GoSouth

South African, Credible and Current

  • HOME
  • NEWS, FINANCE AND FEATURES
    • News & Opinion
    • Finance
    • Cape Independence
  • INTERESTING
  • NATURE, ANIMAL TALK
  • SCIENCE, TECH
  • LIFESTYLE, ART
  • HISTORY
    • Cape South Peninsula

Six reasons why potatoes are good for you

Potatoes have been given a hard time. Sergej Cash/ Shutterstock

Duane Mellor, Associate Dean Education – Quality Enhancement, Aston University
24 May 2021

The humble potato has been given a bad rap. What was once a cheap staple of many countries’ diets has instead been branded in recent years an “unhealthy” food best avoided.

Eating too much of any type or group of food (like carbohydrates) isn’t healthy, and some research suggests eating too many potato products in particular might be associated with higher blood pressure. But it’s typically the way we prepare and consume potatoes (like frying them) that cause negative effects.

In fact, potatoes contain a lot of vitamins and other nutrients that are important for health. Here’s six reasons why potatoes are good for you.

1. Vitamin C

People typically associate vitamin C with oranges and citrus fruit. But an important source of vitamin C in British diets for most of the 20th century actually came from potatoes. On average, a small (150g) potato provides us with about 15% of our daily vitamin C.

Vitamin C is important as not only does it support immune function and contain antioxidants, it plays an essential role in forming connective tissue, which helps our joints work – and holds our teeth in place. This is why vitamin C deficiency (scurvy) is linked to teeth falling out.

2. Vitamin B6

Vitamin B6 is an essential co-factor (a small molecule) in the body. It helps over 100 enzymes in the body function properly, allowing them to break down proteins – a process key to good nerve function. This may also be why B6 is linked to good mental health.

Typically, a small potato will contain around a quarter of an adult’s recommended daily intake of B6.

3. Potassium

Having potassium in our cells is important for regulating the electrical signalling in muscles and nerves. So, if potassium gets too high or low, it can stop our heart working.

Roast, baked and fried potatoes contain higher levels of potassium than boiled or mashed potatoes, with a jacket potato containing around a third of the recommended daily intake. This is because boiling diced potatoes can cause around half of the potassium to leak out into the water.

However, people with kidney disease – which can limit the ability to remove excess potassium from the body – may need to limit the number of potatoes they eat. And if you do roast or fry your potatoes, be careful how much oil you use.

4. Choline

Choline is a small compound which attaches to fat to make phospholipids, the buildings blocks of cell walls, as well as the neurotransmitter acetylcholine (which helps us contract muscles, dilate blood vessels, and slow heart rate). Potatoes contain the second highest levels of choline, next to protein-rich foods, like meat and soya.

It’s vital to consume enough choline as it’s essential for a healthy brain, nerves, and muscles. And subtle differences in our genes may mean some of us are naturally more deficient in making choline. A jacket potato contains around 10% of a person’s daily choline requirements. Choline is particularly important in pregnancy, as the growing baby is making lots of new cells and organs.

5. Good for our stomach

A bowl of boiled potatoes with fresh dill on top.
The cooked starches in potatoes can be good for our microbiome. Gayvoronskaya_Yana/ Shutterstock

Cooking and cooling potatoes before eating them allows resistant starch to form. This healthy starch helps our bodies in many ways, including by acting as a prebiotic (which are important for a healthy gut microbiome).

The cooling of fluffy, cooked starches causes them to collapse. While this actually makes them harder to digest, this means that the bacteria in our colon then ferments them, producing compounds similar to vinegar called short-chain fatty acids. These fatty acids nourish our guts and keep it healthy.

Short-chain fatty acids can also alter our metabolism in a good way, helping lower blood fat and blood sugar levels. This – together with their high water and low-fat content – makes boiled and steamed potatoes a low calorie, nutrient dense and filling food.

6. Naturally gluten free

Potatoes are also naturally gluten free, so are a great option for people with coeliac disease or who need to avoid gluten.

