What Can I Eat on The Starch Solution Diet? Food List

The Starch Solution is a popular starch-focused whole food plant-based way of eating designed by Dr. John McDougall and Mary McDougall. Here's a comprehensive food list of what you can and can't eat when following The Starch Solution.

I have read The Starch Solution several times, as well as Dr. McDougall's other books. My personal review of the book: It's incredibly insightful, educational, and motivating.

What is The Starch Solution?

The popular book, The Starch Solution, was written by Dr. John A. McDougall and his wife Mary and was published in 2012.

The Starch Solution diet or way of eating is based on the recommendations in this book. Many health benefits are outlined as a result of eating this way. Learn more about this style of eating and its benefits on Dr. McDougall's free website.

This way of eating can be described as starch-based.

While it is not a salt- and sugar-free diet, he recommends using salt and sugar sparingly, sprinkled on top of food rather than cooked into the food, where much of the pleasurable taste is lost.

🟢 What to eat freely

"The cardinal rule of the Starch Solution is that you must center the food on your plate around starches, adding color and flavor with non-starchy vegetables and fruits."

- page 189, The Starch Solution

The best thing about The Starch Solution's way of eating is the incredible diversity of foods you can eat. Whole grains, starchy vegetables, root vegetables, non-starchy vegetables, beans, peas, lentils, legumes, fruits of all kinds, many condiments, spices, herbs, seasonings, and more!

🌾 Whole Grains

Whole grains of all varieties are eaten regularly on this starch-based diet.

• Wheat
• Barley
• Oats (rolled, steel-cut, groats, instant)
• Rice (brown, white, red, black rice)
• Quinoa
• Buckwheat
• Rye
• Bulgur (cracked wheat)
• Couscous
• Corn
• Millet
• Wild rice
• Teff
• Amaranth and more!
• The flours of any grains, including products made with flour like whole-grain bread, pasta, whole-grain pasta, tortillas, etc.

While whole grains are most healthy and recommended most highly, you can also eat some refined grains.

If you have celiac disease, you, of course, would want to stay away from any whole grains that contain gluten.

🥔 Starchy and Root Vegetables

Starchy foods like root vegetables are to be eaten regularly on this high-starch diet.

• Potatoes (all varieties: white potatoes, red potatoes, gold potatoes, fingerling, russet, etc.)
• Sweet potatoes and yams, including all varieties such as Japanese sweet potatoes, purple sweet potatoes, Murasaki sweet potatoes and Korean yams
• Turnips
• Jicama
• Water chestnuts
• Cassava
• Yuca
• Plantains
• Corn and more!

Enjoy oil-free french fries, potato wedges, baked potatoes, roasted sweet potato, Mexican street corn salad (esquites), corn on the cob, and more.

🧆 Legumes, Beans and Lentils

This includes all the varieties of beans, lentils, and peas, too.

• Black beans
• Pinto beans
• Kidney beans (red and white cannellini beans)
• Soy beans
• Chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
• Navy beans
• Great Northern white beans
• Lentils (red, black, green or brown lentils)
• Black-eyed peas
• Green peas
• Split peas
• Dal/dahl (prepared without ghee, dairy or animal products)
• Pigeon peas
• Fava beans
• Butter beans and more!
• Unrefined flours of beans, lentils or peas, as well. For example, chickpea flour, lentil pasta made from lentil flour, etc.
• Whole soybean products like tofu, soy curls, tempeh, edamame, etc.

🥦 Non-Starchy Vegetables

You're encouraged to eat plenty of vegetables in addition to the main attraction: starch.

They cannot be considered the centerpiece of your plate, since they won't keep you full and satisfied for very long. Use vegetables to add color, flavor and variety to your meals.

Any and all vegetables, such as:

• Onions
• Lettuce
• Leafy greens, like spinach, kale, swiss chard, collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, bok choy, yu choy, ong choy, watercress
• Peppers, sweet bell peppers, jalapeño peppers, poblano peppers, serrano peppers, hot peppers
• Tomatoes
• Squashes, yellow summer squashes, winter squash, zucchini
• Celery
• Carrots
• Mushrooms
• Cauliflower
• Broccoli
• Eggplant
• Asparagus
• Brussels sprouts
• Cabbage, green or purple, napa, savoy, etc.
• Olives
• Avocados
• Cucumber
• Gai lan (Chinese broccoli)
• Ginger
• Garlic
• Green beans and more!

