Someone else's opinion from somewhere else (X's 2)
runnr, the reason that bread, rice, pasta and potatoes are all lumped together as "danger foods" is because of their glycemic index, which for all 4 is pretty close to table sugar.
One Medium baked potato, 2 1/2 inch diameter (skin eaten), has about 30 grams of carb minus 2.9 grams of fiber but only if you eat the skin...without it, that fiber drops by more than half and you lose a lot of the nutrient value as well since most of those are also in the skin. That's the GI equivalent of eating 2 slices of white bread. Speaking as a diabetic, that potato would likely shoot up my blood sugar close to 100 points. For an insulin-resistant person (which includes many overweight people), that potato would most likely cause an insulin spike.
Being a marathon runner, you can certainly handle more carbs in your diet than most and the occasional potato isn't likely to cause you a problem but if you look around the forum, you'll find that most of our members are not marathon runners, or anything even close to that, and can't handle the same level of carbs, or types of carbs, that you can with your high level of excercise. For most low carbers, there are far less carby ways of getting the same nutrients (and a lot more fiber) than that baked potato.
BTW, Dr. Atkins never said that those following his plan could never again have a baked potato. Only that those foods should be reserved for maintainence and then only occasionally in small amounts.
[SIZE=+1]
THE RISKS OF GENETICALLY ENGINEERED FOODS [/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]by:
Wolfson, Richard, Ph.D. [/SIZE]
Richard Wolfson, is the national director of the Consumer Right to Know Campaign, Canada, whose mandate is to demand mandatory labeling and long-term testing of all genetically engineered foods. He is the biotech writer for Alive magazine and the health advisor for the Natural Law Party.
GENETICALLY ENGINEERED (GE) FOODS ON THE MARKET IN CANADA The main genetically engineered foods (or genetically modified organisms, GMOs) already on the market in Canada are:
white potatoes (russet potatoes grown in P.E.I.),
tomatoes (including cherry but not roma tomatoes),
soy beans, corn and
canola. Corn, canola and soy beans are used in many other products. This means that 80% of any packaged foods on the market (even health food brands), whether they are cereals, baby food and formula, salad dressing, chips, cookies, or bread, probably have either some
canola oil, soy oil, soy flour, soy lecithin, soy protein, corn oil, corn starch, or corn syrup ingredients that are genetically engineered. Even products predominantly organic like organic soy milk often have genetically engineered canola oil or soy lecithin etc. Problems associated with GE foods are allergies and other toxic effects.
Genetic engineering is used to increase shelf life (to delay ripening in tomatoes), to alter oil composition (soy and canola), to make food pesticide resistant (corn, potatoes, squash), to allow increased pesticide use (soy, corn, canola, cotton), and to increase fertility in farm animals (canola).
OTHER GE PRODUCTS Milk from the U.S. is genetically engineered (may contain rBST), so be careful about buying American cheese. Yellow crookneck squash from the US, cotton and cotton oil, papayas, radiccio, rennet in cheese, and Nutrasweet used in soft drinks and other diet products are also GE. Animal products fed on GE grains may also pose a problem.
POTATOES Russet potatoes are genetically engineered, and they are sold across Canada. The seed catalogues say: "New Leaf potatoes, more environmentally friendly, the latest development, you don't have to spray with pesticides". What they are actually saying is that pesticide is genetically engineered into the potato, which means you are eating them. You can buy red potatoes or organic potatoes.
