Healthy Potatoes?

                Somehow, potatoes have gotten a bad rap. In the United States, potatoes are the most commonly consumed vegetables[1]. Yes, potatoes are technically a vegetable, although from a macronutrient standpoint, they are a carbohydrate food, with 15gm of carbohydrates in ½ cup. They are high in vitamin C and potassium, like many other vegetables. Sweet potatoes have an added bonus of vitamin A. 

Are potatoes healthy? They definitely can be part of a healthy diet for most people. We all need carbohydrates, and potatoes are definitely an option there. Just keep an eye out for the portion size…and how they are prepared.

Nutrient Content of Various Potato Dishes[2]

	Calories	Carbohydrate (g)	Fat (g)	Fiber (g)
Small white potato, with skin (138g)	134	37	0	4
Small sweet potato, no skin (138g)	105	24	0	3
½ cup mashed potatoes, made with oil (115g)	121	15	6	2
Medium size fast food serving  French fries (117g)	378	50	18	5

                Now you can ask, “which are better: white potatoes or sweet potatoes?” You will notice some nutrient differences. Overall, I would say to just have a variety of carbohydrate foods. Maybe today’s dinner will have sweet potatoes, tomorrow’s dinner will have white potatoes, the next night winter squash, and another night a whole grain pita. Yes there are some nutrient differences, but they are minute in the scheme of an entire diet. Choose a carbohydrate, and more often than not, choose the carbohydrate that has fiber and less added oil or fat.

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[1] State of the plate: 2015 study on America’s consumption of fruits & vegetables. Produce for Better Health Foundation. Accessed November 8, 2017. <https://www.pbhfoundation.org/pdfs/about/res/pbh_res/State_of_the_Plate_2015_WEB_Bookmarked.pdf>

[2] USDA Food Composition Databases. United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. Accessed November 8, 2017. < https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search/list>

Back to the basics of good nutrition

I have noticed that “healthy” is a very value-laden word. In a world where non-GMO, organic, natural, clean, green, paleo, free-range, local, farm to table, unprocessed, preservative-free, vegan, vegetarian…I can go on and on…have become synonyms with “healthy,” we have missed the basics of good nutrition. Somehow, these taglines have become associated with an allegedly superior way of approaching food choices. Are some of them good for us? Definitely some of them are! But let’s take a step back and take a look at the basics of good nutrition.

Research again and again supports the idea that people who eat more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and low fat dairy live longer with fewer chronic diseases than those who eat less of those foods. That pretty much summarizes the basics of good nutrition.

My readers touched on many of these points. Eating a variety of foods…that means choosing different fruits, vegetables, and whole grains throughout the week. Choosing foods full of nutrients…full of vitamins and minerals—again, that would be our fruits, vegetables and whole grains!

So there are the basics, and then there is the extra credit of good nutrition. The basics would be the guidelines listed above. The recommendations supported by tons and tons of research. The extra credit, perhaps, would be some of those taglines. (Only some of them.) With food, as it is with schoolwork, the extra credit doesn’t go very far if the basics are not in place.

I’d like to make a suggestion. When you are at the supermarket choosing your groceries, take a moment to think if the contents of your cart fit in the basics category. Does all, or even most of the food in your cart meet the basics guidelines? When I am at the supermarket and my cart has my favorite organic cookies, vegan candy, and non-GMO potato chips, I’ve got to rethink what healthy means.

In the comments section below, let me know which of the taglines you thing might actually be good nutrition, and you reasons why.