Continued from our Retreat & Renew Daily Tip.
By Wendy Bazilian, DrPH, RD
1. Think of potatoes like a grain.
They’re actually vegetables, but let’s face it, potatoes ‘look’ more like a grain in terms of their nutrients than they do a green leafy veggie, a carrot or cauliflower. I like to think of it as one of Mother Nature’s jokes… not unlike certainly a different food: peanuts, that even with the word ‘nut’ in the name is not actually a nut but a legume, though it’s nutrients seem to have more in common with the tree nuts like walnuts and almonds than beans. When we think about a potato we know it’s not like broccoli. But compare it with a whole grain and we’re getting closer to how it works in the body and the beneficial effects it has on our health.
Cooking method matters.
French fries and potato chips are not health-enhancing potatoes. An occasional place on your plate they can occupy, but if you’re seeking the health-promoting, disease-fighting properties and good sustained energy, stick with baking, roasting, boiling, or microwaving on a regular basis to preserve their nutrients and your waistline.
Get to know the various forms.
There’s growing scientific evidence around the many varieties of potatoes in having healthy, nutritious properties and researchers suggest that their findings, though limited to the actual study environment itself, are likely to show similar effects with other types. Blue potatoes (also called purple potatoes), red potatoes, yellow potatoes, fingerlings, and Russets (think Idaho variety) add fun to the plate.
Flavor with herbs and spices and mustard, salsa or vinegar instead of with salt and fat (butter and sour cream). Get creative with herb and spice blends or coat with combinations like rosemary and mustard before grilling. Use toppings like Greek yogurt, salsa or avocado. Enjoy as a side, in a salad and soups, or as the meal itself.
In a study presented at the meeting of the American Chemical Society, researchers from the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania reported findings that eating a couple servings of purple potatoes daily reduced blood pressure in overweight individuals with high blood pressure “almost as much as oatmeal without causing weight gain.”
How can that be? Well a potato is loaded with vitamins and minerals including vitamin C, vitamins, along with dozens of phytonutrients and antioxidants. And it’s a good source of fiber with no fat or sodium. Potatoes have potassium, more in fact than a banana, which is critical to helping balance blood pressure, as well as other compounds that actually have similar effects to some common blood pressure medications, namely ACE-inhibitors.
It’s true: the researchers saw blood pressure lowering properties that were almost as good as oatmeal. Researchers fed 18 people who had high blood pressure and who were overweight about 6-8 golf ball-sized purple potatoes two times daily for a month. Systolic and diastolic (the top and bottom numbers in a reading) blood pressure dropped 4.3 and 3.5 percent and none of the participants gained weight.
The purple potato (also called a blue potato) gets its color for powerful antioxidants called anthocyanins, not unlike those found in blueberries, blackberries, black rice and even eggplant.
Reference: August 25-September 1, 2011 meeting of the American Chemical Society. Vinson et al. University of Scranton, 2011.
Wendy Bazilian (www.wendybazilian.com) is a doctor of public health, registered dietitian and freelance writer in San Diego. She is also the Nutrition Advisor at the renowned Golden Door and Co-owner of Bazilian’s Health Clinic with her husband and business partner, Dr. Jason Bazilian. Dr. Wendy is author of The SuperFoodsRx Diet (Rodale).
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