The Starch Solution (29 page)

The glycemic index (GI) of a food is in parentheses.

Only in a very few cases where a starch-based diet is ineffective in bringing cholesterol and triglyceride levels back to normal do I suggest my patients completely eliminate foods made with refined flours and simple sugars, including fruits and fruit juices, both of which contain large amounts of fructose, the type of sugar that causes the greatest increase in triglycerides (and cholesterol).
³⁶
Otherwise, most people can enjoy small amounts of both refined flours and simple sugars without adverse effects.

Studies of ancient skeletons show that widespread tooth decay is largely a modern phenomenon, beginning with the production of refined foods and the widespread use of sugars in food.
^37
,
38
Bacteria in your mouth convert simple sugars into strong acids, and these acids can eat through the protective enamel coating on your teeth to cause decay. It doesn’t seem to matter what type of sugar you eat; they all produce enamel-eating acids. Rinsing out your mouth after eating sugars and brushing your teeth will help remove most of these sugars and acids.

Our biological cravings for salt and sugar have made limiting them an unachievable goal for most of us. Focusing on an impossible target—eat little salt and no added sugar—ensures that our health will not improve,
consumers will continue their same buying habits, food companies will remain highly profitable, people will remain sick, and drug companies will enjoy record profits. In contrast, a meaningful message, like “stop eating meat and cheese, and instead focus your diet on rice and potatoes,” would revolutionize the world—but those now in control of governments and “health” organizations representing profitable businesses don’t want to see that day come any time soon. The status quo will indeed continue until the truth about salt and sugar becomes accepted.

The goals of a starch-based diet are to improve your happiness and health and to simultaneously help heal our troubled environment. A diet only works to the extent that you stay on it. The Starch Solution is not a religion based on perfection, but rather a practical means to solve many everyday problems. These two highly pleasurable ingredients, salt and sugar, along with a variety of spices, will increase your enjoyment of your foods and help you to stick with the Starch Solution for a lifetime.

R
eady to get started? Your friends are going to be mighty envious. First they’ll notice you’ve lost weight; then that you’re looking great. Next they’ll hear you’ve gotten your blood pressure down so far that your doctor was incredulous—especially because you gave up the meds you were prescribed to control it. They may also hear that your type 2 diabetes is under control for the first time, also without medication, and that you’re eating all the starches
their
doctors (and yours) told them to avoid. They’ll also hear that your cholesterol is down to 150 from 270, and that you’re off those muscle-damaging statins. Your friends will do a double take when they see you slamming balls on the tennis court, or when you zoom past them on foot heading up a steep hill, overtaking them effortlessly while they stop, bend over, and strain to fill their lungs with air. Oh, no—they are not going to be happy about this at all.

Why won’t your friends be happy for you? You’ve done something you say is very simple—you’ve only changed the way you eat. Yet, for them, the task seems next to impossible. Give up bacon and eggs for breakfast? They’d rather lie down and die, right now. Don’t worry. It’s not your job to tell them they’re already headed down that path. That, in fact, if they want to ensure more time with friends and family, to
enjoy their favorite music and even their favorite foods, a very straightforward change can help.

What you
will
need to have in your back pocket are some snappy responses for when your family and friends tell you how worried they are about you. How you can’t possibly be getting enough protein. Enough calcium. Enough vitamins B
₁₂
or D. Having read the appropriate chapters in this book, I know you are well prepared for that.

But first, let’s get down to the practical advice you need to begin dropping excess weight and reclaiming your health, right here and now. You’ll find everything you need to know in this chapter: which foods to seek out and which to avoid; tips for replacing meat and processed foods with real foods; healthy substitutions for your favorite products; a guide to setting up and stocking your kitchen and pantry; how to find healthy food if you don’t like to cook; what to order in a restaurant; how a starch-based diet can help you keep costs down; and those few final tips on responding to your well-meaning family members and friends.

One of the most exciting things about the Starch Solution is that it is not a diet in the traditional sense of restricting how much you can eat. So long as you choose the right foods, you can always eat until you feel comfortably full and satisfied. If you are hungry again an hour later, eat some more. This is one of the key benefits of the Starch Solution and part of what makes it so successful: You need never again feel hungry or deprived.

The Starch Solution does not require you to purchase special prepared foods, count calories or starch equivalents, keep a food journal or exercise log, or eat only specified menus or dishes at particular times. So long as you eat only the permitted ingredients, you can combine them in any way you like, in any preparation, to suit your own taste. You can eat a wide variety or limit your choices to a few simple dishes repeated over and over again.

If you prefer the guidance of a specific menu as you get started, you will find a 7-day plan in
Chapter 14
. Whether you choose to follow a menu or create your own meals depending on your mood,
Chapter 15
includes nearly 100 easy-to-prepare recipes for tempting, delicious foods to keep you and your family healthy and satisfied.

The cardinal rule of the Starch Solution is that you must
center the food on your plate around starches, adding color and flavor with nonstarchy vegetables and fruits.
Use fat-free seasonings and sauces generously to add variety to your meals and make them more interesting. The sidebar beginning on
page 190
explains which foods are starches and should make up the greatest portion of your meals, and which are the nonstarchy vegetables and fruits that should surround them.

