When people say rice/potato/insert carb have no nutritional value

This drives me crazy. I hear it way too often, mostly from older women. They hear me mention something I ate or plan to eat and immediately have to chime in- "rice has no nutritional value."

During my pregnancy, there was a bit of time when I could only eat potatoes without getting sick. Multiple women I know told me there was no nutritional value to potatoes and that I will gain too much weight and have an overweight baby.

These things are not straight sugar- they have vital micronutrients while providing much needed carbs. This drives me nuts.