This is a great article on “White Food” by Mike Geary, he is a Certified Nutrition Specialist and a Certified Personal Trainer. I have found his articles and ebooks to be very helpful in my training for the 800 meter run. You can read more about my project at the Billion Dollar Charity Run.� I have found that Mike takes a Holistic approach to health and I like that.

Potatoes, Glycemic Index, and “White Foods” – Friend or Foe for a Lean-Body?

by Mike Geary

I’d like to start a little discussion today about carbohydrates… and in particular, “white foods” as well as potatoes. One reason I wanted to mention this is because so many health and fitness professionals trash talk potatoes about being a bad carbohydrate choice because of the high glycemic index. Some even say such ridiculous things as “avoid any and all white carbohydrates”.

Ok, now while I certainly agree that white bread and refined white sugar are two of the worst things we can be feeding our bodies, I definately don’t agree with avoiding any and all “white carbohydrates”. Now I know all of the buzz lately has been about colorful foods and the protective antioxidants that they contain. They tell you to focus on colors and stay away from white.

It’s true that colorful foods are great, but it is a big mistake to specifically avoid white foods! There are plenty of white foods that have specific nutrients that are hard to find elsewhere. Let’s look at a few examples…

Onions & Garlic

What about onions and garlic? They are both white and they are chock full of protective phytonutrients, vitamins, and trace minerals that aren’t easy to find elsewhere in a normal diet… such nutrients as allicin, quercetin (an important flavonoid), chromium, and other unique buy cheap Daily Best Chews Dogs online anti-inflammatory nutrients.

Cauliflower

Another example of something white that is great for you is cauliflower. Cauliflower is loaded with vitamin C, fiber, minerals, and special compounds such as glucosinolates and thiocyanates, which are specifically abundant in cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage. And a little-known fact is that some of the compounds in cruciferous vegetables help to combat other estrogenic compounds in our food supply and environment and can help prevent excess belly fat. So eat up on that cauliflower!

Mushrooms

Not many people realize this, but surprisingly, even white mushrooms have high levels of unique nutrients and antioxidants. White mushrooms are high in a couple types of antioxidants called polyphenols and ergothioneine.

Potatoes

Now that also leads us to another example – white potatoes (which by the way, can also be found in red, yellow, purple varieties, etc). Many health professionals claim that potatoes are a bad carbohydrate because they are thought to have a high glycemic index. First of all, if you’ve read my Truth about Six Pack Abs book, then you understand that glycemic index is not necessarily the most important factor in choosing your carbohydrates.

While a generalization can be made that most low glycemic index carbohydrate choices will help you lose body fat easier than high glycemic index choices, it is not all that it’s cracked up to be. There are many other factors that determine how your body will react-to and process the carbohydrates you ingest, such as glycemic load and also how you combine the high GI food with other foods.

For example, using glycemic load as an example… it is known that watermelon has a high glycemic index. However, the glycemic load of a normal serving of watermelon is just way too low for your body to start packing on body fat just because you ate a high glycemic index fruit. You would have to eat such an enormous quantity of watermelon just to get enough grams of carbohydrates to have any negative glycemic effect, that it is just non-sensical.

Not to mention that watermelon is also a great source of vitamins, minerals, and lycopene. There’s just no reason to avoid it simply because it has a high GI. My point is… candy bars, cupcakes, and donuts make you fat… NOT watermelons, carrots or potatoes.

Also, as i mentioned, food combinations are important in how your body processes the carbohydrates and the associated blood sugar and insulin response you receive. For example, if you mix a high glycemic index carbohydrate with an extra source of fiber, healthy fats, or even certain proteins, many times the blood sugar and glycemic response will be slowed down considerably by the way you combined the food. Again, I talk in detail about this entire topic in my Truth about Six Pack Abs book

Alright, so back to my point that white potatoes are actually a healthy carbohydrate as long as you eat them in the right form… with the entire skin, and please don’t ruin them by deep frying them into french fries either! French fries are one of the most evil things ever invented for your health, but only because we ruin them by soaking them in a scorching bath of trans fats in the deep fryer from the hydrogenated oils that are typically used.

