Baked Potato No. 1 Satisfying Hunger

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Baked potato No. 1 satisfying hunger

by Don Mauer

The Daily Herald

What a mess.

I've spent a lot of time and effort compiling information on the glycemic

index in an effort to better understand what high-protein, low-carbohydrate

food plans really do, or don't do. As I read various studies, published

papers, corporate pronouncements and Web sites devoted to the subject I

found myself becoming more confused.

What's the glycemic index you ask? The GI is a method created to represent

numerically from 0 to 100, how quickly a food that contains carbohydrates

elevates blood sugar levels compared to glucose's rate (100). The higher the

GI number, the faster the rise in blood sugar; the lower the number, the

slower the rise.

The original intent of the index was to assist diabetics in making informed

and intelligent food choices.

But it's become a tool for low-carbers and that got me more curious about

the index.

My confusion began with potatoes, those sensational spuds that are so

wonderful baked or in a classic summer salad. So many low-carb dieters

turned their backs on potatoes that potato sales dropped significantly. So

why have potatoes gotten a bum rap?

Let's look first at its nutritional makeup. A standard baked potato weighs

in at 5.5 ounces or 156 grams. Seventy-five percent of that potato's weight

(118 grams) comes from water; 22 percent (34 grams) comes from

carbohydrates, 3 percent (3 grams) from protein, and the very small portion

that remains comes from sugar and fiber. Total calories: 145.

Those numbers certainly don't seem to make the potato a villain. The

sometimes mysterious and frequently misunderstood glycemic index is to blame

for the bad rap. The GI of a baked potato: 85. That places it on the high

end of the GI and indicates that ol' spud elevates blood sugar levels

quicker than low GI foods, like peanuts (15) or dried apricots (31) and even

granulated sugar (62).

After losing more than 100 pounds in 1990, part of my weekly weight

maintenance food plan included a baked potato joined by steamed broccoli and

a tossed salad with low-fat dressing. Often times that dinner fell on the

same evening I'd be off to teach a class about low-fat food plans. During

the three-hour class, plus the time before and after it, not once did I want

to eat more.

Based solely on my own experience, I wondered, even though baked potatoes

have a high GI rating, why make an issue of it?

At about that same time I came across an article, " What Really Satisfies? "

by University of Sydney researcher na Holt. Holt conducted a study to

determine different foods' ability to satisfy hunger. The study participants

were given fixed amounts of food (240 calories) and then rated their

feelings of hunger every 15 minutes thereafter. Participants could also eat

freely for the next two hours.

At the study's end, Holt rated each of those foods' ability to satisfy

hunger and stave off eating. The number one food, able to stave off hunger

and maintain a healthy sense of fullness: spud the evildoer.

No other food ranked half as high as the baked potato to accomplish this

feat. French fried potatoes were little better than a slice of white bread

at producing satiety.

Apples, whole wheat pasta, oranges (not orange juice), oatmeal, popcorn and

eggs all did a good job satisfying hunger. Croissants, cake and doughnuts

fell at the bottom of this new index.

Holt's study verified my own experience when it came to how satisfying and

helpful a baked potato can be as part of a healthy weight maintenance food

plan.

Now you know why I'm better informed but still confused. I do know this,

though: We still have a lot to learn when it comes to food, diet and weight.

Try this recipe: Bacon dresses up a baked potato, so how about a bacon and

baked potato salad? You can bake the potatoes anytime, like when baking

others for dinner one night. You can do the bacon ahead as well; oven-baked

bacon comes out leaner without losing it's great smoky flavor.