A lot of people are moving from a raw food diet, fruitarian, 80/10/10 diet to a ‘raw till 4’ diet, cooked or starch-based diet, for various reasons. Maybe they can’t get enough fruit, it’s too expensive, the quality of fruit is bad, they had bad experiences (hunger, bloating, weight gain, etc). I think fruit is awesome but the idea that it is the best and starches should play second fiddle (or that cooked food is poison) is simply wrong. I don’t want anyone to feel ashamed of eating starches!
I don’t want fruitarians and starchivores to get into a war (we have bigger ‘fish to fry’) but starch-eaters need to stand up for themselves and be proud of what they eat and those who ate starch before us!
Humans developed more amylase in their mouths which is believed to have allowed them to eat starches and caused us to develop larger brains. Here’s another reference. People like to imagine us walking around in nature similar to apes and how we should eat all fruit like them since that is ‘natural’ and easiest to digest.
Kenyans who win all sorts of Olympic long distance running events eat a food call Ugali, a paste made from cornmeal served with vegetables.
“The Incas of South America centered their diet on potatoes. The Incan warriors switched to quinoa for strength prior to battle.” This is from Dr. McDougall’s The Starch Solution, my favourite book.
“The story is the same the world over. Whether rice in Asia, potatoes in South America, corn in Central America, wheat in Europe, or beans, millet, sweet potatoes, and barley around the globe, starch has been at the center of food and nutrition throughout human history.” ~The Starch Solution
Okinawans are among the longest living people in the world. Their diet is plant-based and their staple was the sweet potatoes.
“The Mayans and Aztecs of Central America were known as “the people of the corn.” The Egyptians’ starch of choice was wheat. Throughout civilization and around the world, six foods have provided our primary fuel: barley, maize (corn), millet, potatoes, rice, and wheat.” ~The Starch Solution
The roman soldier diet consisted of grains.
So the point is not to bash fruit but to be proud of eating starches, it has an amazing and ‘Potato Strong’ history!
