starch

Question
QUESTION: Hi I just recently bought a nice juicer and i was wondering if juicing will remove the starch from my vegetables.

ANSWER: Hi Jonathan.
Juicing removes most of the solid matter from the fruit or vegetable you put through it. The issue here is that the stuff left behind, commonly referred to as pulp is in fact what contains the fiber and a lot of nutrients. This is not to say the juice itself isn't good.
But why are you looking to remove starch? Technically starch isn't even the right word to use since vegetables are fibrous carbs whereas something like oats are starchy.
If you are concerned about carbs I wouldn't worry. As I said vegetables are mostly fibrous material and water, there is little if any carb impact going on. Vegetables are usually considered a free for all.
Fruit as well is a fibrous carb source, however they do contain fructose which is a form of sugar.
When it comes to the impact of carbs look at it like this.
1. Vegetables- Low/none
2. Fruit- Low
3. Complex carbs (oats, whole wheat, sweet potato, quinoa) - Medium
4. Simple carbs (sugar, white flour, white rice) - High


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I see. ok yea because I was wanting to juice carrots and Acorn Squash, but because I have heard that starch is not good for people in large amounts and wasn't sure if while removing the fiber you also removed the starch. is that the case? and yes I'm not only juicing but also blending as well. I was just looking at juicing as a way to avoid consuming to much fiber and starch. I've heard anything over 30g daily of each can be troublesome.

Answer
Hi Jonathan.
Starch is not bad for people. The concern comes in when addressing the person's carb tolerance and how their body handles starch. Some people are much better at this than others.
If you have a high carb tolerance then there is no reason you can't eat starch. However simply removing fiber doesn't negate the starch. Things like white flour and white rice are incredibly starchy foods. They each have the fiber and other parts of the grain removed.

When it comes to fiber though a general recommendation is 30 grams. Most Americans do not get this, and a lot get nowhere close. Fiber is very important to digestion. However excessive amounts can cause loose and excessive stools which can also cause dehydrating and loss of important vitamins and minerals. Thirty is a good number, its just not written in stone. If you somehow eat 35 then you're not likely to have any adverse effects except maybe making a few extra bathroom trips.  

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