What's the deal with white potatoes having such a bad rap? They are a natural vegetable, a tuber, just like sweet potatoes, so why are they banned from so many diets? I get it that if you slather them with milk or cream, butter (or that nasty,cancerous, chemical laden, wanna-be margarine), and a load of full-fat sour cream, then you've kinda defeated the whole vegetable purpose, but what about a plain potato, skin and all?
I checked the FDA website for the nutritional value of white, russet potatoes and was pleasantly surprised at the results. Potatoes seem pretty darn healthy to me.
The main difference I saw between white and sweet potatoes is that the sweets are minimally lower in calories (a 7 oz. sweet potato has about 208 calories versus 220 in a white potato.) Sweets do have more calcium (56 grams in the sweet to 20 grams in the white) and thousands of RE units of Vitamin A (4350) whereas white potatoes have none. If you need Vitamin A - hands down, eat a sweet potato. Plus they taste great plain.
On the other hand, white potatoes have a bit more protein than sweet potatoes (5 grams in a white 7 oz. potato versus 3.5 grams in a sweet) and iron (2.8 mg compared to 1 mg in a sweet), and slightly less sodium (16 mg versus 20 mg sodium in a sweet.)
Harvard Medical School's Health Publications website lists the Glycemic Index for a russet potato (26) as slightly higher than that of a sweet potato (17), which could make sweet potatoes a safer bet if you are pre-diabetic or diabetic. Alternatively, the glycemic load for a boiled white potato was actually less (14). Go figure. The lower a food's glycemic index or glycemic load, the less it affects blood sugar and insulin levels.
I like the fact that one medium white potato has about 110 calories (not bad for a 100 calorie "snack") and NO fat of any kind: no saturated fat, no trans fat, no unsaturated fat. White potatoes are a good source of protein, low-fat carbohydrates, fiber, and various vitamins and minerals including high levels of Vitamin C, as well as a good amount of Potassium, and Vitamin B6. Go easy on the butter and choose low-fat sour cream if you must, but for heaven's sake, enjoy it!
So at the end of the day, eat a potato, it's fine.
Sources:
http://www.drmirkin.com/nutrition/sweet_potatoes_not_white.html
http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsweek/Glycemic_index_and_glycemic_load_for_100_foods.htm
http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products
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Ron will be happy to hear this, he is Mr. meat and potatoes! I prefer sweet potatoes, myself : )
ReplyDeleteI love them, too!
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