The Starch Solution
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I eat a starch based diet because that’s the food I grew up on. My family’s from the Middle East so we eat lots of bulger weat and white rice. And lots of unleavened bread. You know it as pita bread. It works for me because I watch my calories. My brothers and sisters eat it and their fat because they eat to much if it. So it still means you have to watch your portions4
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I'm losing weight without counting calories because I can't for the life of me log every little thing that goes into my mouth. And it's not sustainable for me.
You can lose weight counting calories, but I rather focus on eating well that's sustainable for me long term and I feel healthy. Honestly, at the end of the day, it's the quality of food you eat, not so much the quantity. But everyone is different.
I have a friend who did the Startch Solution. It worked for her and she did it long term. I don't know to this day if she's still doing it, but it helped her.
Nope. Speaking in terms of weight loss, it's the number of calories you consume vs. the number of calories you expend. Period. And everyone is not different in that regard. If you eat more calories than you expend, you gain weight; if you eat less calories than you expend, you lose weight. Whether you're on the Starch Solution or the Paleo diet or the Keto diet or Grapefruit Diet or the One Meal a Day diet or the Fifteen Meals a Day diet or whatever. Calories in, calories out.
There is no magical diet which defies the laws of energy balance, and human unicorns don't exist.
I'm happy to disagree with you that it's not just calories in/calories out. I know it must be hard to believe, but it's true. I must be a human unicorn ...yay!
If you didn't count calories, how can you possibly know you ate as many or more than you burned?11 -
janejellyroll wrote: »it's true! but that doesn't negate what I'm saying.
how many citations would you like?
RE: diabetes
http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/29/8/1777.long
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12936955
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Kiehm TG[Author]&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=941870
RE: heart health
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3501710/
https://academic.oup.com/ije/article/34/1/173/638493
RE: osteoporosis
http://nutrition.highwire.org/content/128/6/1051.full
http://www.vivalis.si/uploads/datoteke/3a00.pdf
RE: Arthritis
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02242946
There are so many more, but I am not a genius, and I don't understand a lot of them.
https://www.drmcdougall.com/health/education/health-science/hot-topics/
is where i got all this, so if you want to read up for yourself, feel free.
There are tons of videos that make it so much easier to understand.
You wrote: "Eliminating oils and dairy and meat allows your body to heal it's arterial damage and let's your body use up the fat it has stored up . . . "
The point is that your body used the fat it had stored up because you were consistently in a calorie deficit. You may have prompted that process by reducing the calories you consumed from animal products and fat (and not replacing them with calories from other foods), but you can reach a deficit while continuing to eat those foods (if you choose). For people who find a HCLW diet without animal products satiating, it may be a good way to consistently reach a deficit. But it isn't the only way to achieve weight loss.
I believe it is a healthier way to be in a calorie defecit. I have lost over 10 lbs on the Starch Solution and I have 20 more to reach my goal. I feel really good and I can eat a lot. I would rather eat a lot of something that is good than just a few bites.2 -
My take on it is that while for most (or at least many) people, you can eat potatoes ad libitum because you will likely reach satiety before you reach maintenance, it won't work for everyone. Clearly if you consume more than maintenance calories of potatoes (or anything) you will gain weight.
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janejellyroll wrote: »it's true! but that doesn't negate what I'm saying.
how many citations would you like?
RE: diabetes
http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/29/8/1777.long
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12936955
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Kiehm TG[Author]&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=941870
RE: heart health
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3501710/
https://academic.oup.com/ije/article/34/1/173/638493
RE: osteoporosis
http://nutrition.highwire.org/content/128/6/1051.full
http://www.vivalis.si/uploads/datoteke/3a00.pdf
RE: Arthritis
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02242946
There are so many more, but I am not a genius, and I don't understand a lot of them.
https://www.drmcdougall.com/health/education/health-science/hot-topics/
is where i got all this, so if you want to read up for yourself, feel free.
There are tons of videos that make it so much easier to understand.
You wrote: "Eliminating oils and dairy and meat allows your body to heal it's arterial damage and let's your body use up the fat it has stored up . . . "
The point is that your body used the fat it had stored up because you were consistently in a calorie deficit. You may have prompted that process by reducing the calories you consumed from animal products and fat (and not replacing them with calories from other foods), but you can reach a deficit while continuing to eat those foods (if you choose). For people who find a HCLW diet without animal products satiating, it may be a good way to consistently reach a deficit. But it isn't the only way to achieve weight loss.
I believe it is a healthier way to be in a calorie defecit. I have lost over 10 lbs on the Starch Solution and I have 20 more to reach my goal. I feel really good and I can eat a lot. I would rather eat a lot of something that is good than just a few bites.
There are many ways to eat that don't involve eating just a few bites.
I saw a debate between Fuhrman (who I am not a huge backer of, but who has some good ideas), and McDougall, with McDougall arguing for the superiority of basing a diet around starch and having lower fat, and certainly Fuhrman is not low volume.
