If you look around the world, you come across one amazing discovery–all large populations of trim, healthy people ate largely from starchy foods. Japanese and other Asians ate sweet potatoes or rice. The Incas in South America ate potatoes. The Mayans and Aztecs in Central America ate corn. And Egyptians in the Middle East ate wheat.
Today, we have access to a great many more starches. You and I can find them in 4 food groups:
1. Tubers – potatoes, sweet potatoes, and cassava.
2. Winter Squash – pumpkins, butternut squash, acorn squash, hubbard squash.
3. Legumes – beans, peas, lentils.
4. Whole Grains – rice, corn, barley, wheat.
Starches give you sufficient calories to win running in a marathon but they do not promote excess weight gain. That is because the human body regulates carbohydrates from starches, burning them off, rather than storing them when too much is eaten.
How effective does the body do this? Think of the people in Asia over the centuries. Obesity has been widely unknown in that culture. However, when the Asians adopted our western diet, eating more meats and dairy products, they began to put on extra weight, storing these calories in the stomach, thighs and buttocks. As Dr. John McDougall often says, “The fat you eat is the fat you wear.”
Starches have really been given a bad name. They are not the enemy when it comes to reaching your ideal weight. They are very low in fat (ranging from 1 to 8 percent). They contain no cholesterol. They do not grow pathogens like e.coli or salmonella nor do they store poisonous chemicals like DDT. Starch is a clean and safe fuel for the human body.
Starch also plays a vital role in helping you lose weight in a natural way. This is because of 3 important starch perks–they are low in calories, low in fat and high in carbohydrates (which satisfies our hunger). Some starches, like squashes and potatoes, are lower in calories than others (like grains) which makes them extremely helpful when you want to trim up. Starches like beans and peas slow the emptying of the stomach, keeping you feeling satisfied longer, and thus encouraging lasting weight loss while they give you a satisfying dining experience.
Many people think that sugars in starches are readily converted to fat and then stored in the body. But this is just not true. Scientists and scientific research agree with this fact. After eating, the complex carbs which are found in starches are digested into simple sugars in the intestine and then absorbed into the bloodstream. Then they are transported to trillions of cells in the body in order to provide energy for walking, working and playing. If you get too many carbs, the body does not store them as fat. Instead, excess carbohydrate calories are burned off as heat or used in physical motions not associated with exercise.
A starch based way of eating results in loss of excess body fat and radiant health. Winning endurance athletes know well the benefits of loading up on starch. In addition to achieving peak performance, it also improves blood flow to all the tissues. The skin glows from improved circulation. No more oily blackheads, whiteheads and acne. From the weight loss and the relief of arthritis, people become more active and agile, like when they were much younger. The key to gaining all these benefits is found in changing what you put on your plate. Build your meals around one or more starchy foods for a healthier and slimmer you.
–Excerpt from past newsletters by Dr. John A McDougall, author of The Starch Solution.
