Are You Afraid of Potatoes?

Are You AFRAID of Potatoes?

Maybe you've fallen victim to this too?

Eating carbohydrates spikes your insulin!
Insulin is a storage hormone!
This makes your body store more fat!

So, you cut out zee gluten, and realized potatoes are high in carbs too (never mind their nutrient profile) and you definitely weren't going to eat rice...don't carrots have a lot of sugar, too?!

You were left with sweet potatoes.

Well, except when that sugar craving got insane and you tried to fill the void with almond butter or that gluten free granola (which didn't quite cut it), so sometimes you found yourself double fisting gummy bears and ice cream.

The simple story of insulin/carbohydrates has created a generation of people afraid to eat food.

As more and more foods are added to the “don’t eat” list, you wonder why you're not leaning out like you were at the beginning and spend time figuring out how to "hack" your cravings.

So, I think it's time to clear up some of the confusion about carbohydrates with a quick pop quiz.

Answer true or false to the following statements:

A lower overall carb intake will benefit lipolysis (fat burning) and the ability to utilize your own fat stores and triglycerides.
- TRUE: Bear in mind that "lower" is still relative. If you are coming from a moderate or high intake, then of course reducing your carbohydrate intake can result in these benefits. Lower does have a limit though ;)
The lower the carbohydrate intake, the better performance is.
- FALSE: Performance (such as lifting, running, HIIT) is primarily fueled by glycogen, found in starchy carbohydrates.
Carbohydrates can positively affect hormone balance and due to their role in the creation of seratonin have been studied for their role in depression and thyroid function.
- TRUE: There are multiple published studies of this!
Long-term low carb intake does not affect thyroid health.
- FALSE: Both T3 and Reverse T3 (two important thyroid hormones) have been found to respond quickly and negatively to caloric (and particularly carbohydrate) decreases.
A general intake of carbohydrates for a sedentary (but otherwise healthy) individual is 3-4 servings per day (serving = handful or apx. 1/2 cup).
- TRUE: Mileage really does vary, but as a starting point in addition to a serving (cup) of veggies at each meal:
  - Sedentary (desk job, 1-2 workouts/week) = 3-4 servings/day
  - Moderately active (3-5 workouts, 7k+ steps per day) = 4-6 servings/day
  - Very active (4+ training sessions, 10k+ steps) = 5-8 servings/day

How’d that go? Did any of those surprise you?

Juuuust so ya know...

A regular sized baked potato (170g) contains 160 calories, 4g fiber, vitamin C, iron and calcium.

I've always been more of a sweet potato gal, but I'm starting to LOVE a loaded baked potater especially since my air fryer whacks them out in less than 30min #blest. What's your fav potato variation?