The Potato Saint

A bit of a mash-up today. Carbohydrates and St. Patrick's Day. I couldn't resist. The Irish in me must follow animal instinct in the relentless pursuit of passion. Much like we witnessed yesterday during Baba O'Riely (the satori of the moment amid the chaos of the complex), we can (with serious practice) stay resolute and focused as drama unfolds around us. The zen of the Irish, as I think Pete may have had in mind*. Strong, calm, in the flow, aware and at the same time spinning like a hungry cheetah in four wheel drive. There is power in balance.

Which, of course, takes us to the potato, that traditional Irish staple. Many will have one today or tonight. I might. I like 'em. BUT, upon further examination, we see the spud high (extremely high) on the glycemic index. Foods high on this list spike insulin levels. Which has a chain reaction in our cells that make it more difficult to utilize fat as fuel. The lower the glycemic rating of the foods or liquids that we consume, the better our systems will use the CHO for fuel. Often resulting in a leaner body mass, weight loss, optimized health and, yes, faster times in the St. Paddy's Dash. Abusers of foods high on the GI often spend more time on the couch than in the saddle. Most often.

We celebrated the day yesterday with a spirited 60 minute HIT spin. Got in the obligatory, U2, Van the Man, Rory Gallagher, Dropkick Murphy's, Enter the Haggis, Afro-Celts. It was fun. We burned some calories and now it's back to business as usual. Take a look at some of Gary Taubes' work and note the connection between our work (in athletic form), the way that we fuel our sessions, and the choice of foods we use for this task. Some interesting analysis should follow.
The potato? Not for everyday use and definitely NOT for use as fries. The patron Saint of Ireland might have said, "Today we are all Irish and we eat the potato and drink and smile and dance. Then tomorrow it's back to spinach and spinning and water."

Baba O'Riely meets the potato Saint.

From Slate:
So here is the answer: Fat accumulation in the human body is regulated fundamentally by the hormone insulin. If insulin levels increase, so does fat accumulation. If insulin levels decrease, fat is released from the fat cells and used for fuel. There's nothing controversial about this fact. You can find it in most biochemistry and endocrinology textbooks, like this one that the Library of Medicine makes available online. It's just considered irrelevant to the problem of obesity. And here's the catch: Insulin levels, for all intents and purposes, are controlled by the carbohydrates in the diet. The more refined and easily digestible those carbohydrates (the higher the glycemic index, as nutritionists would say), the more insulin will be secreted. And the sugars we consume—i.e., sucrose, the stuff we put in our coffee, as well as high-fructose corn syrup—will cause long-term increases in insulin production.

Here is the Glycemic Index.

Some info on raw foods and vegetarian athletes.

More from Gary Taubes:
The same is likely to be true for those who swear they lost their excess pounds and kept them off by taking up regular exercise. Rare is the individual who begins running or swimming or doing aerobics regularly with the goal of losing weight and then doesn’t make any concomitant changes in what he or she eats. Rather beer and soda consumption will be reduced; sweet consumption will be reduced, and easily digested starches and high-glycemic index carbs are likely to be replaced by green vegetables and carbohydrates with a lower glycemic index. So here’s the lesson, the moral of this story: before we assume that low-carbohydrate diets are just one tool in the dietary arsenal against overweight and obesity, and before we assume that everyone is different and that some of us lose weight and keep it off because we eat less fat (and more carbohydrates) and some because we cut carbs (and so eat maybe more fat), we should make an effort to understand the concept of controlling variables and look to see which variables are really changing and by how much. Because it’s quite possible that the only meaningful way to lose fat is to change the regulation of the fat tissue, and the science of fat metabolism strongly implies that the best way to do that, if not the only meaningful way, is by reducing the amount of carbohydrates consumed and/or improving the quality of those carbs we do consume.

More on the potato and cancer fighting foods.

*Sally, take my hand
We'll travel south cross land
Put out the fire and don't look past my shoulder
The exodus is here
The happy ones are near
Let's get together before we get much older