Dr. McDougall's Online Discussion Board

I was reading through old posts, and it got me wondering, especially for those who are struggling to lose weight, if the starches one is eating might be part of the problem? I've been primarily using potatoes as my starch, but began to notice that my body doesn't seem to be digesting them well. By that I mean, they just sit in my stomach for hours. It's not the comfortable, satiating feeling of not getting hungry for a long time, but the uncomfortable feeling of being full because you aren't actually digesting the food efficiently. Potatoes don't actually make me feel bad in any way, other than the digestion issue. This made me wonder about others here, and whether, or not, you've noticed the same thing; do you do better on particular starches, and did you notice a difference with your weight once you narrowed that down? Was there a starch that actually seemed to be causing you to stall, or actually gain weight? So far, I've noticed that I seem to do better with rice or beans, which kind of bums me out because I like potatoes.

Oops! I just realized I put this question in the wrong forum. Sorry. Can it be moved?

Thank you for the move!

Susan5 wrote:I was reading through old posts, and it got me wondering, especially for those who are struggling to lose weight, if the starches one is eating might be part of the problem? I've been primarily using potatoes as my starch, but began to notice that my body doesn't seem to be digesting them well. By that I mean, they just sit in my stomach for hours. It's not the comfortable, satiating feeling of not getting hungry for a long time, but the uncomfortable feeling of being full because you aren't actually digesting the food efficiently. Potatoes don't actually make me feel bad in any way, other than the digestion issue. This made me wonder about others here, and whether, or not, you've noticed the same thing; do you do better on particular starches, and did you notice a difference with your weight once you narrowed that down? Was there a starch that actually seemed to be causing you to stall, or actually gain weight? So far, I've noticed that I seem to do better with rice or beans, which kind of bums me out because I like potatoes.

@Susan5 Is your digestion issue only with one type of potato, or with one method of preparation? Would sweet potatoes work better for you than white potatoes? Mashed or shredded (hash browns) better than baked? Yukon Golds better than russets? You might want to experiment.

There’s nothing wrong with relying on rice and beans for your primary starch, or with having more than one type of starch at a meal (a smaller amount of potato, perhaps, along with another starch — my Gander does this all the time, because he likes the variety). And there’s no one starch that people universally do better on. You just have to listen to your body and try different things to find what works best for you. If you like potatoes better, you’re probably going to want to try different types and methods of preparation before you decide that they are not your best starch.

Goose

Potatoes, pasta, and bread for me.

wildgoose wrote:@Susan5 Is your digestion issue only with one type of potato, or with one method of preparation? Would sweet potatoes work better for you than white potatoes? Mashed or shredded (hash browns) better than baked? Yukon Golds better than russets? You might want to experiment.

I'm not sure. I'll have to experiment to see. I had Yukon Gold potatoes today, and I seemed to do fine with those. It was the russet potatoes that seemed to just sit in my stomach. I'm wondering if it has to do with russets being drier potatoes. Maybe if I eat them in a soup, or any other way that adds a good bit of moisture, I would do okay with them.

Susan5 wrote:

wildgoose wrote:@Susan5 Is your digestion issue only with one type of potato, or with one method of preparation? Would sweet potatoes work better for you than white potatoes? Mashed or shredded (hash browns) better than baked? Yukon Golds better than russets? You might want to experiment.

I'm not sure. I'll have to experiment to see. I had Yukon Gold potatoes today, and I seemed to do fine with those. It was the russet potatoes that seemed to just sit in my stomach. I'm wondering if it has to do with russets being drier potatoes. Maybe if I eat them in a soup, or any other way that adds a good bit of moisture, I would do okay with them.

This sounds familiar. I can enjoy russets shredded or mashed, but I don’t like them baked. They are definitely drier, so your idea of adding moisture (either in the cooking method or by topping the potato with something like chili) is a good one. In the meantime, you now know that Yukon Golds will work!

Goose

The starch that I do the best on is organic rolled oats. There have been times in my life where I've been busy and eaten it for 40-60 meals straight (with a variety of other plants too). In general, I eat chickpeas, lentils, brown rice, sweet potato, and oats as my main starches now. For a period of time, I consumed large amounts of barley, but I'm not sure how I feel about gluten-containing grains since I seem to be a little sensitive - not celiac or anything, it just doesn't digest as well.

The more chickpeas/lentils I consume, the heavier my weight seems to go (my weight holds about 4-8 pounds higher, maybe due to the higher protein content)... having said that, it's still doing just fine with a BMI that has fluctuated between 19.9-22.0 over the past decade of WFPB eating.

Hi Susan5,

I like most starches and they all seem to work for me. But, I've been doing this a long time.

I think when people begin eating this way their digestive tract has to adjust, and give their good bacteria time to grow. Your gut may just not be used to so much fiber and will be learning how to move it more efficiently.

The best starch for you is the one you feel best with, whatever that turns out to be.

Sometimes you just have to trust your gut-literally!

MINNIE wrote:I think when people begin eating this way their digestive tract has to adjust, and give their good bacteria time to grow. Your gut may just not be used to so much fiber and will be learning how to move it more efficiently.

Sometimes you just have to trust your gut-literally!

Thank you, Minnie. I've been eating a lot of fiber for a long time now, so I wasn't inclined to think it was that, but I do agree that I need to trust my gut. In general, I've never had a problem with my digestion, but sometimes, some things just don't sit well, and oddly, it seems to be due to the form it's in. I don't understand why. I can't have gluten (tested, but not a celiac issue), and many of the gluten free grains bother me as well, so I've given up on grains for the most part because they're not worth the pain they cause me. I seem to do fine with white rice though. Anyhow, that's why I was using potatoes for my main starch. I've also been testing myself out on cassava. I found some pasta made from cassava flour. I seem to be doing good with that as well. Have you tried cassava?

BTW, one thing I learned recently, if you don't get enough B vitamins in your diet, that negatively affects gut health. The bacteria in our gut apparently are directly affected the the level of B vitamins in our diet.