The same is true for sweet potatoes, which also have a lower glycaemic index – which means they don’t cause a sharp spike in blood sugar, which may help control weight and appetite. However, sweet potatoes are slightly higher in calories and carbohydrates than regular potatoes – though they contain more beta carotene (a form of vitamin A).

Potatoes on your plate

Some people may choose to avoid potatoes due to concerns about weight gain – but a typical boiled potato is only around 130 calories, which is actually fewer calories than a banana of the same size. But it’s important to remember how potatoes are prepared and what they’re eaten with.

Boiling or steaming (possibly with cooling to increase the resistant starch) is the best way to keep the number of calories per gram low. Baking will increase calories per gram (as water is lost), as can mashing with butter or cream. The least healthy way to eat potatoes is as chips or crisps, as they soak up oil like a sponge.

You’ll also want to avoid green potatoes. This happens when the potato has been stored in light and produces a toxin which can irritate our gut. Otherwise, for most people including potatoes as part of a healthy and varied diet may actually be a good thing.

And alongside being healthy, potatoes also have environmental advantages. They require less water than rice to produce, and less greenhouse gases than both rice and wheat – which may be yet another good reason to include potatoes in your diet.The Conversation

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Related Posts

  • Why we SLEEP?

    RUSSELL FOSTER is a circadian neuroscientist: He studies the sleep cycles of the brain. And he…

  • Zebra’s stripes are a no fly zone for flies

    We think that the reason equids need to be striped in Africa is that African…

  • Why we SLEEP?

    RUSSELL FOSTER is a circadian neuroscientist: He studies the sleep cycles of the brain. And he…

  • Why we SLEEP?

    RUSSELL FOSTER is a circadian neuroscientist: He studies the sleep cycles of the brain. And he…

  • Nine vegetables that are healthier for you when cooked

    Laura Brown, Senior Lecturer in Nutrition, Food, and Health Sciences, Teesside University - 10 June…

Search this Website

Contact US

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Most Recent Posts

  • Water crisis in South Africa: damning report finds 46% contamination, 67% of treatment works near to breaking down
    Anja du Plessis, Associate Professor and Water […]
  • SA repo rate unchanged at 8.25%
     STATEMENT OF THE MONETARY POLICY COMMITTEE Lesetja […]
  • “If Israel fails in Gaza, all of us in the West will be next” – from one who knows!
    TAKE TIME TO LISTEN TO THIS NOTEWORTHY SPEECH 23 […]
  • Democracy, a corrupt and inefficient form of government – Socrates
    Socrates believed that wisdom was parallel to […]
  • A Short History of Human Emotions
      In this fascinating TED talk, historian Tiffany […]
  • The bizarre and ecologically important hidden lives of mosquitoes
    In the process of looking for nectar, mosquitoes […]
  • Moths do the pollinator night shift – and they work harder than daytime insects
      Richard Elton Walton, Postdoctoral Research […]
  • Gregarious charming Pin-tailed Whydah
    The Pin-tailed Whydah, Vidua macroura, is a small […]
  • Why there was reluctance to confront Nazi Germany
    By Nicholas Lorimer of Daily Friend – 3 February […]
  • Baking your own Sourdough Bread
    Lyndal Collins, Research dietitian, Department of […]
  • AGOA: South Africa will need to tread carefully in relations with US and China
    Arno J. van Niekerk, Senior lecturer in Economics, […]
  • South Africa’s 2022 census: has Joburg stopped growing or is the data questionable?
    17 October 2023 South Africa’s census is a vital […]

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

GoSouth

Credible and Current

Receive the GSO Newsletter
by adding your email

We don’t spam!
Read our privacy policy for more.

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

NUMBERS TO NOTE

Police: 10111
Childline: 0861 322 322
Child Welfare SA: 0861 424 453
Gender-Based Violence: 0800 428 428
Human Trafficking Hotline: 0800 222 777

December 2023
M T W T F S S
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
« Nov    

Copyright© 2023・Cookie Policy・Privacy Policy・Terms and Conditions