A couple of quick questions on starches :-)

Hi all, just trying to clarifying some things for me :-)

1) Oats are no longer mentioned here but were mentioned on Carbs 101 as a good source of carbs: is it ok to use oats for starches? (asking because I never tried oats before in my life and they're kinda fun to eat for me and my daughters for a change ;-)

2) Jasmine rice is mentioned specifically: any real difference with basmati or about the same?

3) Now more complex question (at least for me): yesterday I tried spaghetti squash for starch at dinner and a large portion cooked purple carrots as part of my veggies. Intuitively, for me, the carrots felt more like the starch while the squash was light and felt more like the vegetable. Would it be possible to have some explanation as to why carrots cannot be used for carbs and why the squash is great? I'm not saying it shouldn't be at all, I have no idea :-) I just wanted to understand more of the mechanisms at work to better get the big picture :-)

Many thanks!

Julien

1) yea oats are fine. I updated the essays with the most frequently asked questions in the forum here and it didn't make the cut. Nothing wrong with them given you get the gluten free real oats. No instant. 

2) Same. I just didn't list every single type of rice for the sake of brevity

3) Good question it does require a bit of an explanation. Spaghetti squash is pretty light on calories. Compared to white rice its something like 1/2 the carbs. So its not the most dense sources of carbs but there is no other way to cut it Squash is a starch. Carrots kinda quasi could be a starch but not really and they are pretty light in the carbs department. 

Many thanks Jeff!

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1) yea oats are fine. I updated the essays with the most frequently asked questions in the forum here and it didn't make the cut. Nothing wrong with them given you get the gluten free real oats. No instant. 

Got it regarding quality. Now is as good a time as ever to ask about the comparison of buckwheat and oats :-) I've tried to research the phytic acid content of both and from my research, which I may have done wrong actually, buckwheat seems as low or even lower in phytic acid as oats, and both get great amount of minerals, vitamins, etc. (though not the same).

When you have time to expand on buckwheat, I'd be very interested :-)

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3) Good question it does require a bit of an explanation. Spaghetti squash is pretty light on calories. Compared to white rice its something like 1/2 the carbs. So its not the most dense sources of carbs but there is no other way to cut it Squash is a starch. Carrots kinda quasi could be a starch but not really and they are pretty light in the carbs department.

What's confusing for me, because I think I'm missing a point somewhere in the reasoning, is that carrots have 10g of carbs per 100g whereas spaghetti squash have only 7g. And yet the squash are considered the starches and not the carrots. The difference I could find was that squash are starchy and carrots are non starchy vegetables, which probably explains your guidance.

My issue is that I do not understand the difference it makes between starchy/non-starchy :-( If you could expand on that difference, maybe others would be interested too :-) Since it seems it is important to not only consider the total carbs but also to distinguish between starchy et non-starchy carbs, then it should help a lot to understand the difference between the two and why you guide us towards starches :-)

Thanks again for the great support :-)

Julien

Hey Julien, here is the lowdown on carbohydrates:  Carbs consist of multiple different molecules: simple sugars (glucose/fructose, e.g.), di- and tri-saccharides (2 or 3 sugars bonded together, like lactose, maltose, e.g.) and polysaccharides (lots of sugars in a long chain, aka complex carbohydrates).  Polysaccharides can be digestible or not.  Fibers are non-digestible polysaccharides.  Starches are digestible polysaccharides.  Because they have really long chains, it takes the body a while to digest and utilize the simple sugars that make up the molecule, thus a lower glycemic index.  

Regarding your question comparing the carbs of carrots vs spaghetti squash, the carrots have more carbs, but less starches.  They have a little more fiber, and a fair bit more sugar, and that makes up the difference.  

Hope that helps make it a little more clear.