In addition to knowing which foods you should eat, you need to know which to avoid. The following foods are never part of a healthy diet, and should be meticulously avoided if you are to benefit from the Starch Solution.

• Meat, such as beef, pork, lamb
  
 

• Poultry, such as chicken, turkey, duck
  
 

• Dairy foods, such as milk, cheese, yogurt, sour cream
  
 

• Eggs
  
 

• Animal fats, such as lard and butter
  
 

• Vegetable oils, including olive, corn, flaxseed, canola, and safflower oils
  
 

• Processed and packaged foods, except for ones containing
  only
  permitted ingredients
  
 

If you have a “slip” and eat one of these foods, the best way to protect your health is to immediately return to following the Starch Solution. Although diverging from the plan once or twice a year will not undo all of its benefits, it can be a slippery slope. If you indulge too often, you may find it difficult to get back on track. For most people, eliminating a food altogether is far easier than figuring out when it is okay to eat it, how much is safe to eat and remain on the plan, and when it’s time to stop. For that reason, I recommend staying away from these foods altogether, all of the time, for the rest of your life. It may seem inconceivable now, but once you make the commitment and experience the profound effects, you will not miss the foods you give up.

Most starches can be classified as whole grains, legumes, or starchy vegetables. Some commonly available whole grains are barley, brown rice, bulgur wheat, corn, farro, millet, oats, rye, spelt, triticale, and wheat berries. Products made with these grains include breads, tortillas, flatbreads, pasta, couscous, and whole grain cereals.

Legumes include dried beans, peas, and lentils. There are a great variety of beans to choose from: adzuki, cranberry, black, cannellini, fava, chickpeas, great northern, kidney, lima, mung, navy, pinto, soy, and white beans. Common pea varieties include black-eyed peas and split or whole yellow and green peas. Small, flat lentils can be found in green, red, or brown, each with its own flavor and texture. Pea and bean pods that must be shelled before eating are generally the starchy ones, such as cranberry beans, fava beans, and soybeans.

Peanuts are also a legume, although like tree nuts, they are high in fat and should be minimized or avoided altogether, especially if you are trying to lose weight.

Starchy vegetables include most tubers and root vegetables, including burdock, cassava, potatoes, sweet potatoes, taro, and yams. Winter squashes are also high in starch; some examples are acorn, buttercup, butternut, Hubbard, and kabocha, as well as pumpkins.

Nonstarchy vegetables are a plentiful source of vitamins and minerals, fiber, and water. On their own, these vegetables don’t provide
enough calories to make them a filling meal, but they do add flavor, aroma, texture, color, and variety to the plate.

Nonstarchy vegetables are the green, yellow, orange, and more multicolored ones, and they come in many forms. The summer squash family includes zucchini, straight and crookneck squash, chayote, cocozelle, and pattypans in colors ranging from white to yellow to green, and sometimes striped varieties. Some root vegetables, lower in starch, are carrots, beets, jicama, and radishes. Edible bulbs include fennel, garlic, and onions. Related to roots are rhizomes like ginger, turmeric, and lotus root.

Some vegetables grow in pods, with the more delicate varieties housing immature, nonstarchy beans such as green beans, sugar snap peas, and snow peas. These are the ones you can pop in your mouth, pod and all.

Among mushrooms, white button, cremini, portobello, oyster, enoki, and shiitake varieties are cultivated, while lobster, porcini, and black trumpet varieties grow wild.

Some of the vegetables we eat are actually the plant’s unopened or partially opened flower. Broccoli, cauliflower, artichokes, and Brussels sprouts are examples. With others, like asparagus, celery, and rhubarb (it’s not a fruit), we eat the stalk. Leafy vegetables include lettuce, arugula, radicchio, spinach, cabbage, chard, kale, collards, and mustard greens.

Some things we know as vegetables are classified botanically as fruits. Fruits are the plant parts used for reproduction, namely seeds and the plant parts that contain the seeds. (Think of seed-covered strawberries.) Common vegetables that are classified botanically as fruits include eggplant, tomato (actually a berry), cucumber, and avocado. Bean pods and squashes are fruits as well. For our purposes, we talk about these as vegetables if they are more often eaten for dinner than dessert.

Fruits offer a sweet addition—a punctuating conclusion to a meal or a satisfying between-meal snack. Citrus is the sweet-tart fruit family that includes oranges, grapefruits, lemons, limes, tangerines, and mandarin oranges. Berries include strawberries, blackberries, boysenberries, blueberries, raspberries, and cranberries. Summer stone fruits have a pit at the center and include the peach, nectarine, cherry, apricot, plum, aprium, and pluot (the last two are both crosses between a plum and an apricot). In autumn come the pome fruits, with their edible fleshy layer around a tough central core, such as apple, pear, and quince. Other fall fruits include persimmons, dates, figs, and grapes. Tropical fruits include banana, pineapple, guava, mango, lychee nut, passion fruit, kiwi-fruit, and melons such as cantaloupe, honeydew, crenshaw, watermelon, and others.