It's really easy to have a diet that is not low volume if you just eat lots of vegetables, IME. Some may enjoy starches more and want larger portions of them, but some (like me, mostly) find it more satisfying to have smaller portions of things like potatoes (although I love potatoes, I don't need huge servings) or rice or pasta or bread, etc., and more fat (including from things like nuts or olives) or, yes, some lean meat (or even fatty fish like salmon).
I'm not slamming the Starch Solution as an option that fits the preferences of some, just saying it's not the only alternative for someone who likes volume (and hardly the only healthy way to eat).
Any diet that claims to be the one best way to eat raises my hackles some.11 -
It's clear that a lot of people here are either biased or misinformed. The starch solution isn't about deprivation. It's only eating plant based vegan foods concentrating on starchy carbohydrates. This is because your body uses carbs as it's first source of energy. All other sources get stored as fat to use later. You can eat as much as you WANT. It forces you to learn when you are hungry and when you are full. It's hard to binge on starchy carbs because of the density. Plus you won't get fat eating vegetables as long as you're not binging. I did this for 1.5 months and lost 25lbs only going to one spinning class a week. Ignore people who have never given it a chance much less watched his lecture or read his book.
I mean, there is literally no truth to that whatsoever.5 -
Necrosis is setting in4
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I love the starch solution. I have stubborn fat from pregnancy and I don't enjoy a lot of exercise but I have lost about a pound a week doing this diet for 8 weeks. I don't follow it religiously either. Basically every meal I have either rice, beans, potatoes, pasta, barley, or another starch and then a lot of vegetables. I have reduced oil a lot but use it once in a while. I have changed salad dressings to low fat or skinny girl. I am not vegan either since I have one egg every now and again (from the farm down the road) and use very little cheese but no other dairy. On occassion I will order fish when we eat out (like twice a year) but eat no other meat ever. I don't count calories. I still eat a few chips or cookies here and there but I still seem to lose a pound a week which is fine with me. Also, I feel better! Previously I ate more processed vegetarian foods. We do walk some days in the evenings and I work a couple of hours a day in a preschool cleaning and chasing kids. The starch solution is great for not being strict on portions and it is gread for a variety of tastes. It wasn't a huge adjustment for me. Most people that do it are strict and lose 10 to 20 lbs right away. There are facebook groups that help as well.3
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It's clear that a lot of people here are either biased or misinformed. The starch solution isn't about deprivation. It's only eating plant based vegan foods concentrating on starchy carbohydrates. This is because your body uses carbs as it's first source of energy. All other sources get stored as fat to use later. You can eat as much as you WANT. It forces you to learn when you are hungry and when you are full. It's hard to binge on starchy carbs because of the density. Plus you won't get fat eating vegetables as long as you're not binging. I did this for 1.5 months and lost 25lbs only going to one spinning class a week. Ignore people who have never given it a chance much less watched his lecture or read his book.
Obviously you have never seen me with a vat of garlic buttered mashed potatoes. Family didn't call me "potato girl" for nothing.4 -
Calliope610 wrote: »It's clear that a lot of people here are either biased or misinformed. The starch solution isn't about deprivation. It's only eating plant based vegan foods concentrating on starchy carbohydrates. This is because your body uses carbs as it's first source of energy. All other sources get stored as fat to use later. You can eat as much as you WANT. It forces you to learn when you are hungry and when you are full. It's hard to binge on starchy carbs because of the density. Plus you won't get fat eating vegetables as long as you're not binging. I did this for 1.5 months and lost 25lbs only going to one spinning class a week. Ignore people who have never given it a chance much less watched his lecture or read his book.
Obviously you have never seen me with a vat of garlic buttered mashed potatoes. Family didn't call me "potato girl" for nothing.
But they’re not talking about potatoes slathered in butter. Just plain potatoes. Or other starches.1 -
crabbybrianna wrote: »Calliope610 wrote: »It's clear that a lot of people here are either biased or misinformed. The starch solution isn't about deprivation. It's only eating plant based vegan foods concentrating on starchy carbohydrates. This is because your body uses carbs as it's first source of energy. All other sources get stored as fat to use later. You can eat as much as you WANT. It forces you to learn when you are hungry and when you are full. It's hard to binge on starchy carbs because of the density. Plus you won't get fat eating vegetables as long as you're not binging. I did this for 1.5 months and lost 25lbs only going to one spinning class a week. Ignore people who have never given it a chance much less watched his lecture or read his book.
Obviously you have never seen me with a vat of garlic buttered mashed potatoes. Family didn't call me "potato girl" for nothing.
But they’re not talking about potatoes slathered in butter. Just plain potatoes. Or other starches.
