Are Potatoes Healthy? (2023)

FAQs

What is unhealthy about potatoes? ›

The carbohydrate concern

Another reason potatoes get a bad rap is their high starch or carbohydrate content. In general, foods high in carbs can cause spikes in blood sugar, which generate a short burst of energy, followed by feeling hungry and tired a short time later.

In fact, potato is actually packed with nutrients that make it an ideal weight loss food. Dietician Garima Goyal told HT Digital that potatoes are high in fibre as well as resistant starch and can keep one full for longer periods. She says that it could prevent overeating.

Potatoes are considered a starchy vegetable and a healthy carb. They're high in fiber (when including the skin), low in calories, and include vitamins and minerals. Most potato varieties have a higher glycemic index (GI).

Eating one medium-size potato a day can be part of a healthy diet and doesn't increase cardiometabolic risk — the chances of having diabetes, heart disease or stroke — as long as the potato is steamed or baked, and prepared without adding too much salt or saturated fat, a study by nutritionists at The Pennsylvania ...

Interestingly, potatoes are not only rich in complex carbohydrates but are also more nutrient-dense (a wide variety of minerals, vitamins, and micronutrients) as compared to white rice and white pasta. In addition, potatoes provide large amounts of fiber and are more satiating than other carbohydrate sources.

Like any food, potatoes are fine to eat in moderation. “Healthy food choices should include a variety of starchy and non-starchy vegetables,” says Dunn. “In fact, the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans includes up to 5 cups a week of starchy vegetables for those needing 2,000 calories a day.”

Baked, mashed, or boiled, potatoes actually provide more energy-delivering complex carbohydrates than a cup of pasta. All varieties--russet, red, yellow, purple, and sweet--contain impressive quantities of vitamins and minerals. Plus, they're easy to digest and prepare.

According to Julie Upton, MS, RD, and member of our Medical Expert Board, the healthiest way to eat your potatoes is to leave the skin on and bake them. "The healthiest way to eat a potato is baking it with the skin on," says Upton. "Baked potatoes add no additional calories like frying or roasting with oil."

Red Desiree Potatoes are part of the Red Potato family and are considered to be the healthiest of all potatoes, as they contain the highest levels of vitamins, minerals and healthy phytochemicals.

But a word of caution: “Skinless white potatoes have a very high glycemic index — meaning they raise your blood sugar quickly,” says Kate Patton, MEd, RD, CSSD, LD. Depending on what you eat with a skinless white potato, you may experience a blood sugar crash and quick drop in energy.

Do potatoes cause blood sugar spike? ›

They're also chock full of starch, which is a carbohydrate. But even though a potato is considered a complex “healthy” carb, your body digests these carbs faster than other kinds of complex carbs. These broken-down carbs flood your blood with sugar. This makes your blood sugar spike quickly.

White rice is considerably higher in calories and net carbs, while potatoes are 5.5 times richer in dietary fiber. Potatoes also provide 3 times more vitamins B2 and B6, 15 times more potassium, and 2 times more magnesium. At the same time, white rice provides 2 times more vitamin B1 and folate and 2 times less sodium.

Yes. Eat the skin to capture all the russet potatoes nutrition. The potato skin has more nutrients than the interior of the potato. It has lots of fiber, about half of a medium potato's fiber is from the skin.

Yes, it is safe to consume potatoes every day as long as you cook them without much salt or saturated fats. One medium-size potato can be part of a healthy diet. It doesn't increase cardiometabolic risk and the chances of having diabetes and heart disease.

A common misconception is that potatoes are mostly fat and calories, but the truth is potatoes have close to zero fat and cholesterol, and are low in calories. Not only are potatoes not bad for you, but they are loaded with vitamins, minerals and health benefits.

Yukon Gold potatoes are also a great source of vitamin C (70 percent of DV), a good source of vitamin B6 (31 percent of DV), and potassium (26 percent of DV), which is important for heart health. They're also low in sodium and contain a useful dose of manganese (12 percent of DV) and folate (9 percent DV).

