Jacksonville's Neighborhood Garden

The Doctor's Office

It is my pleasure to speak on behalf of the much maligned potato.  With all the "low carb and no carb" hype, the potato has somewhat undeservedly gotten a bad rap.  Potatoes have been an important food source for civilizations for thousands of years. The potato can produce more food on less land and in harsher conditions than any other major crop.  The potato originated in the High Andes of South America, but thrive in almost any climate including warm, wet coastal areas.  It requires little water and matures in as little as 50 days.  Besides the starch which has given potatoes such a bad name, potatoes contain fat, most necessary vitamins and minerals, and essential amino acids. The vitamin C content prevents scurvy, and people can live for extended periods on potatoes alone.  Potatoes produce a defensive compound called solanine glycoalkaloids to ward off predators like beetles, microbes and fungi.  These are found in highest concentration just below the skin and in the "eyes" and for this reason many recommend peeling the potato to remove this potentially toxic compound.  Other sources suggest leaving the skin on as it has fiber, and is purported to have medicinal anti-cholesterol, anti-allergic, anti-itching, anti-inflammatory, antibiotic, anti-cancer and anti-diabetic properties!

Could all of that be too good to be true?  How could a starch like the potato be good for diabetes? Doesn't starch raise blood sugar?  To fully understand potatoes role in an anti-diabetic diet, I would refer you to http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2009nl/dec/diabetes.htm for an excellent explanation.  Briefly, type 2 diabetes is more a disease of excess stored calories as fat than too many "carbs".  The reason blood sugar goes up in type 2 diabetes is because the storage hormone insulin stops working when we have gained excess weight.  The body essentially says "no we have enough stored energy, we don't need more" and it doesn't respond to the insulin.  When we lose the excess weight, the insulin starts to work again and the blood glucose level goes down.  If you are interested in this topic, which is far too big to cover here, please see the work of Dr. Neal Barnard at www.PCRM.org, Dr. John McDougall at www.DrMcDougall.com and Dr. Hans Diehl et al at www.chiphealth.com