates printed plainly, whichever one. I'm guessing there could be a company which makes sandwich slices which aren't infected with Nitrites, but I have yet to see it a Wal-Mart.

I wonder sometimes are some people who work in food companies and/or additive companies trying to kill us with additives? Obviously not all of the plant workers would be involved, they are many times likely just there making their pay. I mean is there some sort of person(s) in charge who doesn't give a crap, or has bad intentions toward it's customers. Or are they just irresponsible? What is it? I mean if I personally were to create a food line, I wouldn't fill it full of junk, the guilt would consume me, or I would just become numb to my emotions.

Troy

We have drugs alcohol terrible food additive, genetic engineering, tobacco, psychiatry, RF radiation, cell phone towers etc etc, and don’t’ you find it interesting that the media wants to direct our attention to how potatoes are supposedly bad for you which are a NATURAL food UNLIKE the synthetic poisons, but they would have us believe potatoes are our mot immediate concern! Next week it will be eggs or advocate or bananas etc, don’t believe the hype stick with what is natural and stand against what is synthetic man made poisons.

Natural who sugar is not harmful however the processed sugar in the mainstream grocery stored go through a chemical process and with the tobacco industry owning Kraft foods etc there is no telling what else they add to sugar!



[edit on 9-3-2006 by PowerToThePeople]

One of the really odd things, is some folks will look at you funny or view you as strange if you try to eat right? It's like the vision of what is good is twisted, so garbage stuffed junk is the "cool" thing. People in my own family will fight me if I bring up diet soda as being bad, like diet soda is their best friend in life or something.

Troy