It’s the #1 vegetable that we eat in America. So how do we get more nutritional value from it?
In 2019, 49.4 pounds of potatoes were eaten per person.
This is driven by our high consumption of French fries. To be fair, the USDA makes that statement because we eat more potatoes by the pound, and potatoes are heavier than green, red, yellow or purple vegetables. But none-the-less, we are eating tons of them by the pound, so why are they unhealthy for us they way we are eating them, and how would we get a bigger nutritional bang for our buck?
You may know this- the majority of the nutrition is in the skin. Still, most of us throw the skins away. But worse than that, most of the French fries we are eating are fried in GMO Omega 6 Oils.
The tweaks to improve the nutritional value for our bodies are minor but make a HUGE difference.
Let’s start with the value of the nutrition in the peel, since this series is about cutting down food waste.
If you eat the potato with its skin, it becomes a nutritional powerhouse.
“Potato skin contains B vitamins, vitamin C, iron, calcium, potassium and other nutrients. Potato skin also provides lots of fiber, about 2 grams per ounce. If you eat a medium baked potato, including the skin, you’ll get nearly 4 grams of fiber, 2 milligrams of iron and 926 grams of potassium.” According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
The minerals are concentrated in the skin, and the vitamins are as well. A medium (5.3 oz) potato with the skin contains 620 mg of potassium and 27 mg of vitamin C. 1 Removing the skin eliminates approximately 150 mg of potassium and 4.5 mg of vitamin C.[i] So by not eating the skin, you are leaving the greatest amount of the nutritional gifts on the table.
The meat of the potato is a resistant starch, which feeds the good bacteria in your gut. So, so far, potatoes are getting a bad rap.
Potatoes are more energy packed than any other vegetable. And not only are WE WHAT WE EAT, it is now understood that WE ARE ALSO WHAT OUR GUT BACTERIA GET TO EAT.
It’s what we do with potatoes that make them so friggin’ unhealthy.
Potatoes are a dirty crop. They are sprayed with pesticides and herbicides and insecticides while growing. They are sprayed with sprout inhibitors in storage. These chemicals are highly soluble, so they penetrate the skin of the potato. You can only remove 24% with hard scrubbing. Peeling gets rid of 70% of the poisons but the rest remains in the potato and the peels are the most nutritious part of the vegetable.
By peeling the potato, you remove 50% of the antioxidants of the potato and you need the fiber in the peel. The fiber slows the release of glucose into your bloodstream. BUY ORGANIC AND EAT THE PEEL.
And potatoes come in a wide variety of colors, and great phytonutrients are in the colors. Have you seen a blue French fry lately? You can make one at home using a healthier Omega-3 oil and a blue fingerling potato.
So, to start off, buy your potatoes at the Farmers Market. Eat the different varieties and the various colors because that’s where the greatest nutrition is. Diversity, diversity, diversity will give you all the gifts that the potato has to offer.
Next, do NOT eat GMO oils. All the French fries that we eat out of the home are fried in these cheap vegetable oils that are loaded with BT Toxin. Do you think that eating the #1 vegetable from a batch of poisonous oil could possibly be good for you? What are the omega-6 oils? Soy oil, Corn oil, Canola oil, vegetable oil.
By cooking and making potatoes or even French fries at home, you eliminate can all those toxins. Eat them with the skin on, enjoy its nutritional goodies and tmake sure it is an organic potato because otherwise, you are eating toxins.
“Potatoes are also fat-free, gluten-free, plant-based, affordable, and a quality carbohydrate. They are cholesterol-free and sodium-free, with only 110 calories per 5.3oz serving. Based on the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs), potatoes can help Americans of all ages follow a healthy eating pattern. By choosing potatoes, Americans can take simple steps toward eating healthier across every stage of life.”[ii]
So, what do I additionally share in my class?
Which potatoes to buy?
Where to find the colors and include all the varieties? What gifts do the different phytonutrients in a potato offer?
What months are the different potatoes available in your neighborhood at your farmers market, or in your CSA box?
How long do they last?
How to store them?
Do you store them on the kitchen counter, on a refrigerator shelf or in the crisper drawer?
But best of all, there is a way to turn that potato from a high glycemic potato to a low glycemic potato, which means it won’t spike your blood sugar when you eat it.
Eating the potato in all the colors with the skin on suddenly becomes guilt free and super good for you. Want to know more?
My new course on Why Food Quality Matters and How to Get the Most for your Organic Buck is coming soon….
Save the food waste and enjoy all the benefits to your body at the same time. Its a Win, Win…..
Watch this space……