Not for diabetics

When ensconced in a diabetes ward several years ago a gent in there whose potassium levels where found to be lowish was actually prescribed four bananas a day to help raise them I still have the odd one and during night when my BG was at 3.6 if I had had one available I would have eaten it.

helensaramay said:

"Not for diabetics".
Please remember there are many people with diabetes who manage their condition well and eat carbs.
It depends what type of diabetes and how it is treated.
People with diabetes are NOT all the same.
This forum can be wonderfully informative and supportive but when all that is considered is low carb and type 2, this can become narrow minded.

I am a frequent banana eater and occasional potato muncher and have good diabetes management.

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Yes, I do agree, but I think the point or claim being made is that you can survive on just those two things. Which I think is false. Not that you can't eat them, depending on your type.

DavidGrahamJones said:

The potato claim is overlooking the full facts.

You would have to eat 34 sweet potatoes a day, or 84 white potatoes, otherwise you would eventually run into a calcium deficiency. You would also need 25 white potatoes a day to get the recommended amount of protein.
It's also pretty obvious that not everyone can eat that amount of carbohydrate without being ill. So, a load of old tosh really.

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What is possible is not always what is beneficial the article says it is possible in that it is correct .
Lets not forget the humble potato was and is a staple for many people around the world and this included Ireland for many generations not out of choice it is true and maybe not the healthiest of diets but in the potato famine many perished from malnutrition for lack of that mainstay of their dietary needs.

I found the following link quite informative

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=48

DavidGrahamJones said:

The potato claim is overlooking the full facts.

You would have to eat 34 sweet potatoes a day, or 84 white potatoes, otherwise you would eventually run into a calcium deficiency. You would also need 25 white potatoes a day to get the recommended amount of protein.
It's also pretty obvious that not everyone can eat that amount of carbohydrate without being ill. So, a load of old tosh really.

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Isn't that where the butter comes in?

The nutrients in potatoes, and the fact that a small plot can, with careful tending, provide enough to feed a family, even with a lot of children, providing they were sent out to work as soon as possible - with the addition of one man's wage during the time between the birth of the first child and their first wages.
That is why the potato famine was so devastating in Ireland.
Small farms keeping cattle for milk and meat, small fields or big gardens around every cottage actually produced an excess population of strapping young people.
Eating the skin of the potato rather than peeling them is most beneficial as the micronutrients are stored in the outer layers.

helensaramay said:

Let's not get too excited.
Bananas are 23% carbs.
There is a huge difference between that and 100% pure glucose.

You may think I am being picky but for someone dosing insulin based on carbs eaten, this is a huge difference.

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Yeah well let's not get too excited. I very obviously wasn't being all that serious. As fruits go, bananas generally raise blood glucose very significantly. I don't think anyone was about to base their insulin dosing on a throwaway humorous comment on an internet forum