C
onfused about potatoes?
If so, it’s not surprising.
They’re widely perceived
as unhealthy and don’t count
towards your five-a-day fruit
and vegetable tally. Yet spuds
are a valuable source of important
nutrients and the NHS website
confirms they’re a “healthy” food
choice. So what’s the story?
The truth is, the simple spud
is complicated. Often eaten as
chips, it’s gained a reputation
as a dietary devil. And the anti-
carbohydrate trend has seen starchy
white foods like spuds blamed for
everything from weight gain to
Alzheimer’s disease.
But nutritionists say potatoes
have a wide range of health benefits
and are packed with some of the
nutrients British consumers don’t
eat enough of. What’s more, in
countries such as the US and
Australia, potatoes do counttowards the recommended daily
intake of fruit and veg.FOUR FACTS TO KNOW...
1
Potatoes are an excellent source
of vitamin C (they helped
prevent scurvy centuries ago),
vitamin B6 and potassium. They
have more magnesium, iron and
phosphorous than equivalent
amounts of long-grain rice.2
Potatoes contain dietary fibre,
including the kind known
as resistant starch – a type
of carbohydrate that can’t be
digested in the small intestine, so
it passes into the large intestine,
where it ferments and feeds the
bacteria that have health benefits.3
The first two points are key as
the National Diet and Nutrition
Survey shows both potassium and
fibre are lacking in UK diets.4
Most of the nutrients in potatoes
are in the flesh, not the skin,
although half the total dietary fibre
is in the skin. Many nutrients in
potatoes are lost during cooking,
especially boiling, when water-
soluble C and B vitamins leach out.
The best way to limit the loss of
nutrients is to bake or microwave
potatoes whole in their skins.THE FIVE-A-DAY CONUNDRUM
If potatoes are good for us, why
don’t they count towards our
five a day? Surprisingly, this
has nothing to do with how
nutritious they are. Britain’s
official healthy-eating advice
is based on the Eatwell Guide,
which sets out the proportion
of different groups of foods we
should consume for good health.
Under this system, potatoes are
listed as a starch rather than
a vegetable. “We mostly eat them as78 deliciousmagazine.co.uk
BEHIND THE HEADLINES
Why aren’t spuds one
of our five a day?
Did you know that in America and Australia potatoes count towards people’s daily veg quota, yet
they don’t here? Sue Quinn finds out if the nation’s favourite carb deserves its stodgy reputation