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Lumped in the “nutrient-poor white food” group, potatoes often get a bad rap. But according to a new study by independent nutritionist and data analyst Sigrid Gibson, this reputation is undeserved and highly inaccurate. White, yes. Nutrient-poor, no way.
For the study, Gibson analyzed the food intake records of 876 children and 948 adults who were participating in the UK’s National Diet and Nutrition Survey program. She found that because they are so widely consumed, potatoes contribute more significant amounts of folate, iron, magnesium, and potassium to most people’s diets than traditional “superfoods” like broccoli. Most children in the study also got more selenium from potatoes than from all nuts and seeds combined.
A study published in January of this year also found that potatoes lower blood pressure in people with hypertension and obesity without increasing weight.
Although the study was carried out for the Potato Council, the nutrition data doesn’t lie. Just one medium potato contains as much dietary fiber as five-and-a-half bananas and more vitamin C than three avocados.
Superfood? Perhaps not. But maybe now potatoes will start getting more credit for their nutritional value.
Image Credit: Chiot’s Run/Flickr
I think the fact that this study was completed by the potato council says a lot about it’s validity. Vitamin C is destroyed by heat, and noone eats a potato raw. Many other things have as much or more fibre than a potato. Contributing nutrition through the sheer volume of potatoes consumed does not make an arguement for their inclusion in a diet. Not only that, but consuming the potatoes with skin (as occurs in most cases) removes most of the nutrients and fibre and increases their GI.
Potatoes are still a nightshade vegetable… Sweet potatoes, or kumara as my mum (and New Zealand) calls them, are not actually a potato, they are from a different food group all together, are filled with more vitamins and nutrients, and can be substituted in almost every instance.
Just sayin’.
This is not news. Potatoes have always been nutritious and generations & cultures before now have known it. Nothing has changed about potatoes except our impression of them. Because of media & branding gimmicks like the “superfood” obsession (& of course the dreadful Atkins diet) they fell out of favour. Eat a variety of whole foods (not loaded with butter, sour cream & bacon bits), and stop obsessing over the one food that will cure all.
everything u eat already died lol. once that veeagtble left the plant its dead. again, GMO foods are pretty much everything we eat. how do you think we get so many veggies year round? they had to be modified to grow fast and ripen fast. Just because u got an organic veggie doesnt mean it isnt from a gmo plant. the fact of the matter is, the FDA doesnt label anything as organic, the company that sells that product can put that on the package in order to sell more expensive.