Paleo diets, fad diets, weight reduction diets often eschew carbs
(carbohydrates), even starches and not only sugars. Let’s have a closer look
from the viewpoint of the urban troglodyte.
What are starches? Piled glucose is a rough description. Amylose and
amylopectin are common forms of polysaccharides, which plants use as energy
store. [1]
Starch
grains from sorghum were found on grind stones dating up to 100,000 years ago. More
on sorghum: [2]. Starch grains from bullrushes (rhizomes of Typha [3]) dated
back to 30,000 years ago. The gist is: starches have been used as food since
caveman times.
Caveman didn’t
have bread or pasta, or pancakes, cereals, noodles, pasta or tortilla. And he
didn’t have plants like maize, rice, wheat etc. His starches were rich in fiber.
In this way the microbes in his colon were producing short chain fatty acids,
which have health promoting effects, but the process included lots of gases.
The urban troglodyte needs to remember this.
There is an
interesting study on starches in paleolithic man [4]. “Up until now, there has
been a heavy focus on the role of animal protein in the development of the
human brain over the last two million years. The importance of carbohydrate,
particularly in the form of starch-rich plant foods, has been largely
overlooked.” And: “The evidence suggests that Palaeolithic humans would not
have evolved on today’s ‘Paleo’ diet.” But we already talk about cooking. The
study was co-authored with international researchers Dr Karen Hardy
(Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) and Professor Mark Thomas and Katherine
Brown (University College London).
The
McDougall Diet largely focuses on starchy foods [5]. Let’s take some of these,
which could be used in the diet for the urban troglodyte. These starchy food
should be natural, brimming with fiber, and should be easily prepared. Rye, oats, barley, brown rice, buckwheat,
sorghum, celery root, water chestnuts, burdock (you’ve ever had burdock? My last
burdock dates back 35 years ago), parsnips (actually available in German
supermarkets), pumpkin, beans like azuki, garbanzo, pinto, cannellini etc., lentils,
and peas. Some peas are eatable without cooking. Oatmeal is already processed.
Let’s talk
about resistant starches [6]. Resistant starch is starch that escapes digestion
in the small intestine. ) The large intestinal microbiota ferment these resistant
starches short chain fatty acids. If you eat low in fiber and resistant starch,
then you might have problems with the sudden gas production in your colon. It
takes a while for composition of the microbiota to adapt or change. So change
you eating habits slowly.
The diet for
the urban troglodyte isn’t a fad paleo diet, so starches play a large role. Let
your food be as natural as possible. Starchy foods that can be consumed raw
should be consumed raw. Don’t eat beans raw. Stay away from highly processed
foods. Urban troglodyte, do your own cooking!
Links:
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