Post: #1

Did a search and couldn't find much. Google the stuff but other than the fact that potatoes are good all-around, not much about its benefits for lifting/bodybuilding.

First off, I'm dirt poor being a student and potatoes are so cheap and delicious. Easy to make and cook too.

Nutrition wise it's low fat, low carb and has shit tons of vitamins. Including potassium which is great for joints. But they also have zero protein.

They also fill you up quickly and this is awesome for poor students I guess it's not good if one's aim is to eat as much as possible?

What's your take on this?

Post: #2

Seen the physique and strength of old times strongmen?

They were built on a lot of potatoes.

Post: #3

Umm, potatoes are actually very high in carbs (not sugar, but high glycemic starches). Good for post-workout nutrition and getting bigger. You should drop them if you are going low carb.

Post: #4

I would say potatoes are a good staple. I do not know your body make up or fitness goals. However, I would say that potato is better than grain as a carbohydrate source. I am on the anti-grain bandwagon. All of my carbs come from sweet potato or apples. I do not consume any grains anymore at all. On occasion, I still enjoy some white rice. I just dont eat that many carbs anymore. Potatoes get a bad rap but like you said, the nutrient profile is pretty good, they're easy to cook, and they're delicious. I am pro-potato.

Post: #5

Read somewhere that you could get all your nutritional needs from just potatoes and butter.

How true is that, I dont know.

Post: #6

Crazy that you made this thread since I was Google searching the same thing last week!! I will say that they are perfect as a complex carb. I've always been a pro complex carb of guys since they hold you full for so long. I'm a Potatoes guys now

I've been eating rice my whole life and just felt bloated one night and searched it. Even though Rice is good, it is considered a Grain which causes some inflamation. I've been Rice free for 2 weeks and my went down without any exercises or diet changes. I love Rice, but now it will be part of my diet only once in a while just like bread.

Post: #7

Post: #8

I have only the warmest affection for the potato and its sweeter siblings. I say this as a man who's used them as part of a weight loss regimen (80 pounds in two years) and now as fuel for gaining muscle: whether you're bulking, cutting, or simply want to maintain your weight, the potato is there for you. The average potato clocks in at about 110-115 calories. Sweet potatoes are in the same range if you want to mix it up once in a while.

I needn't tell you to portion them accordingly and avoid their fried iterations, of course. But my God, man. A baked potato with salt, pepper, and olive oil, next to a roast/baked/grilled chicken breast and broccoli? Potatoes roasted with garlic and served up next to some tilapia? A homemade hash of potatoes with onions, bell peppers, and a splash of hot sauce in the morning? Next to fluffy scrambled eggs?!



In conclusion, potatoes are a fuckwin Elder God-tier vegetable that will get your dick sucked by Margot Robbie. You should never feel bad about taking them home.

Post: #9

Potatoes are supposedly the most filling food there is, so they're great for dieting

Post: #10

I add carrots to my potatoes, then mash together. Tasty.

I use either olive oil or vegetable oil instead of milk and butter in my mashed potatoes/potatoes & carrots.

If you're looking to cut carbs, try mashing cauliflower. Very tasty as well.

Post: #11

Great for bulking.

Since you're in France there are some fantastic potato dishes...

I know its a "tourist" dish but I'm quite fond of tartiflette. Potatoes, bacon, and cheese will pack some pounds on, too. Reblochon is hard to find here so I say appreciate it when you can.

Post: #12

(02-11-2015 09:24 PM)YossariansRight Wrote:  I add carrots to my potatoes, then mash together. Tasty.

I use either olive oil or vegetable oil instead of milk and butter in my mashed potatoes/potatoes & carrots.

If you're looking to cut carbs, try mashing cauliflower. Very tasty as well.

I do the same, mash potatoes and olive oil, and sometimes mash them with carrots, cauliflower or broccoli, except I very occasionally use butter; vegetable oil is not that good though, stick with the olive oil, it's so much better.

Anyway, eat your potatoes, they're great, especially if you lift.

