High carb or not, I do love potatoes. I don’t eat them all the time, but sometimes the perfect dinner involves a baked potato topped with some healthy veggies and cheese. I also like hearty dishes this time of year such as Shepherd’s pie and a cauliflower soup I make that has a few potatoes in it.
I vary my tater intake – standard Idaho, red and sweet. I like them all.
I think most of us know that the best part about potatoes nutritionally is the potassium. I am always concerned with how I cook my vegetables and controlling the nutrients lost during the process, however, my concerns usually lie with my green veggies. I’ve never really thought about this regarding potatoes. I always cube them up to make them cook more quickly.
To my surprise, in October the USDA Food and Nutrition Research Briefs provided information on a recent finding regarding potassium loss when cooking potatoes. When cubed and boiled in water they lose as much as 75% of the mineral. Wow!
Potassium is important in regulating blood pressure. When balanced with sodium intake it can help to prevent and control hypertension.
In addition, for avid exercisers and athletes out there potassium is important because we lose it during muscle use and sweating. When potassium gets too low muscle cramping and cardiovascular complications can result.
If you need some more straight forward information about potassium check out this article from Colorado State Cooperative Extension. Gotta love Extension – I worked for them for three years. Lots of quality, accurate health/nutrition info can be found from the organization.
The best way to save potassium is to cook your potatoes whole and then cube them up or scrape them out for use in your recipes. Losing 75% of any important nutrient is huge. It is a good reminder that real food is good for us, but we still need to pay attention to preparation. Sometimes even when we think we are choosing a healthy option we have to look more closely at what our cooking might be doing to our nutrient-dense foods.
Are you a tater fan? How do you usually prepare them?
Photo by Gracey, www.morguefile.com
I don’t like regular potatoes, but I eat SWEET potatoes about 3-4 times per week 🙂
LOVE taters! I bake them whole and then top them with yummy things like black beans! I can’t believe they lose 75% of the K with boiling- sooo crazy! Thanks for pointing this out!
I am most decidedly a potato fan. My favorite is any kind of new potato fresh from the garden!
Do they lose the potassium to the water? Could you still cube them up and saute them or roast them and keep the nutrients?
Big potato fan here too – almost any way that they’re made! Hubby’s fave is oven baked fries.
I love my potatoes, especially sweet potatoes. Thanks for this helpful info!
I do love potatoes, but like VeggieGirl tend to eat sweet potatoes more. My favorite potato recipe, though, is my own lower-fat home fries. Also loved them mashed!
Thanks for the info! I didn’t realize how much nutrient was lost for the sake of expediency. I’ve recently had a couple of nights when I woke up with massive leg cramps because my food choices in the past few weeks have been less than stellar. I’m also apparently under the illusion that I’m a camel – I have gone an entire day without a drop of water, just one or two cups of coffee and whatever H2O is naturally occurring in my food. You’ve got to help keep me in line!
interesting! I love all potato varieties and unfortunately enjoy the fried version from time to time while dining out. At home, I mostly bake them!
I had no idea!!! I usually microwave them or bake them, but when we make mashed potatoes we always cut them up and boil them. No longer though!
I love roasted red potatoes and roasted sweet potatoes. I also love homemade oven-baked sweet potato fries.
Well, how could the daily spud *not* like potatoes 🙂 I eat them in all sorts of different ways, though my all-time favourite has to be new potatoes straight from the garden, steamed whole and eaten with some butter and salt.
As for cooking methods in general, it’s actually quite traditional here in Ireland to boil potatoes in their skins and serve them that way. My mother was very fond of telling us that the best part of the potato was just below the skin, and you’d lose that goodness if you peeled the potatoes before cooking. Even after cooking we were encouraged to peel potatoes very thinly (or, even better, eat them skins and all, though that was usually only appetising if they were an early enough variety!)
VeggieGirl – Big sweet potato fan here too!
Erica – Sounds like a great combo!
Laura – Yum, new potatoes! My dad always has some great ones from the garden. Eventually I will start growing them too.
cathy – Yeah, the water is the real culprit. Larger pieces, keeping the skin on and faster cooking methods all help preserve nutrients.
Steaming, microwaving, saute, etc are all good. The less water (or none) the better.
Meg – Glad I could help. I found it so surprising I thought it was worth a post.
Ricki – Love that recipe. I enjoy mashing my sweet potatoes. Kind of makes them like a holiday casserole without all the added stuff.
Tangled Noodle – I’ll do my best. Ha, ha! I’ve been out of whack with cramps before too. I’d suggest getting more water and eating potatoes, bananas and yogurt. All can help with potassium.
lauren – I definitely enjoy fries from time to time too.
Jenn – I did the same thing. Guess it is worth it to put in a little more cooking time.
Blake – Love sweet potato fries!
Daily spud – Thanks for sharing the Irish tradition. I love reading about those things. What great advice your mom had!
My mom and husband are always big on eating the skin. I can eat it when they are mashed in, but not so much when it is a baked potato.