Keep in mind that potatoes contain so many vitamins and minerals that the list is way too long to even try. Also, as long as you eat the skins, you get a decent shot of fiber too.

On the topic of potatoes not being so bad after all, I don’t remember where I saw this referenced, but I recently saw a particular study that had participants eat something like 7-9 whole potatoes per day for several weeks.

At the conclusion of the study, the potato eaters had actually consistently lost weight! I’d venture a guess that the reason the people lost weight is that they were probably so full from eating all of those damn potatoes, that they actually consumed less calories than normal! An average sized potato only has about 100-120 calories, and I can surely imagine you’d be full constantly from eating 7-9 potatoes each day.

Now I would never recommend going to those extremes, but my point is that an occasional potato is not going to hurt your efforts to get lean, especially if you combine it with some other fibrous vegetables and maybe a healthy fat and some protein. On that note, I have one of my favorite recipes for you, using potatoes.

Geary’s Lean-Body Potato Side Dish

* Desired quantity of baby potatoes (I like to use this mixture I found recently at a health food store… it is a mixture of white, red, yellow, and purple baby potatoes)
* 1 red pepper
* 1 green pepper
* 1 yellow pepper
* 1 or 2 onions
* a couple cloves of garlic, finely chopped
* 1 or 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
* a little salt and pepper to taste (I like using a sea salt instead of normal commercial salt)

Cut the baby potatoes into slightly smaller pieces and place in a steamer until soft all the way through. Slice up the peppers and onions into strips and add with the chopped garlic into a pan with the olive oil. Cook the peppers, onions, and garlic until tender, and then add the steamed baby potatoes. Stir it all together and serve. This is a delicious and healthy side dish that goes great with chicken or red meat.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this little topic today about potatoes, healthy carbohydrates, glycemic index, and Mike’s killer potato recipe idea!

If you enjoyed this article today, I think you will enjoy these two articles by Mike, “Does Diet Soda Make You Fat?” and “The Extreme Health Dangers of Excess Abdominal Fat“.

To your training success,

Duane Spears

Insanity: Change your body, Change your life. A six step system to earn money while working from home Your personal trainer, Tony Horton's P90X

PS My first career was with Los Angeles Police Departemt. I was a motorcycle officer. My second career was in Real Estate as a Realtor and a Mortgage Broker with my own office in Oxnard, CA .

I realized with those two careers I was missing something. When I didn't work I didn't get paid. Now that actually is fair, but I wanted more. I wanted to work once and get paid for it many times over. You know, like a singer or song writer. Which I'm neither.

That put me on the search for a way I could earn residual income. After much trial and error, I finally found something. I now own a network marketing business in the field of health and wellness, which provides me with the time freedom to do what I want with my time. Whether it be to train for an Ironman or help my nephew when he needs help with his business. The products give me, at age 68, the added strength and stamina to train or work at construction, if I choose.

This could be something that would work for you. I prepared my busines website to help you determine if you have any interest in working with me. I'm always interested in helping people who want more from life and are willing to work for it. Please click here to visit my business website. After you have visited my business website and you would like to talk with me simply send me an email. You can click "contact me" to send me a message.

Stephen Daniells writes on the website nutraingredients.com buy cheap Daily Best Chews Cats online that the Mediterranean diet, vegetables and nuts comes out on top for heart health. I believe you will enjoy and find his article informative. It is time we all took better care of our hearts. Olive oil is essential to the Mediterranean diet and to be healthy, strong, and energetic throughout our lives, our bodies require a broad range of essential vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and other micronutrients. The USANA’S Mega Antioxidant contains USANA’s patented Olivol® olive-fruit extract, an ingredient that cannot be found in any competitor’s multivitamin/mineral formula..

The Mediterranean diet, rich in omega-3 fatty acids, and vitamins C, E and folate, is the only dietary pattern associated with a lower risk for heart disease, says a new review.

According to findings published in this week’s Archives of Internal Medicine, modest relationships were found supporting omega-3 fatty acids, folate, whole grains, alcohol, fruits, fibre and dietary vitamins E and C and beta carotene, for reductions in the risk of heart disease.