🍊 Fruit

Any and all fresh and dried fruits are allowed and encouraged on The Starch Solution.

• Apples
• Bananas
• Strawberries
• Blueberries
• Raspberries
• Blackberries
• Red currants
• Black currants
• Oranges
• Lemons
• Limes
• Grapes
• Dates
• Raisins
• Golden raisins
• Melons
• Mangos
• Pineapples
• Grapefruit
• Kiwifruit and more!

🌰 Nuts, seeds and nut butters

All varieties of nuts and seeds.

• Peanuts and peanut butter
• Almonds and almond butter
• Cashews and cashew butter
• Sunflower seeds and sunflower seed butter (sunbutter)
• Sesame seeds and tahini
• Flaxseeds and flaxseed meal
• Pumpkin seeds
• Pepitas
• Hemp seeds and hemp hearts
• Pistachios
• Brazil nuts
• Macadamia nuts and more!

🥛 Plant-based milks

Plant-based milks are allowed but it's recommended that they be used sparingly in cooking.

Be sure to check ingredient labels, as many plant-based milks contain oil, which is not allowed on this eating plan. I've taste-tested many plant-based milks and wrote about my top picks, especially the best alternative milk for tea or coffee.

• Rice milk
• Almond milk
• Cashew milk
• Soy milk
• Hemp milk
• Oat milk and more!

🥫 Condiments

Your food should be delicious! Use condiments to add flavor and interest to your meals. You can even make your own homemade sauces!

• Ketchup
• Mustard
• BBQ sauce
• Hot sauce (our favorites are Cholula and Tabasco Chipotle)
• Salsa
• Hummus
• Sriracha
• Soy sauce
• Teriyaki sauce
• Mirin
• Hoisin sauce (vegetarian)
• Vegetarian mushroom-based oyster sauce
• Chili garlic paste and sambal oelek
• Vinegars such as: apple cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar, white wine vinegar, rice vinegar, Chinese black vinegar, and more!
• Mayo made with approved ingredients, such as this silken tofu Miracle Whip copycat mayo or this chipotle mayo
• Sour cream made with approved ingredients, such as this tofu sour cream

🌱 Spices and Seasonings

Spices, herbs, and seasonings can boost flavor and turn an ordinary dish into an extraordinary one, like the spices pictured above that I use when making my plant-based Texas chili.

I can't possibly list all the amazing spices, herbs and seasonings in the world here, but I'll list some of the most popular where I live and the ones I use most frequently in my cooking.

• Basil
• Cilantro/coriander
• Parsley
• Tarragon
• Dill
• Mint
• Salt (all kinds, sea salt, kosher salt, smoked salt, etc.)
• Black pepper
• White pepper
• Aleppo pepper
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder
• Smoked paprika, sweet paprika, hot paprika
• Cayenne
• Ground coriander
• Ground ginger
• Ground nutmeg
• Ground cinnamon and cinnamon sticks
• Red chili flakes
• Ground turmeric
• Ground cumin
• Chili powder and chile powders
• Saffron
• Star anise
• Cloves
• Allspice and much, much more!

🟡 Foods to limit

Here is a list of the foods Dr. McDougall recommends to limit, or eat in small amounts.

• Avocados
• Soy products (tofu, tempeh, soy curls, edamame)
• Dried fruits
• Flours (whole grain, white, all-purpose, all varieties)
• Fruit and vegetable juices
• Nuts and nut butters
• Peanuts and peanut butters
• Seeds and seed butters
• Coconut, coconut milk
• Simple sugars (table sugar, maple syrup, molasses, agave)

🔴 Foods to avoid completely on The Starch Solution

To get the best results following this diet, avoid the following foods.

• Animal products and animal foods
• Meat, such as beef, pork, lamb
• Poultry, such as chicken, turkey, duck
• Fish, shellfish, and seafood
• Dairy products, such as milk, cheese, yogurt, sour cream, ice cream
• Eggs
• Animal fats, such as lard and butter
• Vegetable oils, including olive oil, corn, flaxseed, canola and safflower
• Highly processed and packaged foods, except for ones containing only permitted ingredients
• Junk food

In the words of another food writer, Michael Pollan, "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."