Benefits of Rainbow Potatoes

I was at my local health food store when I spotted a collection of multicolored potatoes. I was almost overwhelmed with excitement. There were red, orange, yellow, blue, and violet new potatoes-- all with both pigmented flesh and skin. These multicolored potatoes are rare and generally very expensive, so I was thrilled about the opportunity to buy some for my own culinary experimentation. My friend, comparing my excitement to a certain YouTube viral sensation, asked me if the tubers were "starting to look like a triple rainbow."

While my eagerness to sample multicolored tubers might be a little over the top, there's good reason to be excited about rainbow potatoes. Potatoes with pigmented flesh and skin offer several nutritional benefits not found in standard white-fleshed potatoes. Here are just a few of the benefits associated with rainbow-colored potatoes.

1. Rainbow potatoes contain more nutrients. Nutritionists often suggest that people "eat a rainbow" for optimum health. As a general rule, the more color a food has, the better its nutritional properties. Richly pigmented foods such as blueberry and blackberry are among the healthiest in the world, while white potatoes and white rice lag behind. Just as deep-green lettuces contain more calcium, beta carotene and vitamin K than iceberg lettuce, "rainbow" potato varieties contain far more nutrients by volume than their plain-white counterparts. For example, Yellow Finn potatoes are rich in beta carotene, a precursor to vitamin A, while white potatoes contain little or none of the compound.

2. Pigmented potatoes are powerful antioxidants. Antioxidants are compounds that help to defend the body against the damages associated with reactive oxygen compounds known as free radicals. In protecting against cellular damage, antioxidants may prevent the signs of aging, several forms of heart disease, and most types of cancer. The Adirondack red potato, first cultivated in 2004, is a rich source of antioxidant carotenoid compounds similar to those found in red fruits like cranberry, raspberry and goji. The variety's close cousin, the Adirondack blue potato, contains anthocyanins, which are very potent antioxidants most famously found in blueberry, elderberry and acai.

3. Rainbow potato varieties promote biodiversity. Many varieties of pigmented potato are heirlooms that have survived the homogenization of modern agriculture. Currently, almost all potatoes come from a few cultivars. And, as the Irish potato famine tells us, it only takes one disease to wipe out an entire population of a plant if all cultivars are closely related. Rainbow potatoes help to preserve biodiversity while resisting the modern agricultural industry, which engineers, homogenizes, and ultimately jeopardizes domesticated and wild plant species. By supporting the development of pest-resistant, organic, nutritious varieties of potato, we help to preserve a future for ourselves and the species who share the planet with us.

4. Kids and picky eaters are more likely to eat rainbow potatoes. Culinary artists emphasize the importance of creating a beautiful image, as well as a delicious flavor, in prepared foods. Even the grownups among us would prefer to eat a meal full of color than a pile of whitish slop. You can get your kids, and any other picky eaters in your life, more interested in veggies by offering the novelty and fun of multicolored potatoes. They'll get all the nutrition of healthy vegetables while enjoying the appearance of an exciting novelty food.