FOOD OVER 50

Unloading Carbs: Reducing Dietary Starch

Potatoes, pasta and rice are just a few examples of our daily intake of carbohydrates, and each is on the menu in this episode. But as we age, we should unload some of these excess starches and sugars in favor of better choices and more modest portions. That's why David and Elizabeth have chosen three excellent recipes to illustrate how unloading carbs doesn't mean eliminating them altogether. From the studio kitchen in Palm Springs, David prepares classic parsley potatoes with the skin-on, for added nutrition, and sauteed in healthful and flavorful olive oil. Then it's off to Scotland for an out-of-kitchen adventure to collect fresh cockles on Uig Sands before adding them to an extraordinary whole wheat fusilli vongole. The cockles boost the lean protein intake while the whole grain pasta equals complex carbs, which are better for us. And finally it's back to the studio kitchen for vegetable and brown rice pilaf, with added onion, carrot, zucchini, dates and walnuts, further reducing empty carbohydrates and enhancing flavor. Most importantly, registered dietician Elizabeth Kelsey educates viewers about the importance of unrefined carbohydrates in what we eat during her "Second Helpings" segment. Healthy, whole-food carbs are excellent brain food and important for gut health. She also emphasizes portion. Healthy meals should consist of a single carbohydrate, not two or three, and the portion should not exceed a quarter of our plate. Finally, David recaps the show with another inspiring "Earn What You Eat" segment, this time from a rowboat on Loch Morsgail, rather than a rowing machine in a sweaty gym.