Aug. 18, 2025

Potatoes - Hidden Dangers Lurking in Your Favorite Comfort Food

Potatoes - Hidden Dangers Lurking in Your Favorite Comfort Food

“Welcome back to Chasing Eden, the podcast where we rediscover what it means to eat like humans were designed to. I’m your host, Caroline Thompson. And today, we’re talking about one of the world’s most beloved—and misunderstood—foods: the potato.
are comfort food. They’re mashed at Thanksgiving, fried at fast food chains, and hidden in the crispy edges of potato chips. But according to food archaeologist, chef, and author Dr. Bill Schindler, we’ve strayed far from the way our ancestors prepared and ate them.
So today, I’m going to take you on a journey through the history of potatoes, the surprising dangers of eating the wrong kind—yes, even that green potato chip you may have crunched without thinking—why French fries can be toxic landmines when fried in seed oils, and how you can reclaim potatoes in your diet the way nature intended.
We’ll also talk about how to grow your own, and a powerful biohack: how freezing cooked potatoes can blunt their glucose spike, making them healthier than you might imagine.If you’ve ever loved French fries—or feared them—this episode will blow your mind. Let’s dig in.”See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Welcome back to Chasing Eating, the podcast where we rediscover

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what it means to eat like humans were designed to.

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I'm your host, Carolyn Thompson, and today we're talking about

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one of the world's most beloved and misunderstood foods. The potato.

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Potatoes are comfort food. They're mashed at Thanksgiving, fried at

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fast food chains, and hidden in the crispy edges of

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potato chips. But according to food archaeologist, chef and author

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doctor Bill Schindler, we've strayed far from the way our

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ancestors prepared and ate them. So today I'm going to

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take you on a journey through the history of potatoes,

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The surprising dangers of eating the wrong kind, yes, even

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that green potato chip you may have crunched without thinking,

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Why French fries and can be toxic landmine when fried

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in seed oils, and how you can reclaim potatoes in

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your diet the way nature intended. Well. Also talk about

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how to grow your own and a powerful biohack, how

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freezing cooked potatoes can blunt their glucose spike, making them

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healthier than you might imagine. If you've ever loved French

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fries or feared them. This episode will blow your mind.

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Let's dig in. Well, potatoes, according to historical data, originated

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in the Andes, not what you might expect. I actually

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thought they originated in Ireland, How about you. The potato

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is native to the highlands of South America, cultivated by

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the Inca people thousands of years ago. They grew hundreds

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of varieties, each adapted to different altitudes and soil. Would

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be really surprised at potato diversity. Peru still boasts over

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four thousand varieties of potatoes. Colors range from deep purple

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to golden yellow, nutrients vary. Purple potatoes, for instance, are

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rich in anthocyanins, antioxidants also found in blueberries, so you

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might be surprised to hear how our ancestors ate potatoes.

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Potatoes were never eaten raw. Indigenous people used methods like soaking, fermenting,

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and even freeze drying, a method they called chuno to

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reduce toxins and make starches digestible. So even back in

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that time, they understood how to treat the potatoes prior

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to consuming them in order to maximize absorption and aid

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in digestion. Doctor Schindler reminds us this we have to

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remember that every single plant we eat has a defense mechanism.

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Our ancestors learned how to neutralize those defenses, but today

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we've forgotten those skills. Potatoes contain natural toxins called glyco alkaloids,

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especially in the skins or when exposed to light, which

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makes them turn green. Ancient preparation methods were designed to

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minimize those risks. Now, I don't know if you've heard

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about the diet craze. I'm trying to remember the name

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of the doctor, but it just isn't I can't think

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of it right now. But he has written a book

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and he has a lot of videos online and warns

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people against the plants and plant foods and how they

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will attack your gut and actually put holes in your

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stomach and cause leaky gut. So his diet actually tells

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people advises them to avoid all of these foods, and

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that includes potatoes because of the skins and how they

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have this. They don't call it a glycoalkaloid. He actually

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calls it something else, maybe just for easier wording for

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people to understand. So there are several other things like

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tomatoes that also have these defense mechanisms in them, and

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people will go to great links to prepare them properly

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so that they can still consume them. I have a

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friend who actually will cook her potatoes in a pressure cooker,

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saying that that's the only way to kill what she

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calls lectins in the tomatoes. She will also freeze them,

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and she says that that also aids in killing the lectins,

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so then she can consume them without them affecting her

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digestion or her gut health. So anncient preparation methods were

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designed to minimize the risks. But potatoes, in case you

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didn't know, have a fairly decent nutritional profile. They actually

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have macro nutrients in them. Now we do know that

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they are primarily a starch carbohydrate. They're very low in fat.

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It's a moderate protein. There's about two grams per medium potato.

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But believe it or not, they have a surprisingly complete

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amino acid profile. They don't just have macro nutrients, they

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also have some micronutrients. Potassium. Potatoes actually have more potassium

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than a banana. They have vitamin C. Historically, sailors would

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save them and eat them, and they help them to

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prevent them from getting scurvy, Vitamin B six, magnesium, and

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iron are also in a potato. Surprisingly, now, with certain

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varieties there's different benefits. For instance, sweet potatoes, though technically

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not really potatoes, but they're considered a cousin of the potato,

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are rich and beta caroteene. The purple potatoes, some of

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you might know if you're into the different eating the rainbow,

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they're high in antioxidants. The white and yellow potatoes, now,

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these are energy rich, potassium dense foods, these particular types.

