[spinksy]

Can anyone help with the answers?

1. Do potatoes count as veges or breads/starches?
2. Are chickpeas (hummus) vegetables or otherwise?
3. Can you count the V8 Splash as a fruit/vege serving?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

[leader]

Hi there. Hope this helps:

1. Since we don't do the "selection" plan anymore, potatoes count how ever you want them to. Points are points, and we really don't assign them a category. They can be either a vegetable (but one 3 point potato still counts as a single serving of a vegetable, and you CANNOT count french fries) or as a carb if you're following the basic model of 6-8 points a day in proteins, and 6-9 points a day in carbs.

2. Chickpeas count as either a protein or a carb -- but again, it's more about the points. If you are a vegetarian, they would count more in the protein category -- but if you're eating hummus, it doesn't matter -- they count as the points you're eating and not necessarily limited to one category or the other.

3. No. You cannot use V-8 splash, the fruit drink, as a fruit (or veg) serving. First of all, it's not all juice -- it's artificially sweetened, and has very few nutrients and no fiber. You can count regular Vegetable Juice v-8 as a veggie (as w/ tomato juice) but you can't count any fruit drink as a fruit, unless it's fruit juice. Period. Bummer. (by the same token, you can't count potato chips as a vegetable, either).

[mpinkham]

Leader, I understand that we don't do selections anymore, but I am a believer that we have to try to be mindful of food groups anyway. Isn't that what "The Right Mix" is all about? I am a firm believer that the best way to do this program is to be sure we spend our points on a variety of food groups. I use an excel spreadsheet that helps me do that by having columns for points per food group as well as total points. Anyone who wants a copy can e-mail me at [email protected].

Here are my answers:

Potatoes count pointwise as carbs as they are a starchy vegetable but they also count toward the five fruits and veggies we are supposed to have

Chick peas are legumes and therefore not vegetables. They could be a carb or protein or you can divide points between the two.

I have never had V-8 splash. I don't know how much fruit juice it has and how much it has to have to count as a fruit.

[CIN]

Just had to add my 2 cents worth....a potato is a potao whether in the form of fries,baked,boiled or uncooked and YES it is a vegggie! Our previous WW book even listed French Fries under Veg.Dish! So there you are!

Deep frying a potato for fries makes it higher point but it is still a potato!

WW Cin

[QuilterInVA]

A potato is a starchy vegetable. It counts as a serving of bread/starches/carbs. Is is not now nor has never been a 0 point veggie. The same is true of carrots, corn, lima beans. If in doubt, go to the FDA site and look at the food pyramid.

[mpinkham]

No one said it was a non point veggie, but it is a veggie as far as the five fruits and veggies you are supposed to have every day. But I do agree, it has points and you have to count that.