low/no starch diet

CarvedTones · November 2017

Anyone else doing this?

I have the HLA-B27 antigen and undifferentiated spondylitis and some other chronic inflammation so I am trying it as detailed:
Heavy science
Lighter reading

Tried roasted diced rutabaga tonight; not bad as a potato substitute, but a lot of the reading I did said roasting was best and mashed sort of okay with lots of butter.

I know about mashing cauliflower; tried that and prefer to just steam it and eat it without trying to pretend it is mashed potatoes.

Pasta substitute seems to be spaghetti squash and not much else.

Bread and rice have no low/no starch substitutes that I know of.

Would love to be corrected on those last two points.

Jaegee817 · November 2017

I have been reading about low or no carbs. Have you heard of cloud bread? I havent tried it yet.

Also, I tried making mashed cauliflower and didn't like it nut purchased it frozen and it was very good.

Good luck!

jaci66 · November 2017

Saw a couple good recipes for cloud bread on AllRecipes.com They look great. I'm going to try one of them to see how they fare.

CarvedTones · November 2017

I did not know about cloud bread. I may have to make some at Thanksgiving.

I am okay with some carbs; it just can't be starchy.

I ordered a book with a bunch of recipes. I have been thinking about going on this diet for a while but it seemed like the cure was worse than the disease. Then I had a full body (all joints) flare and ended up using a cane for a while. Suddenly the diet didn't look so bad...

lemurcat12 · November 2017

Cauliflower rice is a thing. You can make broccoli stems into rice too. (Ricing is a cutting method, after all.)

But seriously, I did very low carb for a while (not currently), and I found it made a lot more sense to me to just build meals around meat, veg, and maybe a sauce or nuts, and not try to make up a replacement for starches.

And if I were cutting just starches, not carbs, I'd just add more fruit in place of potatoes or whatever.

That said, there are vegetables I find fit that starchy role if you want it, but I don't make them pretend to be starches (and I personally see no purpose in a fake bread substitute). These are, of course, starchier veg, like the root veg you mentioned, winter squash, and to some extent green beans and brussels sprouts, so it (and whether nuts are possible) may depend on how low on starch you go.

OldHobo · November 2017

CarvedTones wrote: »

... Pasta substitute seems to be spaghetti squash and not much else....

A gadget called a spiralizer turns firm vegetables into spaghetti-like strands. Zucchini is the veg used most often. This is the one I bought.

rachelgmccann · November 2017

Try this recipe...a cauliflower version of "mac and cheese".
https://www.ruled.me/cauliflower-mac-cheese/
I am not a fan of the mashed cauliflower but this was super yummy. Once I completed the recipe instructions, I put it in a small casserole dish and added a little more shredded cheddar on top and then topped it with crumbled bacon to make it more of a casserole. My husband LOVED it!

Also, definitely get a spiralizer. I had the little portable handheld type and my hand/wrist would get cramps so I bought the Cuisinart Vegetable Spiralizer and love it. We eat spiraled zucchini noodles "zoodles" anytime we have a dish that normally includes spaghetti. I prefer the low heat oven method rather than sauteeing them because they don't get mushy, more like an al dente pasta feel. Just lay the spirals out on papertowels and blot them dry with more papertowels. Then line a cookie sheet with paper towels, place the zoodles on the papertowels and place the cookie sheet in a preheated 250 degree oven for about 20 minutes...and, no, the papertowels won't burn.

https://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-CTG-00-SPI-Food-Spiralizer-Black/dp/B01H44D74K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1510293902&sr=8-1&keywords=cuisinart+spiralizer&dpID=41oe-6bDpZL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

I've tried making the breads with almond flour, coconut flour, cloud bread (eggs), 90 second microwave bread (eggs and almond flour), etc...and I was not a fan at all. I will say that I love the "fat-head pizza" pizza dough (mozzarella, cream cheese, almond flour and eggs) and have heard you can make bread sticks with that and brush with garlic butter so that is next on my list.
https://www.dietdoctor.com/recipes/fat-head-pizza

The website that I gave you the cauliflower mac and cheese recipe link for above has a lot of good ketogenic diet recipes. https://www.ruled.me/

Good luck!

CarvedTones · November 2017

lemurcat12 wrote: »

These are, of course, starchier veg, like the root veg you mentioned, winter squash, and to some extent green beans and brussels sprouts, so it (and whether nuts are possible) may depend on how low on starch you go.

Most of those are listed as okay.

How low do I want to go?
My links to the "why?" info are probably TLDR for most people. Here is the short version - because of a blood antigen, my cells can look like a particular microbe to antibodies causing inflammation when my cells are attacked (an autoimmune disorder). The microbe lives in the gut and thrives on starch, so the diet starves them out so I will quit producing the antibodies for it. Really low starch is okay and from reading the experiences of others, it seems people figure it out by trial and error because it isn't the same for everyone. And every now and then it is okay to have a starch because it will be through the system before too much havoc can be wreaked.

I have had cauliflower with cheese sauce many times and it is tasty. Some of the keto recipes do look good, though only a small subset fit my other diet restriction for personal reasons - I don't eat mammal meat. Poultry, seafood and vegetarian protein (unfortunately a lot of that is now out because of starch).

jgnatca · November 2017

Did Konjac root get mentioned? It's made in to Shirataki noodles and it's all fiber.

low/no starch diet

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