Hi everyone! I am currently cutting, but was just wondering about something I was reading earlier today in one of the posts. It was recommending losing brown rice in favor of sweet potatoes. Will this give me a greater advantage? Right now , for carbs I eat vegetables like brocolli and zucchini as well as brown rice and oatmeal. I am trying to cut fat and build muscle at the same time. I don't really need to lose any weight. Should I replace the brown rice for sweet potatoes? I just want the maximum results in the shortest time possible.

On another note, I was told by someone before that regular potatoes were better than sweet potatoes because they had no sugar and were fewer in calories, even though they were higher in the glyceimic index. Any thoughts?

Thanks! Any suggestions/advice is very appreciated. :)

Why not both:D They are both great foods to have on a bulk and a cut, though some prefer to leave rice out on a cut. If you plan your total carb consumption and your ratios, I don't see a problem having a bit of both in your diet. As for white potatoes, I don't know enough about the GI to help you there, but I can tell you that sweet potatoes offer a wide variety of antioxidents and vitamins/minerals that white potatoes don't.

Thanks! I'm gonna go get some sweet potatoes tomorrow. The only thing I want to make sure on is that it is ok even though it has so much sugar, about 13g of sugar per sweet potato. I thought you weren't supposed to have much sugar on cuts. Is this considered ok sugar, like natural sugar, and won't interfere with my cut?

Here's a quote from Jeremy on the topic of sugar. I hope it helps:

Three points:

Point One: Every carb becomes sugar once it is in your bloodstream. While some people worry over the sugar content, that's not the real culprit. One thing to think about is how nutrient dense is the food, i.e. refined sugar is nothing but simple sugars, but all-natural maple syrup actually has trace minerals, magnesium, etc, so it is more nutrient dense, and while green beans become sugars in your body they are LOADED with antioxidants, vitamins, and minerables ...

Point Two: Most of the concern for sugar is how it enters your bloodstream. As per other posts in this thread, post-workout you want sugars to enter quickly, other times you don't. However, people often lose sight of the big picture. Just because honey is a sugar, doesn't mean it is bad ... in fact, brown rice typically raises blood sugar faster than honey, so the argument that all sugars are bad goes out the window. It's another example of oversimplification. It's hard to focus on a balanced, wholesome diet full of fiber, vegetables, fruits, etc, and easier to just say, "I'm cutting back on sugars". Some people have trigger issues with sugar, i.e. it leads to binge eating, etc, and that's another story but for the most part sugar is not the enemy. I love putting maple syrup or organic jam on foods, etc.

Point Three: Don't trust the "sugar" field on the nutrition facts. Many shakes are loaded with maltodextrin, which is the same as sugar. Chemically, the molecule is a chain so it is considered a "complex carbohydrate" and doesn't have to be listed as sugar. Physically, however, the body has enzymes that break it rapidly into simple sugars and in fact it can spike blood sugar faster than table sugar.

Jeremy

Thanks! You have been amazingly helpful. :tucool:

Glad I could help - Welcome to JSF:tu:

Also, compare the nutrients shown on these two pages:

Sweet Potato (http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts-C00001-01c20h0.html)
White Potato (http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts-C00001-01c20f6.html)

Especially notice Vitamin A and Beta Carotene, both of which a sweet potato is full of and the white potato has little.

Also, the GI for a white potato, while having less "sugar", is 85. The GI for a sweet potato is a more moderate 61.

Most of the sugar in sweet potatoes is maltose, which is largely formed by breaking down the starches during cooking. In fact, this process involves natural enzymes found in the sweet potato, and if it didn't occur during baking, a very similar process would happen instead inside your body (starting very soon after it entered your mouth). So the end result is not much different from eating a food with more starch and less maltose.

Also, although maltose on its own would have a high GI, the other consituents of the sweet potato give it a low GI.