Is Rutabaga a starchy vegetable

[Strawberry60]

My question is about starchy veg.
In general I have no problem understanding the concept.
However I took a look at a Dr McD list of starchy veg to clarify it and noticed he listed Rutabaga or Swede as it is named in the UK.
That surprised me, so I checked some nutritional tables.
My findings were that Rutabaga is lower in calories and sugar than carrots which are listed as non starchy.
My gut tells me that it is a non starchy veg. Am I mistaken?
I will be grateful if you will clarify this for me.
Many thanks

[Mark Cooper]

My understanding is that rutabaga is a starchy vegetable, but one that is quite low in calorie density. The rutabaga technically has more starch, but fewer total calories per pound than an equivalent weight of carrots. I believe butternut squash is similar, in that it has a relatively low calorie density, but is still considered to be a starchy vegetable.

I want to empasize that this is just my personal understanding and I would definitely defer to one of the moderators or representatives of the program for a definitive answer.

To my mind, if one were to use rutabaga as the primary starchy vegetable in the diet, it might be a concern that overall calorie density might be low enough to lessen overall satiety, which for some could lead to a binge or other setback - 10lbs of rutabaga is less than 1400 calories. I love rutabaga, but tend to think of it as included in the vegetable portion of my meals, despite it being a starch.

To illustrate this it is helpful to look at an equivalent weight of a given food, e. g.

454g (1 lb) cooked Rutabaga - 136.2 calories, 8.2g fiber, 1.4g starch, 17.9g sugars (31.1g carbohydrates in total)
0.8g fat, 4.2g protein
415.6g water
87% calories from carbohydrates

454g (1 lb) cooked Carrots - 158.9 calories, 13.6g fiber, 0.8g starch, 15.7g sugars (37.3g carbohydrates in total)
0.8g fat, 3.5g protein
409.4g water
90% calories from carbohydrates



To give comparison here are two more calorie dense starchy vegetables

454g (1 lb) Potatoes, Baked, Flesh and Skin - 422.2 calories, 10g fiber, 78.4g starch, 5.4g sugars (96g carbohydrates in total)
0.6g fat, 11.4g protein
340g water
91% calories from carbohydrates

454g (1 lb) Sweet Potato, Baked - 408.6 calories, 15g fiber, 32g starch, 29.4g sugar (94g carbohydrates in total)
0.7g fat, 9.1g protein
344g water
92% calories from carbohydrates

and here is a fruit with similar calorie density to the potatoes

454g (1 lb) Bananas, raw - 404.1 calories, 11.8g fiber, 24.4g starch, 55.5g sugar (103.7g carbohydrates in total)
1.5g fat, 4.9g protein
340.1g water
93% calories from carbohydrates

[Strawberry60]

Mark
Thank you for your reply.
I feel the same as you, it doesn't quite have the same impact as for instance sweet potato.
And as I understand it the starches are there for satiety purposes.
But yes perhaps I will try and see if I can get a moderators advice as you suggest.
Many thanks for the effort you put into answering this.