So, one day, in an idle moment, I paused to wonder what the Irish ate before potatoes came along. Read a whole bit of interesting history.
They ate the same wheat crops all the other Europeans ate, except, the British kept coming over and burning their crops down and starving them. Then the potato came along and here was a crop you could grow underground in small spaces, most often less than an acre.
The Irish turned to baked potatoes with buttermilk and were the healthiest poor in Europe...until the blight of course!
So I looked up the nutritional value of the lowly potato, the one all dieters despise and shun, and I was surprised.
The potato is a locally grown (within a hundred mile radius) staple and so much less of a foot print than rice or wheat...and they store well if you remember how
They are very fast to cook in the micro and fluff up well with low fat buttermilk...very tasty...sometimes I use rice milk.
Here is the link to a site and I will post a bit of it. I don't normally post such long sites but the info is interesting in the way it is written.
http://www.slhfarm.com/spudfacts.html
"THE NUTRIENT-DENSE POTATO
The potato is a nutrient-dense food. It provides good nutritional return for the calories. Why is nutrient density important? Our need for calories has probably decreased by one-third since the turn of the century because we aren't as active. But in general we still need about the same amount of nutrients as we did then. This means that in order to get all the nutrition we need without consuming too many calories, we must include many nutrient dense foods like potatoes in our diets.
A medium-size potato (one third pound or 150 grams) has only about 110 calories, four to five percent of the average adult's total daily intake of calories, but provides much higher percentages of our needs for many nutrients. (See 'Nutrition in a Raw Potato') For a real potato lover, a medium-size potato may not be enough of a good thing. But even a 250-gram potato (a little over one-half pound) has only about 160 calories, and the larger size gives you a real nutrition bonus. The potato gives us a wide spectrum of valuable nutrients, including complex carbohydrates, often lacking in the American diet.
The potato is a good source of vitamin C and hard to get B6 and has long been known to be a storehouse of minerals. Exact needs for all minerals are not established yet. But, for example, the potato contains valuable supplies of such essential trace elements as manganese, chromium, selenium and molybdenum.
LOW SODIUM HIGH POTASSIUM POTATO
One current nutritional goal is to reduce the amount of sodium consumed. While research is not complete, it indicates that a typical potato provides less than 1 0 mg. of sodium - compared to a typical daily intake of more than 4,000 mg. On the other hand, many Americans need to be concerned about adequate supplies of potassium. Here again, it appears that for the typical potato-eating American, the potato supplies about 20 percent of the daily potassium needs.
FIBER
Fiber, almost entirely complex carbohydrates, has been the subject of renewed interest. Fiber is that part of the food we eat is not digested by the body but travels through and holds water, forming the bulk we need for eliminating solid waste. While official recommendations for fiber haven't been established, about six grams daily is considered desirable. Most Americans fall short of this amount. Potatoes can add to the overall fiber intake. An average serving provides about 10 percent of a desirable daily intake of fiber.
PROTEIN
Potatoes contain small amounts of protein. In fact, the protein in potatoes is among the best to be found in vegetables.
(Swiss Chard is the best at 4.5 grms of protein per cup)
So, potatoes offer a good inexpensive supplementary source of protein in menu planning.
IRON
Iron is a mineral that's hard to get in sufficient amounts and is lacking in many diets, particularly those of women, teen-age girls and young children. Although few foods contain large amounts of iron, potatoes are a very good source. When consumed on a daily basis (5 1/3 oz. average per person), potatoes furnish more iron than any other vegetable. And, whereas not all the iron content in all foods is available for body use, the iron in potatoes is highly usable by the body.
CARBOHYDRATES
The potato has been criticized for being "just a starch." There's a lot more to potatoes, of course, but the carbohydrates in potatoes are the most common form of complex carbohydrates and as such are important to a good diet. Carbohydrates are the body's primary source of fuel for energy. Experts say at least 50 percent of our daily body fuel should come from carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are of several types. Sugars are the most basic carbohydrates, the building blocks of complex carbohydrates. Complex carbohydrates are longer chains of sugars, such as starches and fiber. Contrary to popular belief, gram for gram, carbohydrates have no more calories than protein and less than half that of fat. In fact, potatoes are virtually fat-free.
WHY THE FATTENING IMAGES
All too often the potato is guilty by allusion and association. Although the potato appears to be a bulky vegetable, it is 80 percent water, just a little less than in milk. Its association with high calorie toppings like butter, sour cream, gravy and mayonnaise dressing to name a few, puts the low calorie potato at a disadvantage. Just one tablespoon of butter will double the number of calories in a baked potato. There are many low calorie ways to prepare potatoes deliciously. Here are just a few tasty low/no calories ideas:
* Toasted sesame seeds
* Whipped butter and poppy seeds
* A spoon full of stewed tomatoes and a bit of grated cheese
* Melted butter or margarine thinned with lemon juice
* A mix of dried herbs: parsley, chives, basil, dill
* Mock sour cream (cottage cheese and lemon juice whipped in a blender)
* Chopped onion with coarsely grated black pepper
* Chive-spiked yogurt
* Salsa
ABOUT THE CALORIES
Dieting needn't mean giving up foods. Authorities are opposed to fad reducing diets that rule out whole categories of foods. These diets rob us of valuable nutrients and are often harmful to health. Low carbohydrate/high protein diets give us an overdose of fat-and may be hazardous for many people including pregnant women and those with heart and kidney disease or high blood pressure.
Fad diets force us to make needless sacrifices of foods we like to eat and, perhaps above all, do nothing to teach a plan for eating for-life that will prevent recurring bouts with excess weight.
The best diet is one based on a variety of nutritious foods, and the potato offers a high return of nutrients for relatively few calories.
