According to Julie Upton, MS, RD, and member of our Medical Expert Board, the healthiest way to eat your potatoes is to leave the skin on and bake them. "The healthiest way to eat a potato is baking it with the skin on," says Upton. "Baked potatoes add no additional calories like frying or roasting with oil."
They can be prepared in many healthy ways including boiling, steaming and baking. However, frying is the worst way to cook them as this process may increase their calorie content drastically due to its contact with a lot of oil. It may help you lose weight curbing hunger pangs and cravings if eaten in correct way.
Cook potatoes by boiling, steaming or microwaving them without adding other ingredients. Preparing potatoes in this manner will ensure that they are very low in salt, sugar and fat.
A baked potato is more nutrient-dense, providing 6 grams of protein and 6 grams of fiber. It has about 25 percent more magnesium as a boiled potato. It also contains 40 percent more phosphorus and potassium, as well as four times the amount of folate in a boiled potato.
Oil and Fat Content
It does have no oil in the cooking process–potato slices are baked. Compared with fatty deep fry, bake is the more healthy way to cook food.
MYTH #2. MOST COOKING METHODS DESTROY THE NUTRIENTS IN POTATOES. While boiling potatoes does cause a small loss of water-soluble nutrients like vitamin C and vitamin B6, the white potato retains most, if not all, of its potassium and dietary fiber regardless of cooking method, such as baking, boiling, or frying.
Researchers in Spain made a remarkable discovery. Vegetables, such as potatoes, have more nutrients when fried in extra virgin olive oil then when boiled. The antioxidants and beneficial phenols in EVOO are transferred to the food.
Baking, boiling and steaming potatoes are the best choices in terms of minimizing their fat and calorie contents, compared to frying. Furthermore, opting for whole potatoes in place of processed potato products can decrease their fat, calorie and sodium contents.
Boiled potatoes are naturally rich in potassium, calcium, and magnesium. Being a good source of fibre, they are also suitable for managing your weight. In addition, they keep cholesterol and blood sugar levels in check.
Overall, potatoes contain more vitamins and nutrients than rice, but when you add toppings such as butter, sour cream, gravy, bacon bits and salt, the number of calories and fat grams in a baked potato increases significantly.
Simply boil one potato and let it cool off completely. You can season it with spices like black pepper or include a bit of spice to add up to its taste. You can also add yoghurt to your mashed potato meal to lose weight in a better fashion!
Research demonstrates that people can eat potatoes and still lose weight. FACTS There is no evidence that potatoes, when prepared in a healthful manner, impede weight loss. In fact, a study published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition demonstrates that people can eat potatoes and still lose weight1.
The potato diet is a short-term rapid weight loss solution. Potatoes are the primary source of calories on this diet. Potatoes are an excellent source of fiber, vitamins, and minerals, and proponents of the potato diet believe that you can lose about a pound per week.
Finally, no contact with water means no flavor dilution!
This is another reason steaming is superior to boiling: the potatoes don't absorb water like they do when boiled, so you'll end up with a fuller, richer flavor – no extra cream or butter required.
Heart Health
Baked potatoes are a naturally low-fat, low-cholesterol food. They're also packed with potassium, which some research suggests can greatly reduce risks of heart disease.
Yes, a plain baked potato is a healthy food, especially when it is consumed with its fiber-rich skin. But because its nutrient profile and composition is different from other vegetables (it has more starch than leafy greens, for example), it shouldn't be the only vegetable in your diet.
Yes. Eat the skin to capture all the russet potatoes nutrition. The potato skin has more nutrients than the interior of the potato. It has lots of fiber, about half of a medium potato's fiber is from the skin.
Some people may prefer to peel the potatoes before boiling, but we would recommend you leave the skins on. This ensures that the nutrients and flavours are not lost during cooking and you get all those lovely vitamins too.
Because microwaving can sometimes significantly lower the cooking time (five minutes instead of the 15 it would take to boil for veggies like Creamer potatoes) it can help to preserve nutrients as well as flavor!
Red Desiree Potatoes are part of the Red Potato family and are considered to be the healthiest of all potatoes, as they contain the highest levels of vitamins, minerals and healthy phytochemicals.
Cold cooked potatoes are great for your gut health because they contain resistant starch which help feed the beneficial bacteria. Once cooled the sugars in the potatoes become resistant to human digestion, but they travel through the gut to feed the microbes.
Boiling potatoes causes water-soluble nutrients, such as vitamin C and potassium, to leach out ( 2 ). This results in slightly less nutritious potatoes. The longer you boil, the more nutrients are lost. Boiling potatoes in their skin helps to retain some of the water-soluble nutrients.
The Best Cooking Oil
As much as we love butter, it burns too quickly over high heat, which is necessary for optimal crispiness. Olive oil tastes great with potatoes but is only a little bit better. The solution: mixing EVOO with vegetable oil (or another neutral oil with a high smoking point).
Using both butter and oil to fry the potatoes gives you the best of both worlds. The butter will impart a delicious buttery flavor to the potatoes and the oil will keep the butter from burning.
Canola oil is widely considered to be a healthy oil as it's low in saturated fat and high in monounsaturated fat.