Potato is one of the most widely consumed and versatile vegetables in the world. From mashed potatoes to French fries and potato chips, potatoes have become a staple ingredient in many dishes around the world. But did you know that potato is also incredibly nutritious? Not only are they packed with vitamins and minerals, but they also contain complex carbohydrates and fiber that can help keep you full and satisfied. In this post, we’ll explore the health benefits and discuss some of the best ways to enjoy them. We’ll also provide tips on how to select and store potatoes so that you can make the most of this delicious vegetable. So grab a potato and let’s get started!
Potato Nutrition Facts and Calories Chart
Potatoes are an incredibly nutritious vegetable. They are an excellent source of vitamins C and B6, as well as potassium, dietary fiber, and magnesium. Potatoes are also rich in antioxidants and phytonutrients, making them an excellent choice for maintaining a healthy diet. They contain virtually no fat or cholesterol, making them a great alternative to other high-fat, high-calorie foods. With all these health benefits, it’s no wonder potatoes are a staple in so many diets around the world. Nutritional value per 100 g potatoes:
- Biotin: 2 µg
- Calcium: 16 mg
- Carbohydrates (Carbs): 17.9 g
- Chloride: 61 mg
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
- Choline: 10.2 mg
- Chromium: 2.3 µg
- Copper: 0.3 mg
- Dietary Fiber: 1.8 g
- Energy (Calories): 77 kcal
- Fat: 0.1 g
- Iodine: 6.7 µg
- Iron: 1.8 mg
- Magnesium: 25 mg
- Manganese: 0.3 mg
- Molybdenum: 8.7 µg
- Pantothenic Acid: 0.4 mg
- Phosphorus: 62 mg
- Potassium: 337 mg
- Protein: 2.0 g
- Saturated fat: 0 g
- Selenium: 1.9 µg
- Sodium: 17 mg
- Sugars: 1.7 g
- Vitamin A: 0 µg
- Vitamin B1 (Thiamin): 0.1 mg
- Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin): 0.04 mg
- Vitamin B3 (Niacin): 1.2 mg
- Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic Acid): 0.4 mg
- Vitamin B6: 0.2 mg
- Vitamin B9 (Folate / Folic Acid): 24 µg
- Vitamin B12: 0 µg
- Vitamin C: 18 mg
- Vitamin D: 0 µg
- Vitamin E: 0.1 mg
- Vitamin K: 4.2 µg
- Water: 79 g
- Zinc: 0.4 mg
Potato in India
The potato plant is native to the Americas. It was supposedly endowed with powers such as the ability to cure impotence, and so long as the plant remained rare in Europe, its price often reached astronomical heights.
- Scientific Binomial: Solanum tuberosum
- Common English: Potato
- Ayurvedic: Aaluka / Aaruka / Golaalu
- Unani
- Sanskrit: Golakandha
- Hindi / Urdu: Aalu / Aloo / Aaluu
- Bengali: Alu
- Marathi: Batata
- Telugu: Bangala dumpa / Alugadda
- Tamil: Urulai
- Gujarati
- Kannada: Aaloo Gadde
- Malayalam: Uralakizhangu
- Oriya
- Punjabi / Sindhi
- Assamese
- Kashmiri
- Konkani
- Manipuri
- Dogri
- Bhojpuri
Home Remedies
Potatoes are an important source of vitamin C; they are also rich in B-complex vitamins (including B1, B5, B6, and folic acid) and contain several minerals including iron, calcium, manganese, magnesium, and phosphorus. Besides being an important food source, potato juice is a useful addition to the medicine chest. Potatoes have been used for medicinal purposes for hundreds of years.
- Rheumatism: The raw potato juice therapy is considered one of the most successful biological treatment for rheumatic and arthritic conditions. It has been used in folk medicine for centuries.
- Remedy 1: The old method of preparing potato juice was to cut the potato into thin slices, without peeling the skin, and place them overnight in a large glass filled with cold water. The water should be drunk in the morning on an empty stomach.
- Remedy 2: Fresh juice can also be extracted from potatoes and diluted with water on 50: 50 basis, first thing in the morning.
- Remedy 3: In some rural areas in Great Britain, it is a custom for rheumatic suffers to carry a potato in their pockets, in the belief that the potato will absorb in itself some of the acid from the sufferer’s body. The old potato is thrown away and replaced by a new one after a few days.
