Potatoes and Why To Avoid Them

Americans eat a lot of potatoes: the phrase “meat and potatoes” was not coined without reason. Walk into any American diner, and it is likely you can get potatoes served any number of ways: baked, french fried, tater tots, hash browned, scalloped, even turned into pancakes! It is safe to say that potatoes are a staple of the American diet.

For many people, potatoes are considered a healthy part of their diet. Potatoes are a good source of carbohydrates, which are a good source of energy, which is important for people that are active or that expend a lot of energy. And while they do contain other nutrients, it is important, however, to remember how carbohydrates get digested. Simple carbohydrates, like the ones found in potatoes, immediately convert to sugar upon digestion. Metabolically, the body mostly sees potatoes the same way it would see a piece of cake.

For those of us adhering to the Kaufmann 1 Diet, this can be problematic. The Kaufmann 1 Diet seeks to avoid sugar, including foods that convert to sugar upon digestion. This is because one of the primary goals of the Kaufmann 1 Diet is to starve existing pathogenic yeast and fungi that may have colonized in the body. These organisms can, under the right conditions, gain a stronghold in the body and cause a variety of symptoms, many of which can be difficult to diagnose and/or mimic other diseases.

Under ideal conditions, those organisms can thrive, creating even worse health problems. What would those ideal conditions be? In a perfect world, ideal conditions would include a steady stream of fungi’s food of choice––sugar. If you look at the diet most Americans eat, it is a diet rich in carbohydrates; these come by way of breads, grains, sugar and carbohydrate rich food, such as potatoes. Particularly when foods such as these are consumed on a daily basis, we can create an environment in our bodies where pathogenic fungi can thrive.

By eliminating such foods, however, in favor of nutrient dense vegetables, meats, healthy oils and fruits low in sugar, we can create an environment unfavorable to pathogenic fungi, which may be an ideal diet for promoting health.

For this reason, potatoes and other high carbohydrate foods are eliminated from the Kaufmann 1 Diet. With the exception of sweet potatoes in moderation––which are high in anti-fungal nutrients––potatoes remain eliminated on Kaufmann 2. So while you may have to skip out on the fries or tots, you’ll miss out on consuming a high amount of sugar as well.