thoughts on potato?

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de2brown
de2brown Posts: 33
in Food and Nutrition
I LOVE IT. and tell myself its okay cos its a vegetable, but is it bad for you?

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  • Beezil
    Beezil Posts: 1,677 Member
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    Nope. It's very good for you, especially with the skin on! :)
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
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    Well no food is bad for you, but even if it IS technically a vegetable, potato has a lot of starch and carbohydrates. Depends on what sort of plan you're following - if it fits in with your daily goals, then fine. If you're thinking of not recording it because it's a vegetable, you'll be seriously underestimating your intake.
  • mcarter99
    mcarter99 Posts: 1,666 Member
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    Sweet potatoes are much better for you. White potatoes aren't bad, just high in calories for the nutrients. And usually the toppings or cooking method we use make them much worse. If you can eat them nuked without a ton of fatty toppings, I think they're ok.
  • de2brown
    de2brown Posts: 33
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    thanks for the advise guys. also, has anyone tried brown rice and is it a lot better then white? :)
  • Lolli1986
    Lolli1986 Posts: 500 Member
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    they're yum~
  • urasweethart
    urasweethart Posts: 123 Member
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    Both sweet and white potatoes are both good for you each have different nutrients I normally have a potatoe every day or two depending on your diet I feel as long as it falls in your counts you will be fine they also help keep charlie horses away. feeling and not that much calories seeing that one is about the same cal as a 100 calorie snack.
  • collywot
    collywot Posts: 16 Member
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    thanks for the advise guys. also, has anyone tried brown rice and is it a lot better then white? :)

    I prefer brown rice, but it takes forever to cook, has a slightly nutty flavour and is a little chewy, I love it.
  • urasweethart
    urasweethart Posts: 123 Member
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    havent ate rice in a while but my diarys are open for VIEW and like i said i eat both sweet and white potatoes to see all the info on them (I ate both on the 12th last make sure it dosent say sweet hart potatoe cause that means i added sour cream butter and cheese but its still 190 cals that way just use the condoments spairingly
  • FiremanSam111
    FiremanSam111 Posts: 118
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    thanks for the advise guys. also, has anyone tried brown rice and is it a lot better then white? :)

    Brown rice is A LOT more filling! White rice is like taking all the fibre out of it. Brown rice takes longer to cook, longer to chew, and has a lower glycemic value than white (it takes longer to digest and keeps you feeling fuller for longer, and doesn't spike your blood sugar)... Even better than brown rice is pearl barley, but I prefer brown rice. White rice I have in sushi, brown is useless for sushi! As for potato, skin on is best. I even mash it like that. Who has time to peel those suckers! Kumara (sweet potato) is better than regular potato for the same reason as brown rice is better than white. I try not to eat any potato at all anymore. That and white bread, wheat, basically any refined grains or starchy foods play havoc with my digestion :explode:
  • Soni82
    Soni82 Posts: 22 Member
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    i love potato!! but it depends on how you cook it and how much you eat. Boiling is of course better than frying - baking in foil in the skins is also fantastic! I use this method in place of pasta. Of course sweet potato is nutritionally better for you with the viatmins and fibre count, and its yum! whatever floats yor boat at the time :)

    Brown rice is my new love affair, I used to hate it because it was always crunchy.... but if you soak it over night then cook it you will get a much better texture as opposed to not soaking the grain.
  • psiren28
    psiren28 Posts: 530 Member
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    Not bad for you at all. I have potatoes almost every day, either a jacket with some chilli / curry / homemade coleslaw or dry roasted chips. They're good calorie value if you cook and eat them without fat. Especially dry roasted chips, you get a huge portion for relatively few calories :smile:

    Dry roasted potato chips (or fries to Americans):

    Spray baking tray with spray oil
    Cut potato into chips / fries and lay out on the tray
    Spray with a little spray oil
    Put in hot oven for about 20 mins

    Viola! healthy, low fat chips / fries. About 70cals per 100g raw weight of potato
  • de2brown
    de2brown Posts: 33
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    thanks for that! it does not have as many calories as i thought, i will look at your diary, thanks for the advice!
  • Happy_Healthy_Babe
    Happy_Healthy_Babe Posts: 20
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    I LOVE potato. I like to wash them and leave the skin on them and steam them in the microwave then cut them up and toss then in a pan with a teaspoon of canola oil and mixed spices :-) Use anything with a real kick to it, really beef's up the flavor :-)
  • Macrocarpa
    Macrocarpa Posts: 121 Member
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    Gardener here.

    So here's a quick biology lesson, they're a tuber.

    Which isn't quite the same as a root vegetable (like carrots, turnips, parsnips) and quite different from vegetable fruits****(cucumber, tomato, eggplant, courgette) or vegetable stems (celery, leeks) or vegetable leaves (lettuce, spinach).

    A tuber's purpose in life is to STORE ENERGY in the form of starch so as a result they're relatively high in carbs as compared to other things we call 'vegetables'. Root veges like carrots etc also store energy but have a more functional role (they absorb nutrients / water from the soil).

    Cons:
    - high in carbs / overall energy
    - frequently eaten with butter / oil / salt / cheese (fatty / salty!)

    Pros:
    - cheap
    - filling
    - huge variety of ways to prepare it.
    - not 'bad' food in the scheme of things, just something to have infrequently.

    As mentioned above, try sweet potato, not my favourite meals but try sweet potato mash with cinnamon, it's pretty nice.

    ****the words 'berry' and 'fruit' I use in the gardening sense, not in the commercial sense! To a gardener, the bits of a plant that do the reproducing, ie have the seeds, are quite different from the bits that do the breathing, drinking or energy storage, ie the leaves, stems and roots.
  • de2brown
    de2brown Posts: 33
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    Not bad for you at all. I have potatoes almost every day, either a jacket with some chilli / curry / homemade coleslaw or dry roasted chips. They're good calorie value if you cook and eat them without fat. Especially dry roasted chips, you get a huge portion for relatively few calories :smile:

    Dry roasted potato chips (or fries to Americans):

    Spray baking tray with spray oil
    Cut potato into chips / fries and lay out on the tray
    Spray with a little spray oil
    Put in hot oven for about 20 mins

    Viola! healthy, low fat chips / fries. About 70cals per 100g raw weight of potato



    wow! thanks for that, will have to try that, not many cals at all and sounds yummmmy! :D
  • calvert6183
    calvert6183 Posts: 539 Member
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    I had an ex who was as dumb as a potato and she is bad for everyone.

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