On the other hand, trans-fatty acids and foods with a high glycemic index (GI) were associated with detrimental effects on heart health, wrote the researchers, led by Andrew Mente, from the Population Health Research Institute.

“Although investigations of dietary components may help to shed light on mechanisms behind the benefits of dietary patterns, it is unlikely that modifying the intake of a few nutrients or foods would substantially influence coronary outcomes,” wrote the researchers.

“Our findings support the strategy of investigating dietary patterns in cohort studies and randomized controlled trials for common and complex chronic diseases such as coronary heart disease.”

The review supports the Mediterranean diet pattern, rich in cereals, wine, fruits, nuts, legumes and whole grains, fish and olive oil, and low in dairy, meat, junk food and fat. The dietary pattern has been linked to longer life, less heart disease, and protection against some cancers. The diet’s main nutritional components include beta-carotene, vitamin C, tocopherols, polyphenols, and essential minerals.

Study details

Mente and his co-workers conducted a systematic review of 146 prospective cohort studies and 43 randomised controlled trials published between 1950 and 2007.

The data was pooled and a predefined algorithm applied. “We identified strong evidence of a causal relationship for protective factors, including intake of vegetables, nuts and monounsaturated fatty acids and Mediterranean, prudent and high-quality dietary patterns, and harmful factors, including intake of trans-fatty acids and foods with a high glycemic index or load and a western dietary pattern,” they wrote.

“Among these dietary exposures, however, only a Mediterranean dietary pattern has been studied in randomized controlled trials and significantly associated with coronary heart disease.”

Modest relationships were also observed linking reduced risk of heart disease and fish, omega-3 fatty acids from marine sources, folate, whole grains, alcohol, fruits, fibre and dietary vitamins E and C and beta carotene, report the researchers.

Weak evidence also a protective role for supplemental vitamin E and vitamin C, saturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids and total fats, alpha-linoleic acid (ALA), meat, eggs and milk.

“The modest or weak evidence of these dietary exposures is mostly consistent with the findings of randomized controlled trials, although randomized controlled trials have yet to be conducted for several factors,” wrote the authors.

“Taken together, these findings support a causal relationship between only a few dietary exposures and coronary heart disease, whereas the evidence for most individual nutrients or foods is too modest to be conclusive.”

Source: Archives of Internal Medicine
13 April 2009, Volume 169, Number 7, Pages 659-669
“A Systematic Review of the Evidence Supporting a Causal Link Between Dietary Factors and Coronary Heart Disease”
Authors: A. Mente, L. de Koning, H.S. Shannon, S.S. Anand

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To your training success,

Duane Spears

Insanity: Change your body, Change your life. A six step system to earn money while working from home Your personal trainer, Tony Horton's P90X

PS My first career was with Los Angeles Police Departemt. I was a motorcycle officer. My second career was in Real Estate as a Realtor and a Mortgage Broker with my own office in Oxnard, CA .

I realized with those two careers I was missing something. When I didn't work I didn't get paid. Now that actually is fair, but I wanted more. I wanted to work once and get paid for it many times over. You know, like a singer or song writer. Which I'm neither.

That put me on the search for a way I could earn residual income. After much trial and error, I finally found something. I now own a network marketing business in the field of health and wellness, which provides me with the time freedom to do what I want with my time. Whether it be to train for an Ironman or help my nephew when he needs help with his business. The products give me, at age 68, the added strength and stamina to train or work at construction, if I choose.

This could be something that would work for you. I prepared my busines website to help you determine if you have any interest in working with me. I'm always interested in helping people who want more from life and are willing to work for it. Please click here to visit my business website. After you have visited my business website and you would like to talk with me simply send me an email. You can click "contact me" to send me a message.

I like to watch the videos on Ted and I found the below video which reinforced in me the value of delayed gratification. Something, I have not always practiced in my life. Joachim de Posada shares a landmark experiment on delayed gratification — and how it can predict future success. You will enjoy this priceless video of kids trying their hardest not to eat the marshmallow. You need to ask yourself, “Am I still eating the marshmallows”.