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But there's a catch, and you probably already know this.

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Potatoes are high on the glycemic index. And for those

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of us who don't want to spice are glucose levels

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who have been diagnosed with things like resistant type weight loss.

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Maybe you have an issue with losing weight even though

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you diet and you're being really really good, and you

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go to the doctor and he says, you know, you're

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metabolically resistant or you're pre diabetic, then potatoes would be

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something you would be advised most likely to stay away

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from it because it's a starch. So they can be

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a bit demonized right now because there's a lot of

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people out there eating low carb and the carnivore diet.

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It's pretty big right now. The keto diet got really

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big with doctor Burg and I'm not sure if he

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advises eating any potatoes at all, or if so as

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a very small amount eaten in large amounts, especially if

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fried potatoes can spike your blood sugar and that we

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as we know it leads to crashes and long term

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metabolic stress. There is a hidden danger in potatoes that

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a lot of people don't know, in the green potatoes.

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So what's a green potato? When potatoes are exposed to light,

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they produce chlorophyll and glyco alkaloids like solanin. The danger

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is that the solanine is toxic, so the symptoms are nausea, vomiting,

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and neurological effects. So if you're you've got a bag

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of potato chips and you come across a green potato chip,

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believe it or not, it might not kill you, but

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it can deliver enough glycoalkaloids to upset your body. So

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most people don't realize that the potato plant itself, the leaves, stems,

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and unripe tubers, is actually poisonous. We only eat the

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underground tuber and even then only when properly harvested and prepared.

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Doctor Schindler would call this another example of how disconnected

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modern eaters are from their food. We trust the bag

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of chips at the gas station forgetting that one green

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chip may be carrying a hidden toxin. Now, if you've

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listened to my podcast on seed oils, this isn't going

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to surprise you. If you haven't, you might want to

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go back and listen to that because the French fries

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that you're getting at fast food restaurants are most likely

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most always fried in seed oil. So French fries, we

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love them, The whole world loves French fries, but they

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become nutritional disasters thanks to industrialization and I like to

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say capitalism, because seed oils are very inexpensive to come

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by and the fast food chains really like to use them. Now,

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most of the chains fry the potatoes in industrial seed

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oils like soybean, canola, or corn oil. These oils are

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high in omega six fatty acids. They are oxidized at

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high frying temperatures. They're linked to inflammation, heart disease, and

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metabolic dysfunction. The healthiest way to enjoy your fries is

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by using traditional fats like beef, tallow, duck fat and

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coconut oil. Cut and fry your potatoes fresh, not pre

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frozen or coated, and pair them with protein and fiber

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to blunt the glucose spikes. Doctor Schindler warns, it's not

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the potato itself that's the problem. It's how we process it.

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When you take a whole food, strip it down, fry

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it in seed oils, and load it with additives, it's

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no longer a food. It's a science experiment. Have you

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ever thought about growing your own potatoes? Why grow them? Well,

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they're cheap, they're easy, they're abundant, one of the few

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crops that can sustain life in hard times. Freshly grown

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potatoes taste far richer than stobot So how do you

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grow them? Plant seed potatoes with eyes in well drained soil.

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Mound soil over the stems as they grow to protect

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tubers from light. Avoiding the green potatoes. You can harvest

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when the plants flower and die back. You can store

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them very easily in a cool, dark place. Now, never

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refrigerate raw potatoes. They convert starch to sugar, altering taste

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and nutrition. So you may have heard of this resistant

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starch hack because it's become a bit viral and common

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on social media. So before I talk about this, I

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want to say that every time I get a loaf

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of sour dough bread, it gets thrown in the freezer first.

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And this is why it's a starch hack. It helps

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to lower the glycomic impact of that starch. So when

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potatoes are cooked and then cooled, some of the starches

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turn into resistant starch. These fibers can resist digestion in

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the small intestine. The benefit is a lower glucose spike,

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and it feeds healthy gut bacteria. It improves insulin sensitivity.

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So how do you do it? You can boil or

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roast your potatoes. You can let them cool in the

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fridge and then reheat gently or eat cold. Think potato salad.

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The modern hack, and I like this one, is freezing

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and thawing the potatoes because that increases the resistant starch

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even more. It's a strategy for biohackers so that we

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can enjoy potatoes without the sugar. Roller coaster. Potatoes are

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one of the world's most important foods. They've fueled empires,

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ended famines, and comforted families, but they also hold hidden

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dangers green toxins, industrial frying oils and blood sugar crashes

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that keep us hooked. Doctor Bill Schindler reminds us that

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the potato itself isn't the enemy. The problem is how

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far we've strayed from ancestral preparation, how we've turned a

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nourishing tuber into a toxic fast food experiment. The good

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news you can take potatoes back, grow them yourself, fry

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them in real fats, cool and reheat them for resistant starch,

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and above all, respect the wisdom of nature and history.

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If this episode opened your eyes, please subscribe to Chasing

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Eden and share it with a friend who loves French fries.

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For show notes and resources, you can visit our website

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at Chasing Eden dot net. Until next time, may your

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food behold, your fries be fried in tallow, and your

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potatoes never be green. Thanks for joining me.