The Great White Vegetable
Past Potatoes
Native tribes cultivated potatoes in the Americas long before the Irish ever heard of them. Christopher Columbus is the person who introduced potatoes to Europeans. Today, they are the most popular vegetable in North America. And yes, they are a vegetable. Globally, only corn, wheat, and rice are eaten more than potatoes.
In Canada, tiny PEI grows more potatoes than any other province. Overall, Canada exports twice as many potatoes as it imports.
Potatoes pack a powerful punch. Not only are potatoes packed with nutrients, a potato field packs more protein and more calories per acre than any other major crop. One acre can produce 30,000 pounds of potatoes.
Potato Power
Potatoes get a bad rap when it comes to health. We don’t think of Olympic athletes when we think of potatoes. We think of, well, couch potatoes. But the real problem is not the potato, it’s the gravy or the deep frying. A medium-sized potato has only 140 calories — essentially a snack. Make that potato into French fries, and now, it has 450 calories. Eating fried potatoes or potato chips more than once a week increases your risk of death, but non-fried potatoes don’t have these harmful effects.
Potatoes are an excellent source of potassium, something many of us are low in. And one medium potato also has half of your daily vitamin C. Also, they have no cholesterol. But they are lacking in protein, which is something we need to maintain muscle for mobility.
They also have a lot of beneficial compounds, and even antioxidants, like many other vegetables.
Cool a Hot Potato
They do raise blood sugar as they turn to sugar quickly. One way to make potatoes better for you is to heat them, and then cool them before eating. You can then reheat them to eat them. This heating and cooling turns some of the starch into resistant starches, which are slower to digest, and some become a form of fibre. See Summer 2018 Panacea for the full article on Stubborn Starches.
Potato Diet
You may have heard of an all potato diet. It was made famous by one of the Penn and Tellar magicians who lost 100 pounds. The problem with eating only potatoes is that they don’t have enough protein, so you would lose a lot of muscle. And they are also short of providing the vitamins you need. It would be a low-calorie diet if you ate only plain potatoes, so at first, you would lose weight. But soon your weight would stabilize and start going up. The only potential benefit of an all potato diet is to completely reset your eating for two weeks and then add in only healthy food.
Sweet, Yam, or Regular
There are three main types of potatoes: sweet potatoes, yams, and regular potatoes. Sweet potatoes are orange on the inside. Often, stores label the softer sweet potatoes with darker orange flesh as yams, but they are not true yams.
True yams, which are hardly ever seen in Canada, are much bigger and not as orange --- often light or purple. Yams have rough, tough skin.
Regular potatoes are the ones that everyone is familiar with. They have been a staple food in Europe and America for centuries. The average person here eats 100 pounds of potatoes a year.
Compared to sweet potatoes, regular potatoes are similar in nutrition. Sweet potatoes have slightly more fibre, which helps them turn to sugar more slowly. Sweet potatoes also have extra vitamin A, whereas regular potatoes have more potassium.
Plain Ole Potatoes
Regular potatoes come in three basic kinds: white, starchy, and waxy. White potatoes are suitable for almost anything. Yukon Gold fit into this category and are great for baking or roasting.
Starchy potatoes like Russet are the potatoes of choice for mashing - the higher starch content creates a fluffy product, just don’t over mash - they turn gooey. Nothing beats them with a little salt and butter. They are moist, smooth, and look great.
Waxy potatoes, like red skin potatoes, are useful for salads and soup as they hold their shape when cooked. They don’t work as well mashed or baked, but they do have a good potato flavour.
Now You’re Cookin’ with Potatoes
Store potatoes in a cool place, but not the fridge. Also, keep them in the dark. A paper bag is best to allow them to breathe while still keeping them dark. Don’t store them with onions --- it’s bad for both. Sometimes, potatoes get green spots due to improper storage. Cut off the green spots on potatoes. They are potentially toxic and can cause an upset stomach.
Make sure you wash potatoes, so you can eat the skin. Lots of the nutrients and fibre are close to the skin. Skip the chips, fries, and gravy, but don’t drop that hot potato, eat it!
