Dear Coach,

     I’ve heard you speak on the benefits of eating a starch-based diet, but I always thought that starches make us fat. Aren’t starches carbs? How can I lose weight if I’m eating starches and carbs such as potatoes?  – Karen

Dear Karen,

Thanks for your great question about an often misunderstood topic! Many people are surprised when they hear it’s OK to eat starches and potatoes!

But here’s the thing…

It isn’t the Complex Carbs such as potatoes that make us fat….it’s FAT that makes us fat. Let me explain.

There are two types of carbs:

Complex carbs include whole foods – potatoes, yams, beans, corn, rice, squash, barley, legumes, veggies, fruit, and whole grains. These healthy carbs convert to glucose in our systems, which is our main source of energy and the body’s preferred source of fuel.

Our good gut bacteria thrive on the fiber found ONLY in complex carbs/plant foods, plus our brains depend on getting enough complex carbs as well.

Refined carbs include processed items made with stripped/enriched flours, added fats and oils, refined sugars, and sodium – such as donuts, hot dog buns, snack cakes, cookies, cakes, corn chips, toaster pastries, and soda pop.

Choose healthy, complex carbs but avoid the refined junk carbs:

There’s a big difference between a bowl of black bean chili (complex carb)
and a slice of glazed coffee cake (refined carb).

Consider a baked potato

Only 1% of the calories in a baked potato come from fat. That is, however, until we fry the potato in grease to make French fries (46% fat) or we convert it into potato chips (56% fat). Or until we smother that potato with butter, cheese, sour cream, and bacon bits – adding a BIG dose of fat and lots of cholesterol as well.

So the complex carb potato at 1% fat is NOT adding to our weight struggles. Our troubles begin when we convert that potato into a refined carb junk food, or douse it with high-fat toppings.

Carbophobia…

…is the intense or obsessive avoidance of anything carb related.

Click here to learn the biggest reasons behind Carbophobia, and why it’s important to avoid this condition.

Plus you’ll find two easy potato recipes – Fit Fries and Sweet Potato Wedges! Super easy and delicious.

Anyone walking through a retail store these days knows that Valentine’s Day is right around the corner!

Red, heart-shaped boxes of chocolates line the aisles because clearly, it’s going to sell. About 58 million pounds of chocolate are purchased the week of Valentine’s Day (that includes the candy that 43% of Americans buy for themselves).

Exchanging chocolate has become one of the most popular ways to commemorate the day of love.

Legend has it that the Mayans were the first people to connect love and chocolate around 500 BC when they started brewing drinks made from cocoa beans as part of their wedding rituals.

Dark chocolate has incredible health benefits (when it isn’t combined with milk, sugars and fats, that is). From improved artery function and blood flow to antioxidants which help prevent disease, dark chocolate in the form of cocoa or cacao powder is a wonderful way to indulge without sacrificing your health.

This year, how about surprising your loved ones with a home-made chocolate treat that demonstrates your affection AND protects their hearts?

Here are a few of our favorites:

Vegan Chocolate Cake – sugar free option included

Chocolate Fundue (use as a dip or a frosting)

Chocolate Pumpkin Loaf (one of our favorites!)

Easy Vegan Chocolate Mousse  (top with strawberries)

Chocolate Sauce – Drizzle over fruit or Red Velvet Sorbet (recipe below)

Red Velvet Sorbet: Combine in a food processor: 4 large, ripe frozen bananas (peeled first); 10-oz frozen raspberries; 2 TBS cacao (or cocoa) powder; 4-5 dates, chopped. Blend until smooth and creamy. Taste and add more dates if needed.

Enjoy these treats fully (but sparingly)! Proverbs 25:16(b) reminds us – eat too much chocolate and you’ll make yourself sick. (MSG) 

(PS: February is Heart Health month. A whole food, plant-based, no-added-oil diet not only prevents heart disease, it’s the only diet capable of unblocking arteries and reversing even advanced stages of the disease. As Dr. Esselstyn says: heart disease is a toothless paper tiger that need never exist, and if it does exist, it need never progress. That’s great news – it means we have more control over our #1 killer than we may have ever imagined!)

 Happy Valentine’s Day!