Soaking the cut potatoes for at least five minutes or rinsing them under cold water removes the starch from the surface, but there is no evidence that soaking removes a significant amount of carbohydrate.

They're rich in vitamin C, which is an antioxidant. Potatoes were a life-saving food source in early times because the vitamin C prevented scurvy. Another major nutrient in potatoes is potassium, an electrolyte which aids in the workings of our heart, muscles, and nervous system.

And unlike white bread, the starch in potatoes hasn't been refined to deplete nutrients. Potatoes also deliver niacin, vitamin B6, folate, vitamin C and magnesium. They're a great source of potassium, which helps regulate blood pressure.

While they can certainly be prepared in unhealthy ways—such as oil-drenched french fries or salty potato chips—potatoes in and of themselves are not unhealthy; in fact, they're incredibly nutritious and are foundational to a whole-food, plant-based diet.

Are baked potatoes unhealthy? ›

Yes, baked potatoes are healthy. There's nothing inherently wrong with including potatoes in an otherwise healthy, balanced diet. The only pitfall here is preparation. A plain baked potato is a rich source of fiber, vitamins, and minerals that provide protein, and is low in fat and sodium.

How do potatoes affect blood sugar levels? Like any other carb-containing food, potatoes increase blood sugar levels. When you eat them, your body breaks down the carbs into simple sugars that move into your bloodstream.

A baked potato is also a good substitute for a side of mashed potatoes. While the calorie content of a small potato is similar to that of mashed potatoes, it offers a more fiber — 12 percent of the daily value — and supplies 19 percent of your vitamin C needs.

Aside from being high in water when fresh, potatoes are primarily composed of carbs and contain moderate amounts of protein and fiber — but almost no fat.

Soaking potatoes in water helps remove excess starch. Excess starch can inhibit the potatoes from cooking evenly as well as creating a gummy or sticky texture on the outside of your potatoes. Cold water is used because hot water would react with the starch activating it, making it harder to separate from the potatoes.

According to USDA data, microwaving potatoes is the best way to retain its nutritional value, boiling potatoes causes the most nutrient loss, and frying adds fat and extra calories. None of the cooking methods destroy fiber. Still, potatoes are rich in key nutrients regardless of how they are cooked.

Regardless of what you've chosen to do with the peel, your potatoes will cook more quickly if you cut them up into chunks before boiling. They don't have to be super small, especially if you are going to be mashing them, but know that the smaller you cut the potatoes, the faster they will cook.

The Healthiest Potato is the Red Potato

After taking into account the mineral density, the vitamin density, the macronutrient balance, the sugar-to-fiber ratio, the sodium-to-potassium ratio, and the phytochemical profile, red potatoes are the healthiest potato with data from the USDA Food Database.

For its part, the National Potato Council maintains that potatoes, regardless of how they're prepared, are a healthy vegetable, rich in vitamin C and potassium and low in calories. At Signature Medical Group, we care about your health.

Sweet potatoes are often touted as being healthier than white potatoes, but in reality, both types can be highly nutritious. While regular and sweet potatoes are comparable in their calorie, protein, and carb content, white potatoes provide more potassium, whereas sweet potatoes are incredibly high in vitamin A.

Who should avoid potato? ›

Diabetes and obesity: Potatoes, even plain, contain high levels of simple carbohydrates. This may not be beneficial for people with diabetes or obesity when eaten in excess. Like all foods, potatoes should be eaten in moderation and as a source of carbs, like rice or pasta, rather than as a vegetable.

Nightshade vegetables, such as potatoes, tomatoes, and eggplants, contain solanine. This substance may increase the leakiness of the intestines and affect the gastrointestinal microbiota, indirectly increasing the inflammation relating to arthritis.

