Sensational Health Benefits of the Potato

Potatoes get a bad rap from diet-conscious consumers today. Given the popularity of the South Beach Diet and other high protein diets, potatoes are considered high-carb, has-beens in calorie-counting circles, and deemed off limits in some sports locker rooms. There's more evidence that potatoes don't get the respect they so rightly deserve. After all, what do they call someone who has seen one too many episodes of Law and Order, Housewives, Entourage or The Office? That's right: the Couch Potato.

But, potato lovers, take heart: at the end of the day, potatoes don't live up to their billing as fat-people's food. No matter what the low-carb, no carb diet crowd wants you to believe, today's health and nutrition experts remind us that potatoes are actually good for you.

Potatoes: Ready When You Are

Potatoes are versatile vegetables. You can prepare in so many, different ways, placing potatoes among the least boring vegetables on earth. There are between 4-5,000 varieties of potatoes grown worldwide. In addition, no matter how potatoes are prepared, mashed, baked or roasted, potatoes are available year-round in your grocery store or farmers market.

Potatoes: Healthy Treats for Your Dinner Table

Potatoes belong to the nightshade family of vegetables, tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers, among them. They are the swollen portion of the underground stem which is called a tuber and is designed to provide food for the green leafy portion of the above-ground plant. If allowed to flower and fruit, potato plants will bear an inedible fruit resembling a tomato.

Potatoes: Nutritional Value

According to Nutrition Data, a website that tracks and reports on the nutritional value of the foods we eat, one large potato, baked with flesh and skin intact, and prepared without salt, has 278 calories but 0 grams of fat. The same potato has 63 carbohydrates, 7 grams dietary fiber, 4 grams sugar, 4 grams protein. A potato has 83.7 mcg folate and 44.8 mcg calcium which combine to make potatoes a good choice for over health and wellbeing.

Potatoes, according to Nutrition Data, are a healthy addition to your diet and low in saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium. Potatoes are a great source of Vitamin C, Vitamin B6, potassium, manganese, folate and calcium, among other important vitamins and minerals.

Experts at Mayo Clinic remind us that vegetables and fruits are excellent sources of vitamins and minerals; they are low in calories and rich in dietary fiber. Vegetables and fruits also contain substances found in plants that may help prevent cardiovascular disease. Eating more fruits and vegetables may help you eat less high-fat foods, such as meat, cheese and snack foods. The potato is one such, healthy food.

Potatoes: Heart Healthy and So Much More

Nutritional experts report that with the exception of Vitamin A, white potatoes have just about every nutrient in them. You see, potatoes are packed with Vitamin C, though if you're not careful you can lose this benefit in cooking. The overall health benefits of eating potatoes cannot be overstated. One baked potato offers about 20 percent of the daily recommended amount of Vitamin B6, which is sensational news for your heart. Indeed, a potato a day is good for your heart and, even more, keeps blood pressure levels in the normal range.

Potatoes' Resistant Starch Helps Fight Cancer, Diabetes, Obesity Today

There's some interesting research that's been conducted in studies in Australia, among other countries including the United States, on the cancer-fighting properties of potatoes. Depending upon how the potato is cooked or prepared, the "resistant starch" found in potatoes, along with rice, pasta, beans and green bananas, has been shown to reduce the cancer risk associated with the consumption of red meat. From what the data suggests, the protective properties of the potato is particularly important in cases where cold, potato salad has been served alongside grilled, red meat.

Resistant starch has also been shown to increase levels of anti-diabetes and anti-obesity hormones, making the case for potatoes and like vegetables even stronger. A number of studies are underway, funded by the National Institutes of Health, should yield even more data for consumers on the health benefits of potatoes and other vegetables. The potential of these incredibly, healthy vegetables was also underscored in an article for Prevention Magazine,

"As a dieter's tool (vegetables that contain resistant starch) can't be beat: Not only does it increase your body's ability to burn fat, but it also fills you up and reduces overall hunger. Its health benefits are truly impressive as well. Studies show it improves blood sugar control, boosts immunity, and may even reduce your cancer risk." Prevention Magazine (2008)

RESOURCES

Mayo Clinic
www.mayoclinic.com

National Institutes of Health
www.nih.gov

Official Website of the Idaho Potato
http://idahopotato.com

Nature's Fat-Burning Breakthrough: Why eating carbs can help you slim down--and how to do it right
By D. Milton Stokes, RD in Prevention Magazine, 2008.

Dietary resistant starch upregulates total GLP-1 and PYY in a sustained day-long manner through fermentation in rodents
By June Zhou, Roy J. Martin et al in Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab, 2008.