Potatoe, friend or villain?

Jesus Wept

Dan Quayle would be proud of this thread.

jane82

Our Year wrote: »

Dan Quayle would be proud of this thread.

Did he invent the quale egg?

CeannRua

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

Go ask 300 years of Irish history. mostly potato, small amounts of milk, oats and meat. Before the famine Irish people were observed to be 'very fair', good bone structure and lack of crowded teeth is indicative of good nutritive status.

Or go ask the highlanders of Papua New Guinea, whose diet is 90% sweet potato:

http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.ie/2010/05/sweet-potatoes.html

Would height be considered an indicator of good nutritive status? I've read some stuff about pre-Famine Ireland that suggests that Irish people were comparatively tall compared to British people, for instance. The results of the research weren't all that definitive though.

El_Dangeroso

CeannRua wrote: »

Would height be considered an indicator of good nutritive status? I've read some stuff about pre-Famine Ireland that suggests that Irish people were comparatively tall compared to British people, for instance. The results of the research weren't all that definitive though.

Not really, generally height correlates a lot with dairy consumption.

Precious flower

Mellor wrote: »

It's a fact that a person once made the above claim, but it's not necessarily a fact that he was right.

Well a number of historians I have read up (as I had to do an essay on the Irish Famine for university) on seem to agree that the amount was roughly somewhere between 10-14lbs per person, so they hardly plucked that number out of thin air. I believe as well Irish people at the time were roughly about two inches taller than their English counterparts due to the good nutrients they received from the potato. Anyway, I don't mean to turn this into a history thread. The conclusion really is, potatoes are not evil.:)

CeannRua

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

Not really, generally height correlates a lot with dairy consumption.

Was thinking as much.

CeannRua

Precious flower wrote: »

Well a number of historians I have read up (as I had to do an essay on the Irish Famine for university) on seem to agree that the amount was roughly somewhere between 10-14lbs per person, so they hardly plucked that number out of thin air. I believe as well Irish people at the time were roughly about two inches taller than their English counterparts due to the good nutrients they received from the potato. Anyway, I don't mean to turn this into a history thread. The conclusion really is, potatoes are not evil.:)

It's years since I read works about the Famine but the most detailed statistical analysis about height I remember reading was by Cormac O Grada. I only had a quick look at this yesterday but the difference between Irish and English people is 1 inch rather than 2 inches. I don't think the difference was all down to the potato http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/hism_0982-1783_1996_num_11_1_1472

El_Dangeroso

Just in case anyone is interested in the Irish diet before the potato, it was milk, with a side of milk, and a glass of milk:

http://www.bonappetit.com/trends/article/what-the-irish-ate-before-potatoes?utm_content=buffer16d0c&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Mellor

Caliden wrote: »

Sweet potato is about as similar to potatoes as chicken is to a battered sausage

Not really. And its pretty clueless to suggest that.
This idea that the sweet potato is the good twin is largely false. They have slightly different nutrient profile, but its minor.
I think it started with the low GI diet, sweet potatos were painted as far superior due to being lower GI. Even ignoring the fact that GI on its own is pretty uselss, the different in GI between the two potatos applies to them when RAW. Cook them and the difference is negligible

sea_monkey

Mellor wrote: »

Not really. And its pretty clueless to suggest that.
This idea that the sweet potato is the good twin is largely false. They have slightly different nutrient profile, but its minor.
I think it started with the low GI diet, sweet potatos were painted as far superior due to being lower GI. Even ignoring the fact that GI on its own is pretty uselss, the different in GI between the two potatos applies to them when RAW. Cook them and the difference is negligible

This
Sweet potato has slightly more calories and quite frankly makes useless mash which lets be fair is the most important factor here.
It is less filling in my experience but it is nice once in a blue moon as a change. I think i read somewhere that it has more fibre but I'm not sure.

jane82

Sweet potato is like justin bieber normal schpud is like the vengaboys. Equally as talented one is just more popular than the other right now.