SPOTLIGHT: Substituting vegetables for starch on your dinner plate is an easy way to reduce carbs.

BIG PICTURE: There are compelling reasons to question nutritional dogma concerning the role that dietary fat and carbohydrates play in our increasingly overweight world. Disregarding the Food Pyramid’s advice about fruit now seems smart (see my previous post). On the other hand, eating lots of vegetables remains a good idea.

Potatoes are a major exception. We’ve all been taught that French fries are bad for us due to their high fat content. In the low-carb universe, potatoes are avoided for a different reason: like other starches (bread, rice, cereal, pasta) they’re packed with carbs.

People attempting to lose weight try to stay below 50 grams of net carbs per day (total grams of carbs minus total grams of fiber). To put that number into perspective, medium fries at McDonald’s contain 42 grams of net carbs. Six different pasta entrées at the Olive Garden contain between 80 and 100 grams.

While there are fewer baguettes and less spaghetti in a low-carb world, it’s awash in highly satisfying animals fats. If spuds are on the menu, we may as well add butter, cream, bacon, and cheese. Voila, swoon-worthy scalloped potatoes!

Restaurants have long known that butter is a chef’s best friend. It makes everything taste better, especially vegetables. So bring it on – accompanied by mayonnaise and hollandaise.

Vegetables that are leafy, green in colour, and that grow above ground tend to be at the lower end of the carb spectrum. Corn, beans, quinoa, and lentils, on the other hand, are in the same range as potatoes.

Now, instead of two cobs of corn, I’ll just have one – absolutely swimming in butter :-)

TOP TAKEAWAY: The low-carb lifestyle doesn’t rely on deprivation, semi-starvation, or an iron will.

LINKS:

The World Turned Upside Down: The Second Low Carbohydrate Revolution Richard David Feinman

• Feinman is a biochemist who teaches human metabolism to medical students. His book argues that preparing appetizing vegetables is less time intensive than we might think. It even includes a few recipes.
• DietDoctor.com has a highly informative web page: Low-carb vegetables – the best and the worst
• my related commentary: Is Fruit Good For You?
• When Government Makes You Fat
• About That French Paradox

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