Harvards spin on Potatoes

neanderthin

I love their bias spin on food in general.

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/2014/01/24/the-problem-with-potatoes/#more-8983

In the U.S., people eat an average of 126 pounds of potatoes per person each year. (1) However, potatoes don’t count as a vegetable on Harvard’s Healthy Eating Plate because they are high in carbohydrate

neanderthin

Hey, I love potatoes in all it's glory........nobody wants to support the poor spud....that's a shame. lol

EvanKeel

I feel like people use the word carbohydrate when they don't actually mean to. I can only assume the problem is not that that they're high in carbs, but that they're starchy; as far as I'm aware, many varieties of vegetables are fairly high in carbs, relative to other macronutrients.

I don't necessarily have a problem with starch, but it seems like people don't always say what they mean when they write articles/blog entries/whatever, which makes it more difficult to discuss the issue.

richardheath

People who increased their consumption of French fries and baked or mashed potatoes gained more weight over time—an extra 3.4 and 1.3 pounds every four years, respectively. (8)

3.4 lb/4 years = 0.85 lb/year = 0.016 lb/week

0.016 * 3,500 = 57 extra calories per week from eating French Fries. That's less than 10 cal per day. And about 3 cals per day for mashed potatoes.

Maybe it's not the potatoes per se, but rather the deep frying or added butter? Gotta have butter on mashed spuds!

I try to limit my portions of potatoes/french fries now as I am prediabetic and they do spike my sugar. But I still eat some.

Tigg_er

I'll support the spud. Luv taters

ChaplainHeavin

Have to have my baked potato