b'Harvard School of Public Health, Mediterraneanmodel,sometimes ety.But in the Glycemic Indexspresented it as a superior alterna- disappearingitaltogether.This appraisal,chocolate(GI=~40)tivetoexistingfoodpyramids. trend, in large part, owes itself to would be deemed doubly superiorSince then, a succession of presti- the work of scholars who use soli- to boiled potatoes (GI = ~78). Itsgious healthcare institutionsthe tary, narrow measuring sticks, like far-fetchedtothinkthatadieti-AmericanDiabetesAssociation, the glycemic index (GI), to vilify cianwouldeverprescribe,totheAmericanHeartAssociation, potatoesinabsolutetermsan someone striving for balanced eat-and the Mayo Clinic, among other approach that T. Colin Campbell, ing,afull-oncandybarbingehousehold nameshave followed co-author of the landmark China ratherthanahandfulofboiledsuit in declaring their support for Study, would wave off as reduc- potatoesthatdeliverasatiatedthe diet.tionist biology.You only need to feeling at a fraction of the calories,bringasecondmetricintothe andwithahostofnutrientstoStrangely enough, in spite ofor equationtoseejusthowflawed boot.Andyet,thisisthecaseperhapsbecauseofthe thislogicis.Accordingtothe whentheGlycemicIndexMediterranean paradigm being in SatietyIndex(SI)afoodvalue becomesthebe-all,end-all.Thevogue for so long, and hence sub- scoringsystemcoinedby mathdoesntadduphere;thatjectedtotheendlessscrutinyof UniversityofSydneyscientist much is obvious. But for the pota-scholarsandthegeneralpublic, SusannaHoltthereisnofood tos adversaries, arithmetic doesntno one seems to agree on a defini- more filling than boiled potatoes: matter. For most of the populace,tion.Moreoftenthannotits at323%(100,thebaseline,is however,itdoespresentingusdescribed in the broadest of terms: where white bread sits), they are with the platform to drive homecharacterized by the balanced use nearly 100% more filling than the the point to the public that pota-of foods rich in fiber, antioxidants second-most satiating food, found toes,whenviewedinadifferentand unsaturated fats, a 2013 jour- to be Ling fish Boiled potatoes are light, come out on top. nal article writes. almost twice as satisfying as beef(176%),morefillingthanmuch- InevitablythisargumentwontListingoutmacronutrientsand celebrated brown rice (132%), and cutitfortheadversarialpartiescompounds that appear in dozens, over four times as hunger-alleviat- out there, who will likely attemptifnothundreds,ofdietsbeyond ingasaMarscandybar(70%). the claim that the Mediterraneanthe Mediterranean doesnt get us Whywouldthismatter?Because modeland many others like itany closer to consensus. But this therearestrongindicationsthat includethepotatoasanafter-generality is not such a bad thing: satietycorrelatestoimproved thought,ifatall.Butthatitgivesustheopportunityto weight management. One widely becomesaprettytoughclaimtoreview the facts and write our own citedstudyfoundahighlikeli- make the moment data (courtesydefinitionone that brings pota- hoodthatnegativeenergybal- ofFAOSTAT)enterthefray.Intoes to the fore. Over time, certain ancei.e. a fat-burning metabol- both per capita consumption andvocalpartieshavesucceededin icstateresultedfromlower availability, the potato is clearly apushingthetuberfurtherdown spontaneousenergyintake prominentstapleinthethe pecking order of foods in the broughtaboutbyenhancedsati- Mediterraneanregion,andinMAY/JUNE 2020 POTATO GROWER 25'