HEALTH & BEAUTY HEALTH
Fresh Take POTATOES By Dylan Roche
“Po-tay-toe,” “pah-tah-toe”…however you pronounce the name of this root vegetable, you shouldn’t deny its nutritional advantage. Although potatoes are often regarded as a starch and sometimes shunned by low-carb eaters, they’re a dietary staple in many cultures and for good reason. They’re hearty, versatile, and packed full of essential vitamins and minerals. So, with St. Patrick’s Day coming up in March, you can feel good about putting as many potato dishes on the menu as you want!
When you’re picking out potatoes at the market, you’ll encounter several varieties—expect them to be similar nutritionally, but they will have different tastes and textures that lend themselves better to different purposes:
Even before potatoes came to be associated with Ireland, they were sustaining populations halfway across the world in South America as far back as 8000 BC. The Spanish Conquistadors brought potatoes back to Europe after they conquered Peru in the 16th century, and the popularity of potatoes spread. In Ireland, the culture came to be so dependent on potatoes as a primary part of their diet that when a fungus wiped out most of the crops between 1845 and 1854, it took a dev108
astating toll on the Irish population and became known as the Great Potato Famine. Today, most people eat potatoes in some kind of processed or heavily prepared form, and this might be where people get the notion that they’re not a vegetable. As Eat Fresh, a resource put out by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, points out, foods like French fries, chips, and hash browns usually have added fat and salt. On the other hand, a simple medium-sized baked
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potato has only about 150 calories, no fat, 3 grams of protein, and about 37 grams of complex carbohydrates for sustained energy. Taking a look at the nutritional profile of potatoes, you can see how potatoes help fuel a healthy body—there’s fiber for good digestion, potassium for fluid balance and heart health, iron for red blood cell formation, Vitamin C for fighting oxidation, thiamine for a strong nervous system, and niacin for good circulation.
Russet potatoes: These are the classics you probably think of when you picture a potato. They’re oval-shaped with a brown, roughly textured skin dotted with lots of eyes. The Produce for a Better Health Foundation notes that their low moisture and high starch make them an ideal pick when you’re looking for potatoes to bake. Red potatoes: These are smaller, sometimes about the size of a golf ball, with a thin reddish-brown skin. The Produce for a Better Health Foundation recommends red potatoes for boiling, roasting, or frying. Yellow potatoes: You’ll recognize yellow potatoes by their golden skin, and although they are highly versatile, their high moisture content makes them great for boiling to make mashed potatoes, according to the Produce for a Better Health Foundation.