- Remedy 4: The skin of the potato is also an excellent food remedy for rheumatism. The skin is exceptionally rich in vital mineral salts and the water in which the peelings have been boiled is one of the best medicines for the ailments caused by excess of acid in the system. The potato peelings should be thoroughly washed and boiled for a few minutes. The decoction should then be strained and a glassful of the same should be taken three or four times daily.
- Digestive Problems: It can be helpful for relieving digestive problems associated with excessive stomach acid including indigestion, gastritis, and peptic ulcers, and is a good liver remedy that can be helpful for gallstones and other gallbladder problems. Fresh mashed potato (without milk or butter) helps prevent the fermentative process in the intestines and helps the growth of friendly bacteria in the digestive tract.
- High Blood Pressure: The peels (potato skin) are high in potassium, and potato peel tea has been traditionally used around the world for high blood pressure. The juice of raw potatoes is most useful, and can be added to soups, juices, or stews to disguise the taste.
- Dry Cough: An old treatment for a dry cough is to use warm, unsalted potato water (water in which potatoes have been boiled), sweetened with honey as a kind of cough syrup. It does not taste very nice but is said to be very effective.
- Stomach Ache: The starch in cooked potatoes soothes a stomach ache. Eating some fresh mashed potato or a mild potato soup is good for you and eases inflammation.
- Migraine: A compress of sliced raw potatoes, sprinkled with pepper applied to the forehead for an hour is said to work very well to hold off a migraine as well.
- Piles: For hemorrhoids, a potato suppository (raw potato) inserted overnight brings healing to piles. Unbelievable as it sounds, but a poultice made from grated potato is astringent and soothing for piles.
- Heartburn: Heartburn is eased by slowly chewing a raw piece of potato, a few sips of milk or a spoonful of raw sauerkraut.
- Ear Pain: For earache, bake one large baking potato for 40 minutes, wrap in thin towel double or single folded depending on the amount of heat you can tolerate. Hold against ear.
- Headaches: To relieve headaches, apply a little juice to the temples. To collect the juice, thinly slice a raw potato and sprinkle with a very little salt. Leave in a shallow dish overnight and collect the resulting juices next morning. OR simply cut the potato in half and rub it on your forehead.
- Stye Eye: For a stye in your eye, microwave a potato, cut it in half, and put it on a cloth over your eye. It stays hot for a long time, so you can relax, recline, and enjoy the break.
- Skin Care: Externally, slices of raw potato can be used to soothe skin inflammations, chilblains, burns, and scalds. Use grated raw potato mixed with a little vegetable oil to bind it. The same mix can soothe chapped and cracked skin.
- Sore Throat: To cure a sore throat, make a poultice of potatoes and wrap it around your neck.
- Fatigue: For fatigue, cut an unpeeled potato into slices and let the pieces soak in water overnight. In the morning, drink the juice for a natural tonic brimming with potassium. Your body needs this mineral for transmitting nerve impulses and making muscles move, along with other vital functions, and some natural healers say deficiencies are common in people with fatigue.
- Sunburn: For extra-painful spots of sunburn, rub the area gently with sliced cucumber or potato. They contain compounds that cool the burn and help reduce swelling.
- Warts: For warts, a popular folk remedy is to rub a juicy, freshly cut slice of raw potato over affected area.
- Skin Blemishes: The juice of raw potatoes has also proved very valuable in clearing skin blemishes. This cleansing results from high content of potassium sulfur, phosphorous and chlorine in the potato. These elements are, however, of value only when the potato is raw as in this state they are composed of live organic atoms.
Side Effects and Precautions
Some people are sensitive to potatoes. Potatoes give them gas and little aches and pains in the muscles and around the joints. But if they peel off the skin and saute the potato with ghee and a little turmeric, mustard seed, cumin powder, and cilantro, it mitigates the vata-provoking property of the potato and the body can then handle it. Poisonous alkaloids are present in most nightshade plants, including the common potato, but it is perfectly safe to eat if cooked, and in small amounts when raw. Sprouting potatoes are poisonous and should not be eaten. The nightshade vegetables contain a substance called solanine, which can trigger allergic responses and pain in some allergy sufferers. Eliminate these foods from your diet for a period of six weeks to see if there is improvement.