Potatoes should be appreciated more
Because:
1) Potatoes surpass bananas in their Potassium content
Take a large potato and bake it with the skin on. What you have is a large spud ready to be spiced with the ingredients of your choice and containing an astounding supply of potassium.
At a mind blowing 1,600 milligrams of potassium, potatoes pack in almost half of the potassium amount recommend for an adult for an entire day. Compared to the more common choice of bananas, that's nearly four times the potassium that is to be found in a medium sized banana.
The third-most abundant mineral in the body, Potassium is an essential electrolyte which plays a crucial role in body's hydration and athletic performance. Potassium is also needed to lower blood pressure. Other health benefits of potassium include stroke prevention, alleviation from heart and kidney disorders, relief from anxiety and stress, as well as improved muscle strength, metabolic rate, water balance, electrolytic functions and nervous system.
2) Potatoes are packed with dietary fiber
One large potato, eaten with the skin on, can fetch you a quarter of your daily recommended fiber intake. That is seven grams of dietary fiber. However, the key is to keep the skin on as the fiber content drops exponentially if you peel off the potato.
A fiber rich diet enables you to stay fuller for longer periods, reducing the urge for inter-meal snacks. As a result, contrary to the popular perception of equating potatoes with weight gain, eating whole potatoes can actually assist you in losing some flab. Fiber also reduces the risk of heart attacks, cholesterol problems and blood sugar imbalances.3)
3) Potatoes can compete with oranges in delivering Vitamin C
A whole potato, eaten with the skin on, can give you half of your daily recommended Vitamin C supply - that equals 29 milligrams of the vitamin or more than a third of what is found in a full ripe orange, considered your best bet as a Vitamin C source but not quite available all the year round like the much more modest potato.
Vitamin C is a highly recommended mineral that plays an active role as an antioxidant in the body. Antioxidants are essential for a number of reasons - they prevent ageing and do wonders for your skin, hair and overall health, help heal wounds faster, act as a barrier against the onslaught of various infections and according to some studies, even help battle the scourge of cancer.
4) Potatoes are a source of another essential mineral - Manganese
Despite not being referred to as commonly as others in our usual health conversations, Manganese is a vital nutrient for the human body. One big potato spud with the skin on contains 33% of your daily recommended amount of this mineral.
Manganese plays a pivotal role in metabolism, helps the body in digesting proteins, carbohydrates and cholesterol and also aids in bone formation. Manganese also assists in regulating the functioning of the nervous system, helps in the formation of the thyroxine hormone for the thyroid gland and also aids in the secretion of various sex hormones. Manganese has several antioxidant properties too that can prevent cancer as well as a host of heart diseases.
5) Potatoes are a rich source of Vitamin B6
A single potato with the skin on can fetch you as much as 46% of your daily recommended dose of Vitamin B6.
Vitamin B6 has several crucial functions to perform in your body - right from your cardiovascular system to your digestive health to your immune response efficiency to the health of your muscular and nervous systems. Vitamin B6 lowers the blood pressure and keeps in check the blood cholesterol levels. It also helps produce vital brain hormones and prevents blood platelets from sticking together. more
1) Potatoes surpass bananas in their Potassium content
Take a large potato and bake it with the skin on. What you have is a large spud ready to be spiced with the ingredients of your choice and containing an astounding supply of potassium.
At a mind blowing 1,600 milligrams of potassium, potatoes pack in almost half of the potassium amount recommend for an adult for an entire day. Compared to the more common choice of bananas, that's nearly four times the potassium that is to be found in a medium sized banana.
The third-most abundant mineral in the body, Potassium is an essential electrolyte which plays a crucial role in body's hydration and athletic performance. Potassium is also needed to lower blood pressure. Other health benefits of potassium include stroke prevention, alleviation from heart and kidney disorders, relief from anxiety and stress, as well as improved muscle strength, metabolic rate, water balance, electrolytic functions and nervous system.
2) Potatoes are packed with dietary fiber
One large potato, eaten with the skin on, can fetch you a quarter of your daily recommended fiber intake. That is seven grams of dietary fiber. However, the key is to keep the skin on as the fiber content drops exponentially if you peel off the potato.
A fiber rich diet enables you to stay fuller for longer periods, reducing the urge for inter-meal snacks. As a result, contrary to the popular perception of equating potatoes with weight gain, eating whole potatoes can actually assist you in losing some flab. Fiber also reduces the risk of heart attacks, cholesterol problems and blood sugar imbalances.3)
3) Potatoes can compete with oranges in delivering Vitamin C
A whole potato, eaten with the skin on, can give you half of your daily recommended Vitamin C supply - that equals 29 milligrams of the vitamin or more than a third of what is found in a full ripe orange, considered your best bet as a Vitamin C source but not quite available all the year round like the much more modest potato.
Vitamin C is a highly recommended mineral that plays an active role as an antioxidant in the body. Antioxidants are essential for a number of reasons - they prevent ageing and do wonders for your skin, hair and overall health, help heal wounds faster, act as a barrier against the onslaught of various infections and according to some studies, even help battle the scourge of cancer.
4) Potatoes are a source of another essential mineral - Manganese
Despite not being referred to as commonly as others in our usual health conversations, Manganese is a vital nutrient for the human body. One big potato spud with the skin on contains 33% of your daily recommended amount of this mineral.
Manganese plays a pivotal role in metabolism, helps the body in digesting proteins, carbohydrates and cholesterol and also aids in bone formation. Manganese also assists in regulating the functioning of the nervous system, helps in the formation of the thyroxine hormone for the thyroid gland and also aids in the secretion of various sex hormones. Manganese has several antioxidant properties too that can prevent cancer as well as a host of heart diseases.
5) Potatoes are a rich source of Vitamin B6
A single potato with the skin on can fetch you as much as 46% of your daily recommended dose of Vitamin B6.
Vitamin B6 has several crucial functions to perform in your body - right from your cardiovascular system to your digestive health to your immune response efficiency to the health of your muscular and nervous systems. Vitamin B6 lowers the blood pressure and keeps in check the blood cholesterol levels. It also helps produce vital brain hormones and prevents blood platelets from sticking together. more
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Wondering if all these benefits are in the flesh or only the skin of the potato. Would he interesting to know what are the advantages if eating the veggie without its skin. more
Aug 31
Not only boiled or steamed but also with their skins :) Don't think most of will change our cooking habits and continue to get vitamin C and B6 from other sources. more
Aug 31
Very good information. But a large percentage of population eat fried, or roasted in oil and with lot of masalas added to it or potato as an additive to another vegetable in which most benefits are destroyed. Acharya Balkishan extols the virtues of potatoes only when eaten boiled or steamed. more
Aug 30