Post: #13

Potatoes with grass fed butter mashed together are amazing. My only problem is I put way too much butter because it tastes great. If I was back home and had access to cheese and sour cream also I'd be in trouble.

But yeah, they are a perfectly good source of carbs. Just watch how much additional fat you add in, depending on your goals.

Post: #14

Damn I've been avoiding potatoes, I thought they were considered junk food. Guess I'll stop.

Post: #15

(02-11-2015 11:45 PM)RioNomad Wrote:  But yeah, they are a perfectly good source of carbs. Just watch how much additional fat you add in, depending on your goals.

True, if you're fat and want to lose weight then obviously be careful, if you're like me, someone who can lose 10 pounds if I have a bad week resting and food wise, potatoes are a life saver, as I need a lot of calories just to maintain my weight. They're so easy and fast to make, I buy the big bags at Costco and most of the times I just get one, peel it, cut it into small pieces, put it in a bowl and cover it with water, put it in the microwave for like 10 or 11 minutes and after they're done I just mash them and put olive oil and a touch of salt. Delicious, fast and nutritious.

Post: #16

Post: #17

(02-11-2015 06:25 PM)germanico Wrote:  Read somewhere that you could get all your nutritional needs from just potatoes and butter.

How true is that, I dont know.

Potatoes effectively created civilization as we know it, because Europe was before the advent of the potato totally under-nourished. Grains are way more difficult as a crop and the potato made the common man sufficiently fed in order to end the stifling middle ages.

There are a lot of myths around the potatoes - having bad calories, starch etc. Most of it is crap - you can eat tons of potatoes when done correctly. Potatoes can only become unhealthy if you fry them, or cook out all the nutrients.

The best way to eat potatoes is either baked, fries done in oven without any fat (just cut potatoes to fries and bake it until done - vegans are eating that with healthy dips - not only is that nutritious, but you can literally eat unlimited doses and remain slim) - or steam-cooked.

Dr. McDougall and his wife have been eating potatoes probably at the most massive doses and are slim as sticks:



Grains are more problematic for the human body for a variety of factors. The potato however is not. I have started planting potatoes in a special garden (well - I did not do it myself). My intention is to have a year's worth supply of staple vegetables pesticide free this crop cycle around.

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2008/02/07/p...the-world/
http://www.history-magazine.com/potato.html

The potato saved the world - at least the civilization that we know. Hail the potato! Just keep fat away from it.

Post: #18

(02-11-2015 06:17 PM)alexdagr81 Wrote:  Umm, potatoes are actually very high in carbs (not sugar, but high glycemic starches). Good for post-workout nutrition and getting bigger. You should drop them if you are going low carb.

Right on point. White potatoes are very high glycemic starches.

Sweet potatoes on the other hand are low on the glycemic index.

As said above, white potatoes are good post workout as they are a high GI food. This is useful for spiking your insulin levels post workout while eating other foods such as protein so that those nutrients get absorbed into your muscles right away.

Low glycemic foods on the other hand are digested more slowly overtime and keep your insulin levels steady.

You can learn more about this by researching:
1. The glycemic index
2. Insulin Spiking

Post: #19

No love for the sauteed potato? That is a very sad state of affairs.

I'm leaning out a bit at the moment, from an admittedly lean starting point, looking to drop 3lbs of fat at the very most. I have sauteed potatoes every morning, cooked in butter and olive oil. I've dropped 1lb this last week or so, and that's the only change to my diet I've made, swapping some sauteed new potatoes for bread with my eggs in the morning.

Butter and olive oil are obviously high in calories, but don't be afraid of using them in moderation to keep the diet possible. Sensible food choices take the pain away from tightening up a diet, and allow you the variety which will help you see it through.

Post: #20

Looking at that infographic rdvirus posted, you can see that potatoes and sweet potatoes have a very similar nutrient profile (with the exception of Vitamin A in sweet potatoes). Sweet potatoes are regarded as one of the best foods you eat in certain fitness circles but regular potatoes seem to get a bad rap. It doesn't make sense.

