Yahoo Lifestyle Here's What Happens to Your Body if You Eat Potatoes Every Day
Potatoes are the most popular vegetable in America and it’s easy to see why. They’re inexpensive, widely accessible and taste delicious in the many, many different ways they can be served up. Baked, mashed, in chip or fry form, as hash browns … Potatoes are one of the most versatile foods in existence (just ask Samwise Gamgee from Lord of the Rings). This raises an interesting question: Is it healthy to eat potatoes every day?
Whether potatoes are healthy or not has been widely debated. On the one hand, it’s a vegetable—a food group many Americans don’t eat enough of. On the other hand, potatoes are high in carbohydrates (which some diets advocate minimizing) and it’s high-glycemic, which means eating them can raise blood sugar levels. Here, registered dietitians give the verdict on if potatoes are, in fact, a healthy food or not. Plus, how eating them every day can affect the body.
Related: 6 Carbs Dietitians Want People to Eat More Of (Yes, Really!)
Are Potatoes Healthy?
According to New Jersey-based registered dietitian and Belly Fat for Dummies author Erin Palinski-Wade, RD, CDCES, potatoes are a healthy, nutrient-rich food. She says that the reason why they get a bad rap is because the way they’re prepared is often not healthy. For example, she says French fries, which are potatoes deep fried in oil, are not as nutritious as a plain baked potato. But on its own, Palinski-Wade says that potatoes are absolutely a healthy food because they contain beneficial nutrients including fiber, potassium and iron.
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Toby Amidor, MS, RD, CDN, FAND, an award-winning nutrition expert (who, full disclosure, is a partner with Idaho Potato), adds that in addition to fiber, potassium and iron, potatoes contain vitamin C and vitamin B6. As for the carbohydrates in potatoes, that’s another benefit, not a negative. “Carbohydrates are the main source of energy for the brain and body, especially during high-intensity exercise. Carbs are also an easy-to-use fuel source because they are digested and absorbed faster than protein and fats,” registered dietitian Yasi Ansari, MS, RDN, CSSD, previously told Parade.
If you want to keep your potato eating as healthy as possible, Amidor says to bake, broil or air fry them instead of deep frying them. “Frying adds a lot of unnecessary fat,” she explains. Palinski-Wade says that avoiding deep frying your potatoes will also keep them low in saturated fat. (Forgoing or minimizing toppings like sour cream, cheese and butter can help with this too.)
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What Happens if You Eat Potatoes Every Day
Let’s say you really love potatoes and want to eat one every day. How can you expect it to affect your body? Both dietitians say that one beneficial change is that it could lower your blood pressure. (Again, this is as long as you aren’t deep frying it or topping it with foods high in saturated fat.) Palinski-Wade says that this is because the fiber and potassium in potatoes are good for heart health. “One major function of potassium is to regulate muscle function and your heart is an important muscle which needs potassium,” Amidor explains.
While eating a potato every day can positively impact the heart, don’t expect to experience much of a change when it comes to brain health. While both dietitians say that potatoes do contain choline (a nutrient essential for brain function), potatoes only have 10 percent of the recommended daily value for the nutrient, so you likely won’t notice a difference in terms of brain function from your potato-eating.
Related: These Are the 20 Healthiest Vegetables of All Time, According to Registered Dietitians
As for potatoes being a high-glycemic food, while this is true, Palinski-Wade says that eating a potato doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll experience changes in energy levels or mood. She explains that you can minimize the blood sugar rollercoaster by pairing your potato with an unsaturated fat, such as avocado or olive oil. This will make blood sugar levels less affected than eating the potato on its own. “A recent study showed that adults with type 2 diabetes who ate a mixed evening meal with skinless potatoes had a reduced overnight glycemic response compared to those who ate a meal containing low-GI basmati rice. These results demonstrate that potatoes can be a suitable carbohydrate-swap with other whole grains,” she adds.
If you have a goal of losing weight in a healthy way, you may be wondering how eating a potato every day could impact this goal. Palinski-Wade says that since one medium potato does have 168 calories, if you add one to your daily diet without making any other changes, you can expect to gain about a pound in roughly two months. However, eating a potato every day doesn’t have to lead to weight gain. “Adding a high volume, lower calorie food with fiber, like a potato, generally leads to an increase in fullness which promotes portion control and appetite regulation. This typically leads to a reduction in overall calories, which can promote weight loss or weight maintenance,” she explains.
The bottom line is that it can be healthy to eat a potato every day—even if you’re trying to lose weight. It all depends on how you’re cooking and flavoring it. Yet another reason to love the humble spud!
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Sources
Erin Palinski Wade, RD, CDCES, New Jersey-based registered dietitian and author of Belly Fat for Dummies, among other books
Toby Amidor, MS, RD, CDN, FAND, award-winning nutrition expert and author of Up Your Veggies, among other books
