Friday, May 16, 2008

The Potato Temptation


A few years ago, a friend sent me a diet book, one of those "beware of carbohydrate" ones.
I read through it but never really tried their diet. It was when I was still a vegetarian, making a low carb diet extremely difficult.
One thing that surprised me was their ranking of various carbohydrate foods. Pasta rated much safer than potatoes. I don't remember exactly why and can't find the book, but recently I have discovered that potatoes can be very "dangerous." When I make myself a vegetable omelet sans potatoes, just onion and squash, I feel satisfied. But when I add a potato to the vegetables, I find myself uncontrollably starving for more potatoes and then I cook up a whole bunch, eating and eating until the craving is satisfied.

6 comments:

Leora said...

For many of us, potatoes are fine. But potatoes can be dangerous for diabetics, or almost diabetics. I think they convert to sugar quickly. I found this:
baked potatoes and Glycemic Index
I'll keep a look out for potato info, and maybe I'll do a blog post.

Shabbat Shalom.

Batya said...

leora, thanks
I guess that's what the book had concentrated on, the time it takes for the carb to convert to sugar. I rarely eat potatoes, but when I do, I can easily lose control.

Leora said...

I asked my friend who manages her diabetes with diet if she eats potatoes. She said she does, but in moderation, not a lot, and always with other food.

She doesn't eat grains at all anymore (white flour is especially bad, but she can't even eat whole grains). So in comparison, potatoes aren't a big deal.

Batya said...

thanks
What? No grains. Maybe she also has a celiac condition.

Leora said...

Maybe she also has a celiac condition
No, that's a different friend. My friend that has a celiac-related condition can't eat any potatoes at all.

My friend the diabetic is on a strict diet. She's good at monitoring her own sugar. She found that soy oil raises her sugar a lot, but olive oil is OK for her.

Important to know one's own body. We are all unique!

Batya said...

So true. We are our best doctor just by learning how our body reacts to things.