5 Reasons Should You Eat Baked Potato!

Is potato good for you?

Somebody told me recently that a baked potato was 'the worst thing you can eat'. When I asked them why this was the case, they told me that it was full of starch and just added calories that you didn't need. It is quite amazing how peoples opinions of nutrition can be changed by fad diets and health points systems. The fact that the potato before any cooking is packed with excellent nutritious benefits was lost on this person who viewed the potato, and starch, as generally bad for you.

I have always been a firm believer in a balanced diet and lifestyle, and as such, have always promoted a healthy amount of starchy carbohydrates in order to have the energy for exercise. Remember, eating well is only part of a healthy lifestyle, part two is exercise, and without good quality energy sources, you're going to find that you have less get up and go, and all the extra calories you eat will be stored as fat. So lets have a look at the baked potato, and 5 reasons why it is better than people might think...

1. A Baked Potato is a Meal

Often we look at ingredients in isolation and add them to a meal, but a sizeable baked potato is in itself a meal. A large potato, or about 300g in size, is more than enough for a filling portion, and that's good to get you started. The calories contained in that size of baked potato are only 278. Given your RDA of 2000 for a woman and 2500 for a male, and the baked potato is a scratch, toppings aside. That makes the baked potato a great base for any meal.

2. Baked Potatoes are Carbohydrate Based

Carbohydrates are often seen as the devil in modern day diets, but that is simply not true. The devil of a diet is that you deny yourself something, and that makes you want it more. So take in the carbs, and feel good about doing it. Most general recommendations of macronutrient balance say 65% carbs, 20% fat and 15% protein, so don't neglect your biggest food group. Potatoes have a brilliant balance of carbs too. In your large potato you get 63g of carbohydrates, and 51g of that is starch. That's high quality slow release energy that will keep you going all day. For the health conscious, only 4g is sugar, so you're limiting your sweet intake, and the fibre content is top notch, aiding digestive transit.

3. What about fat, cholesterol and salt?

This section doesn't take long in reference to the baked potato. There is no cholesterol, and basically no salt or fat. That's right, the baked potato isn't hiding anything nasty, the flavour isn't driven by fat and with creative toppings you can make it low fat and tasty. It's great for your heart and for your health.

4. Baked Potatoes are Vitamin Rich!

One of your 5 a day?

People forget that a potato is a vegetable, mostly because it usually isn't counted in the fabled '5 a day' but actually, the potato holds it's own in vitamin content. As a water based vegetable, it's limited in fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K, but that is the only limit. The potato is the natural home of many B vitamins, including thamin, niacin, B6 and folate. This means that the humble baked potato is helpful for energy metabolism, fat processing, cellular function and immunity. That's no mean feat for a food that is bad for you!

5. Baked Potatoes have loads of Minerals.

The potato continues to boost it's statistics in the mineral department. In your large potato you get about one fifth of your RDA of copper, iron, magnesium and phosphorus. So body processes like nerve function and blood production are covered. You also get 46% of your RDA of potassium, aiding your solute balance and ensuring you are cramp free in your exercises. To top it off, you're also getting a third of your RDA manganese, an antioxidant that boosts your cellular processes and energy production.

What's Bad?

The short answer is, nothing is bad. The downside to the potato is that is comes with fillings, and this is where many people pack in the saturated fats, extra calories and sugars. But it doesn't need to be that way.

What Do you Put on Top?

What Should Go On Top?

The range of toppings is endless, from tuna with light mayonnaise to a lean chilli con carne. But they are not the most adventurous toppings, and here at FO-OD we would love to know what you would use as a topping, so please add your thoughts in the comments below.

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Happy Eating...