(And the best part is you actually feel FULL after eating one)
They ate the same wheat crops all the other Europeans ate, except, the British kept coming over and burning their crops down and starving them. Then the potato came along and here was a crop you could grow underground in small spaces, most often less than an acre.
The Irish turned to baked potatoes with buttermilk and were the healthiest poor in Europe...until the blight of course!
So I looked up the nutritional value of the lowly potato, the one all dieters despise and shun, and I was surprised.
The potato is a locally grown (within a hundred mile radius) staple and so much less of a foot print than rice or wheat...and they store well if you remember how
They are very fast to cook in the micro and fluff up well with low fat buttermilk...very tasty...sometimes I use rice milk.
Here is the link to a site and I will post a bit of it. I don't normally post such long sites but the info is interesting in the way it is written.
http://www.slhfarm.com/spudfacts.html
"THE NUTRIENT-DENSE POTATO
The potato is a nutrient-dense food. It provides good nutritional return for the calories. Why is nutrient density important? Our need for calories has probably decreased by one-third since the turn of the century because we aren't as active. But in general we still need about the same amount of nutrients as we did then. This means that in order to get all the nutrition we need without consuming too many calories, we must include many nutrient dense foods like potatoes in our diets.
A medium-size potato (one third pound or 150 grams) has only about 110 calories, four to five percent of the average adult's total daily intake of calories, but provides much higher percentages of our needs for many nutrients. (See 'Nutrition in a Raw Potato') For a real potato lover, a medium-size potato may not be enough of a good thing. But even a 250-gram potato (a little over one-half pound) has only about 160 calories, and the larger size gives you a real nutrition bonus. The potato gives us a wide spectrum of valuable nutrients, including complex carbohydrates, often lacking in the American diet.
The potato is a good source of vitamin C and hard to get B6 and has long been known to be a storehouse of minerals. Exact needs for all minerals are not established yet. But, for example, the potato contains valuable supplies of such essential trace elements as manganese, chromium, selenium and molybdenum.
LOW SODIUM HIGH POTASSIUM POTATO
One current nutritional goal is to reduce the amount of sodium consumed. While research is not complete, it indicates that a typical potato provides less than 1 0 mg. of sodium - compared to a typical daily intake of more than 4,000 mg. On the other hand, many Americans need to be concerned about adequate supplies of potassium. Here again, it appears that for the typical potato-eating American, the potato supplies about 20 percent of the daily potassium needs.
FIBER
Fiber, almost entirely complex carbohydrates, has been the subject of renewed interest. Fiber is that part of the food we eat is not digested by the body but travels through and holds water, forming the bulk we need for eliminating solid waste. While official recommendations for fiber haven't been established, about six grams daily is considered desirable. Most Americans fall short of this amount. Potatoes can add to the overall fiber intake. An average serving provides about 10 percent of a desirable daily intake of fiber.
PROTEIN
Potatoes contain small amounts of protein. In fact, the protein in potatoes is among the best to be found in vegetables.
(Swiss Chard is the best at 4.5 grms of protein per cup)
So, potatoes offer a good inexpensive supplementary source of protein in menu planning.
IRON
Iron is a mineral that's hard to get in sufficient amounts and is lacking in many diets, particularly those of women, teen-age girls and young children. Although few foods contain large amounts of iron, potatoes are a very good source. When consumed on a daily basis (5 1/3 oz. average per person), potatoes furnish more iron than any other vegetable. And, whereas not all the iron content in all foods is available for body use, the iron in potatoes is highly usable by the body.
CARBOHYDRATES
The potato has been criticized for being "just a starch." There's a lot more to potatoes, of course, but the carbohydrates in potatoes are the most common form of complex carbohydrates and as such are important to a good diet. Carbohydrates are the body's primary source of fuel for energy. Experts say at least 50 percent of our daily body fuel should come from carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are of several types. Sugars are the most basic carbohydrates, the building blocks of complex carbohydrates. Complex carbohydrates are longer chains of sugars, such as starches and fiber. Contrary to popular belief, gram for gram, carbohydrates have no more calories than protein and less than half that of fat. In fact, potatoes are virtually fat-free.
WHY THE FATTENING IMAGES
All too often the potato is guilty by allusion and association. Although the potato appears to be a bulky vegetable, it is 80 percent water, just a little less than in milk. Its association with high calorie toppings like butter, sour cream, gravy and mayonnaise dressing to name a few, puts the low calorie potato at a disadvantage. Just one tablespoon of butter will double the number of calories in a baked potato. There are many low calorie ways to prepare potatoes deliciously. Here are just a few tasty low/no calories ideas:
* Toasted sesame seeds
* Whipped butter and poppy seeds
* A spoon full of stewed tomatoes and a bit of grated cheese
* Melted butter or margarine thinned with lemon juice
* A mix of dried herbs: parsley, chives, basil, dill
* Mock sour cream (cottage cheese and lemon juice whipped in a blender)
* Chopped onion with coarsely grated black pepper
* Chive-spiked yogurt
* Salsa
ABOUT THE CALORIES
Dieting needn't mean giving up foods. Authorities are opposed to fad reducing diets that rule out whole categories of foods. These diets rob us of valuable nutrients and are often harmful to health. Low carbohydrate/high protein diets give us an overdose of fat-and may be hazardous for many people including pregnant women and those with heart and kidney disease or high blood pressure.
Fad diets force us to make needless sacrifices of foods we like to eat and, perhaps above all, do nothing to teach a plan for eating for-life that will prevent recurring bouts with excess weight.
The best diet is one based on a variety of nutritious foods, and the potato offers a high return of nutrients for relatively few calories.
(And the best part is you actually feel FULL after eating one)