Can people with diabetes eat potatoes? According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), starchy vegetables such as potatoes can be included in the diet of a person with diabetes. The total amount of carbohydrate consumed at any given meal or snack is what is most important.

People living with diabetes should look to avoid vegetables with a high GI rating, as the body absorbs blood sugar from those foods much quicker compared with low-GI foods. This includes artichokes, asparagus, broccoli, celery, cauliflower, eggplant/aubergine, green beans, lettuce, peppers, snow peas and spinach.”

A new study suggests incorporating potatoes into a healthy diet can be a safe choice for people with diabetes. Adults with type 2 diabetes who ate a mixed evening meal with skinless potatoes had a lower overnight blood glucose response compared to a meal with low-GI basmati rice.

And unlike white bread, the starch in potatoes hasn't been refined to deplete nutrients. Potatoes also deliver niacin, vitamin B6, folate, vitamin C and magnesium. They're a great source of potassium, which helps regulate blood pressure.

The information gathered leads us to a conclusion that rice, especially brown or parboiled kind (white one with added nutrients) is a better choice than potatoes thanks to its high vitamin content and low glycemic index.

Cold Water Soak

A quick rinse under cold water can wash away much of the surface starch. More starch is removed from a cut potato than a whole peeled potato, because a greater surface area is exposed on cut potatoes. Soak them in cold water for as long as a few hours to remove more starch than by rinsing alone.

White potatoes belong to the nightshade family of vegetables, which includes tomatoes; like tomatoes, raw potatoes contain solanine, a compound that is toxic to some dogs. However, cooking a potato reduces the levels of solanine. If you do feed your dog a potato, it should be baked or boiled, with nothing added to it.

The more color in the potato, the more antioxidants it contains. On top of that, the skin of the potato can have up to 12 times more antioxidants than the flesh. So, don't be afraid to eat your potato skins. Baked potato skin is a great source of potassium and magnesium.

How long should I boil a potato? ›

Cubed spuds will take around 15 minutes where larger chunks or whole new potatoes will be 20-25 minutes. To check when they are done, pierce the potatoes with the tip of a knife to see how much resistance there is. If it goes in easily, you're done!

Bananas and potatoes each provide B-complex vitamins and small amounts of other vitamins without an abundance of calories or fat. Overall, a potato is richer in vitamins and other essential nutrients.

Yes, potatoes can help reduce belly fat due to the presence of fibre, vitamins, minerals, and other beneficial nutrients. However, it is essential to prepare them healthily and incorporate them into a healthy balanced diet.

Still, she said, “I would suggest eating less than four servings a week.” If you need more convincing, Borgi said, take a look at the latest dietary guidelines, which suggest women consume no more than five servings of starchy vegetables a week and men, six.

Yes, the humble potato is definitely a vegetable, and it most definitely can be healthy to include them in your diet.

Summary. Potatoes contain drastically more vitamins, especially the B group, while tomatoes are rich in vitamin A, vitamin E, vitamin K, and vitamin c. Tomatoes contain fewer calories and carbohydrates. On the other hand, potatoes are rich in micronutrients such as calcium and potassium.

Reports of potato poisoning state that unripe, sprouting, or green potatoes contain toxic alkaloids, including solanine. When ingested, they can cause drowsiness, weakness, apathy, and gastrointestinal symptoms. This is rare — in most cases, potatoes are safe to eat and are a staple food in many countries.

Potatoes are a good source of fiber, which can help you lose weight by keeping you full longer. Fiber can help prevent heart disease by keeping cholesterol and blood sugar levels in check. Potatoes are also full of antioxidants that work to prevent diseases and vitamins that help your body function properly.

Red Desiree Potatoes are part of the Red Potato family and are considered to be the healthiest of all potatoes, as they contain the highest levels of vitamins, minerals and healthy phytochemicals.

Baked potatoes are a naturally low-fat, low-cholesterol food. They're also packed with potassium, which some research suggests can greatly reduce risks of heart disease.