So go ahead and eat regular potatoes.

Post: #21

(02-12-2015 05:05 AM)Zelcorpion Wrote:  

(02-11-2015 06:25 PM)germanico Wrote:  Read somewhere that you could get all your nutritional needs from just potatoes and butter.

How true is that, I dont know.

Potatoes effectively created civilization as we know it, because Europe was before the advent of the potato totally under-nourished. Grains are way more difficult as a crop and the potato made the common man sufficiently fed in order to end the stifling middle ages.

There are a lot of myths around the potatoes - having bad calories, starch etc. Most of it is crap - you can eat tons of potatoes when done correctly. Potatoes can only become unhealthy if you fry them, or cook out all the nutrients.

The best way to eat potatoes is either baked, fries done in oven without any fat (just cut potatoes to fries and bake it until done - vegans are eating that with healthy dips - not only is that nutritious, but you can literally eat unlimited doses and remain slim) - or steam-cooked.

Dr. McDougall and his wife have been eating potatoes probably at the most massive doses and are slim as sticks:



Grains are more problematic for the human body for a variety of factors. The potato however is not. I have started planting potatoes in a special garden (well - I did not do it myself). My intention is to have a year's worth supply of staple vegetables pesticide free this crop cycle around.

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2008/02/07/p...the-world/
http://www.history-magazine.com/potato.html

The potato saved the world - at least the civilization that we know. Hail the potato! Just keep fat away from it.

Don't ignore genetic advantages in diet for your example. McDougall is a Scott and the Scottish have lived of oats and potatoes for centuries as thier staples of startch.

For many others yucca or yams would be the staple equivalent if they consumer tubers/roots.

Post: #22

(02-12-2015 06:15 AM)kosko Wrote:  Don't ignore genetic advantages in diet for your example. McDougall is a Scott and the Scottish have lived of oats and potatoes for centuries as thier staples of startch.

For many others yucca or yams would be the staple equivalent if they consumer tubers/roots.

I discard all so-called generational diets. 300 years of diet is not able to effect changes, even thousands of years are nothing to evolutionary adaptation. I estimate that humans might adapt after 300.000 to millions of years, but not 300.

We humans did adapt to being able to metabolize milk, fermented cheese in the West or fermented soy and eggs in the East, but that's just an adaptation to deal with rather unusual or even slightly toxic food. You don't need any adaption to eat the banana.

If mankind once moves to a different planet and encounters new vegetables and fruits there then it will survive. Humans may even prosper better there for all we know.

Currently the science of nutrition is not settled yet because it is so fucking scatter-brained by all the conflicting agendas. For all we know science might prove one day that we are partly alien in origin or are a mix of alien and indigenous races or even artificially created beings. Our ancestors even when looking at the current evolutionary path ate mostly fruit as they likely spent most of the time in very warm climates.

Several indicators point to that very fact:



I am not saying I am 100% certain of all of this, but food and nutrition is best done through studying varying opinions and then testing out diets upon yourself. I don't think that there is a 100% global human diet, because our bodies are too different, but there may be some basics. And unless medical science moves forward I don't expect any decent info coming from their ranks in our current system.

Post: #23

(02-12-2015 01:17 AM)rdvirus Wrote:  

This is typical health propaganda. Remember these are the same establishment hacks who made the food pyramid.

Yes sweet potato is very high in vitamin A, but that is a nutrient that people in the west are abundant in. The average American already gets at least 300% of thier recommend amount due to thier high consumption of meats, especially pork, that have more potent retinal-type compounds versus the caratonoids found in sweets and carrots. More issue are arising from vitamin A toxicity and overagges in our diets versus any deficincies. The fact they could not even dig that deep to point that out shows they don't know what they are talking about.

Americans lack on potassium and magnesium much more. In Canada barley even 10% of people get thier daily requirements and this is all because they are mostly source found in deep rich vegtebales and fish which we in the west consume less off each year. From a nessary nutritional standpoint the white potato is superior in that it gives the people what they need.

