Dr. McDougall's Online Discussion Board

The McDougall list of starch staples includes butternut, hubbard and pumpkin squash.
According to Cronometer, per 200grams, the starch in
......Butternut = 5.3grams starch
......Hubbard = 2.0grams starch
......Pumpkin = 0.4grams starch

But in 200 grams of green garden peas, there are 7.8 grams of starch, and green garden peas are allowed on the Mary's Mini as a non starchy veggie as per the 2016 Mary's Mini Webinar.

I'm wondering are the above squash treated as non-starchy veggies for the purposes of the Mary's Mini? Thanks. JoAnn

FIrst, lets look at Calorie Density

Butternut - 182 cal/lb
Hubbard - 136 cal/lb
Pumpkin - 91 cal/lb

And our favorite starch,
Baked Potato - 422 cal/lb

Most “starches” are between 350-650 cal/lb so we can see that those 3 are all low, virtually as low as many foods counted as non-starchy veggies like carrots (158 cal/lb). So just based on calorie density, it would be difficult to “fill up” on these as the main starch.

Now lets look at starch but as a percent of calories, which is the best way to look at this..

Butternut - 26.8%
Hubbard - 8.4%
Pumpkin - 3.2%

Baked Potato - 74.8%

As you can see, the percent starch in these foods is fairly low with some being very low.

Being so low in calorie density and so low in starch, It is hard to see how they would work as the main starch.

In Health
Jeff

Thanks for your reply Jeff. Much appreciated!
I wonder if someone will revisit the Starch Staples list on the McDougall website, which notes "(Carrots, beets, turnips, daikon, and salsify are low in carbohydrates and calories and so are not considered starch staples.)"
It would help if there were comments in the squash section too.
JoAnn

Jeff - another question involving Cronometer

Melissa's Produce Squash, banana, fresh, cubed

For 200 grams (67 calories)
..Carbs.....17.2 grams
Fiber......3.4 grams
Starch......blank
Sugars.....5.2 grams
..Net Carbs...13.8 grams

To get the amount of starch, is it 17.2 minus 3.4 minus 5.2?
That would be 8.6 grams, right?
So still not a lot of starch for the Mini.

Thanks, JoAnn

There is no nutrition info for banana squash in the USDA database. The only one you see occasional is some analysis program was put there by either the company or someone who bought it and either way, you can tell they just used the numbers on the nutrition label, which are limited.

However, based on all the other winter squash I checked, and their numbers, I would bet it is similar to the other winter squash I analyzed above.

So, given the calorie density and % starch of these, it would be hard for me to see how it would successfully work as a main starch but if it works for you, my best!

In Health
Jeff

Hi again,
Had occasion to check rutabagas, and for 200gm cooked Cronometer had
60 calories
0.6gm starch
7.9gm sugar
Using your method Jeff, I figured % of starch was 4.379
So that is definitely not enough starch to stand on it's own.

So I'm wondering why rutabagas are even on the McDougall Starch Staples List.
Can be confusing.

Thanks, JoAnn

JOJO1947 wrote:Hi again,
Had occasion to check rutabagas, and for 200gm cooked Cronometer had
60 calories
0.6gm starch
7.9gm sugar
Using your method Jeff, I figured % of starch was 4.379
So that is definitely not enough starch to stand on it's own.

So I'm wondering why rutabagas are even on the McDougall Starch Staples List.
Can be confusing.

Thanks, JoAnn

Yes. I agree.

But as time passes, we learn more.

In Health
Jeff

I combined a few threads into this one and changed the name. I think it will help clarifying things by keeping all the info in one thread. I also changed the name as I think the implications and relevance go beyond any one version of the program and actually apply to all of them.

Also, there is often quite a bit of confusion around the programs and creating the 10 Point Checklist for the MWL program really helped to clarify and simplify the MWL program. I then did one for the Regular Program. I am going to do one for the Mary's Mini which I think will help clarify and simplify the program and all the questions that come up.

In Health
Jeff