A Potato A Day Can Keep The Doctor Away

There are right ways and wrong ways to eat a potato, and if we do it correctly, we can really do our bodies a healthy favor.

This is good news for Idaho potato growers.  Including a potato in our food decisions every day can be a great thing for our overall health.

As long as the potato is not fried or prepared with too much salt, it's a really good thing.  The Today Show said eating one medium-size potato a day doesn't increase the risk of diabetes, heart disease or stroke, and as long as the potato is steamed or baked. Okay, so it may be a tad boring and hard to do when our cravings say fries, but a baked potato makes a heart happy.

Some researchers at Pennsylvania State University looked into the benefits of the spud and found that non-fried potatoes also led to higher potassium and fiber intake compared to eating refined grains, like white rice, white bread or pasta.  So potatoes are good carbs, as long as we cook them the right way.  I'm a runner, and I have noticed that eating a potato around 5 pm helps fuel my run the next morning.

What about a bag of chips?  Salty snacks are a huge weakness of mine and maybe yours too, and it looks like we can still have those, but in a limited way.  Of course.  All things in moderation, just like Grandma used to say.  I guess we shouldn't drink while we're eating chips or we'll polish off a whole bag while our inhibitions are down.  That might happen to some of us.  Setting limits is a mental workout.

Potatoes are the most commonly consumed vegetable in the U.S., so yay for Idaho!  Potatoes are benefitting us in several ways already, and if we can take the sour cream, salt, fat, and cheese off, they'll benefit us even more.  Ah, yes.  All things in moderation.