The sweet potato has just turned into a lazy super food. The health goons all just talk about French fries and other lazy foods Americans snack on and take the lazy approach to just tell Americans to swap for sweets which are 'healthier' then fried potatoes but they forget you need fats such as mayo to make them taste good which sorta cancels things out.

Plus the other shcoker is the industry scam on the vegetables themsleves. It's hard to get a real "sweet potato" outside of the USA. What many think of a "sweet potato" are just variants of yams. A natural sweet potato is never actually that orange in its meat, but since that is what we are accustomed to know the industry won't change it. The purple Japanese sweet potatoes are much better. I prefer them to the "sweets" we get here as I don't need to add anything to them. I can bake them in foil and add salt and pepper, that's it.

I want somebody to show me a fatty who got fat just eating baked mashed potatoes with olive oil and salt and pepper, you won't find one. Its the rice fallacy. In sub-saharan African some poor and marginalized populations get 80%+ of their energy from carbs mostly cheap filler like rice and yet they are rack thin and under weight.

Post: #24

(02-12-2015 06:29 AM)Zelcorpion Wrote:  

(02-12-2015 06:15 AM)kosko Wrote:  Don't ignore genetic advantages in diet for your example. McDougall is a Scott and the Scottish have lived of oats and potatoes for centuries as thier staples of startch.

For many others yucca or yams would be the staple equivalent if they consumer tubers/roots.

I discard all so-called generational diets. 300 years of diet is not able to effect changes, even thousands of years are nothing to evolutionary adaptation. I estimate that humans might adapt after 300.000 to millions of years, but not 300.

We humans did adapt to being able to metabolize milk, fermented cheese in the West or fermented soy and eggs in the East, but that's just an adaptation to deal with rather unusual or even slightly toxic food. You don't need any adaption to eat the banana.

If mankind once moves to a different planet and encounters new vegetables and fruits there then it will survive. Humans may even prosper better there for all we know.

Currently the science of nutrition is not settled yet because it is so fucking scatter-brained by all the conflicting agendas. For all we know science might prove one day that we are partly alien in origin or are a mix of alien and indigenous races or even artificially created beings. Our ancestors even when looking at the current evolutionary path ate mostly fruit as they likely spent most of the time in very warm climates.

Several indicators point to that very fact:



I am not saying I am 100% certain of all of this, but food and nutrition is best done through studying varying opinions and then testing out diets upon yourself. I don't think that there is a 100% global human diet, because our bodies are too different, but there may be some basics. And unless medical science moves forward I don't expect any decent info coming from their ranks in our current system.

Totally agree with this (though I think evolution has played a much greater role than you give it credit for). We have all evolved over the course of 150,000 years to be very different in a lot of ways. One of which (I believe) is in our diets. Our ancestors had very different diets in a lot of ways and it was based on where they were geographically located and what was available to them. Look at the rates of lactose intolerance.

Diets should be personalized to your needs and how your body responds. I find that as I have gotten older (29 now) that my body is more sensitive (or perhaps I am more aware) to foods. Some foods just don't agree with me like they used to. I have been eating clean for quite some time now after college, so if/when I do eat some junk food, it usually means unpleasant toilet time is in my near future. I dont really eat grains, beans, or dairy anymore (or at least I do not cook these foods - will eat them if I am out at a restaurant).

When you get older, you just cant eat the things you used to be able to when you were a teenager or college student (typing that out makes me feel old as fuck lol).

Eat healthy foods, nutrient dense foods, clean foods, foods that agree with your digestive system, foods that do not cause inflammation.

Post: #25

A lot of you mention potatoes mashed with butter. Sound delicious. How do you make it?

Since I have little time to cook I like to make potatoes broth in pressure cooker. That stuff is yummy espcially in this cold. However by pressure cooking potatoes do I risk cooking out all the nutrients?

The broth is very versatile in that you can put it in your shaker and bring it to the gym.