I have eaten a pot of rice that was labeled as a 'family portion' that had nothing added but some cumin for flavor... I could do the same thing with potatoes that had no fats added - just some basic spices.3 -
crabbybrianna wrote: »Calliope610 wrote: »It's clear that a lot of people here are either biased or misinformed. The starch solution isn't about deprivation. It's only eating plant based vegan foods concentrating on starchy carbohydrates. This is because your body uses carbs as it's first source of energy. All other sources get stored as fat to use later. You can eat as much as you WANT. It forces you to learn when you are hungry and when you are full. It's hard to binge on starchy carbs because of the density. Plus you won't get fat eating vegetables as long as you're not binging. I did this for 1.5 months and lost 25lbs only going to one spinning class a week. Ignore people who have never given it a chance much less watched his lecture or read his book.
Obviously you have never seen me with a vat of garlic buttered mashed potatoes. Family didn't call me "potato girl" for nothing.
But they’re not talking about potatoes slathered in butter. Just plain potatoes. Or other starches.
I have eaten a pot of rice that was labeled as a 'family portion' that had nothing added but some cumin for flavor... I could do the same thing with potatoes that had no fats added - just some basic spices.
Me too. Along with ears of Brentwood sweet corn with nothing but salt. I can eat starches until I'm stuffed, and I won't be satisfied unless there is a reasonable amount of protein and fat involved. Only eating "plant based vegan foods" (which is redundant, by the way) is absolutely deprivation to me.1 -
crabbybrianna wrote: »Calliope610 wrote: »It's clear that a lot of people here are either biased or misinformed. The starch solution isn't about deprivation. It's only eating plant based vegan foods concentrating on starchy carbohydrates. This is because your body uses carbs as it's first source of energy. All other sources get stored as fat to use later. You can eat as much as you WANT. It forces you to learn when you are hungry and when you are full. It's hard to binge on starchy carbs because of the density. Plus you won't get fat eating vegetables as long as you're not binging. I did this for 1.5 months and lost 25lbs only going to one spinning class a week. Ignore people who have never given it a chance much less watched his lecture or read his book.
Obviously you have never seen me with a vat of garlic buttered mashed potatoes. Family didn't call me "potato girl" for nothing.
But they’re not talking about potatoes slathered in butter. Just plain potatoes. Or other starches.
OK, so potatoes don't count. I can easily eat 2+lbs carrots (plain old raw carrots) in one sitting.2 -
Does this book include a prologue that encourages you to revive old threads about them on public internet forums?
I really don't understand why so many people believe that if eating a certain way makes them feel energetic or full or whatever, it MUST do so for everyone.
I feel great eating @ 50% carbs, and I don't find fats filling. Other people feel great by limiting the amount of carbs in their diet (which they tend to overeat anyway) and increasing fat. Some people find protein is the key to satiety, others fiber. Some people do best eating as soon as they wake up, others do better not eating until the afternoon. Some people really easily overeat the thing that fills you up and you can't imagine overeating.
If you liked the book and have succeeded by following its recommendations, that's awesome. Doesn't mean it's best for everyone. Just like keto. Just like IF. Just like plant-based. Whatever you like, you can afford, meets your body's nutritional needs, and gets you into a calorie deficit.
I look forward to remembering this post a few months from now when another person reads the book and un-necro's this thread :drinker:5 -
I love the starch solution. I have stubborn fat from pregnancy and I don't enjoy a lot of exercise but I have lost about a pound a week doing this diet for 8 weeks. I don't follow it religiously either. Basically every meal I have either rice, beans, potatoes, pasta, barley, or another starch and then a lot of vegetables. I have reduced oil a lot but use it once in a while. I have changed salad dressings to low fat or skinny girl. I am not vegan either since I have one egg every now and again (from the farm down the road) and use very little cheese but no other dairy. On occassion I will order fish when we eat out (like twice a year) but eat no other meat ever. I don't count calories. I still eat a few chips or cookies here and there but I still seem to lose a pound a week which is fine with me. Also, I feel better! Previously I ate more processed vegetarian foods. We do walk some days in the evenings and I work a couple of hours a day in a preschool cleaning and chasing kids. The starch solution is great for not being strict on portions and it is gread for a variety of tastes. It wasn't a huge adjustment for me. Most people that do it are strict and lose 10 to 20 lbs right away. There are facebook groups that help as well.
if you lost weight you are in a calorie deficit whether you are counting calories or not. your body is counting the calories even if you are not. you are taking in less calories than you are burning which results in weight loss4 -
As a person who needs starch to feel full, I honestly don't get the whole Starch Solution thing because I don't understand its absolutism about eliminating protein and fat. It loses me there.
I think that's a mirror to the same issue I have with diets like keto ... the absolutism. The labeling of things as bad for spurious reasons.
Whatever happened to balance and common sense with food?
Final note: I have no issue with this thread being resurrected, that's the purpose of the search function after all. So I guess there's that.3 -
@GottaBurnEmAll It's just that they're new posters and just posting a testimonial, not looking for conversation or asking questions or anything. I find it fascinating
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OP - give it a shot. I find the McDougall diet provides enough variety and energy to keep me satisfied. Others might not.
Weight loss is CICO whether you eat corn, rice and potatoes OR beef, chicken and pork. The key to success is finding something you can stick with it.2
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