White Potatoes
There are lots of differing opinions about everything, as you know, but my take is this: When people talk about restricting white food it's because most white foods are heavily processed and refined, and made white, such as flour, pasta, and white sugar.
Cauliflower and white potatoes, for example, are white but not processed, so it's mostly the cooking methods (deep frying, for example) or the toppings (such as butter, salt, and cheese) that are the real problem with white potatoes.
Refined carbs are the worst carbs, and their quick absorption causes increased blood-sugar levels, insulin spikes, and cravings for more. So although white potatoes have plenty of carbs, they are natural and thus are not on my "must avoid" list.
And white potatoes do have good nutritional value. That said, sweet potatoes are better all-around than white potatoes. White potatoes have more calories than sweet potatoes, and sweet potatoes have lots of Vitamin A, as well as magnesium and Manganese (though they also do have more sugar). Neither have fat and both have some fiber and protein.
So whether or not to eat starchy and carby white potatoes probably has more to do with your metabolism, insulin response, and need to restrict calories. If you are counting calories, then you probably know that a medium plain potato has about 150 calories, which can be high if you are trying to seriously restrict your caloric intake.
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