Myths About Potatoes, Or Which Potatoes Are Dangerous To Health? The Benefits And Harms Of A Vegetable. Photo

2023 Author: Ava Durham | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-27 07:13

For a Russian person, potatoes have long been not just a vegetable, but a part of the national culture. But the debate about the benefits and dangers of potatoes does not stop. Opinions can be heard different: from "potatoes to everything," to a complete ban on potatoes as a product that provokes obesity, diabetes and other diseases and troubles. What are the benefits and harms of potatoes, which one can be eaten without fear, which one can be eaten with caution, and which one is better to refuse altogether, we will tell in this article.

Content:

• Useful properties of potatoes
• Which potatoes are harmful?
• What to do with blackened potatoes?
• Healthy potato pie recipe

Useful properties of potatoes

You can often hear the opinion that potato dishes are very high in calories, and many nutritionists advise people watching their figure to give up this product, since the harm from it is much more beneficial. Beliefs are built on the presence of starch in the vegetable.

But, in addition to this substance, potatoes contain a lot of useful elements and vitamins. Tubers are rich in ascorbic acid or vitamin C, which is essential for human health. The high content of potassium ensures youthfulness of blood vessels and skin, vitamins of group B, H, PP, folic acid, calcium, iron, magnesium, selenium, phosphorus and a number of amino acids significantly enrich the human diet.

With the help of potato dishes, you can lower cholesterol and prevent the appearance of cholesterol plaques on the walls of blood vessels. Fiber, which is also rich in potatoes, is indispensable for the proper functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, therefore, dishes made from this product are recommended for stomach diseases.

The ability of potatoes to neutralize acids makes it especially useful for various metabolic disorders and is used in diets for arthritis and kidney disease.

Even ordinary boiled potatoes or mashed potatoes without added oil contain only 76 calories per 100 g of product, which is less than rice or pasta. Due to the presence of complex carbohydrates, useful for the human body, potatoes can be considered a dietary product.

Which potatoes are harmful?

Despite the abundance of nutrients and trace elements, potatoes can be a harmful product. It depends on how you cook it. Fried or deep-fried potatoes are delicious food, but not healthy at all. Even healthy people should not abuse this product, and with diseases or losing weight it is better to abandon it altogether.

Why can't you use green tubers for food?

Many have probably heard that green potato tubers should not be eaten, but not everyone probably knows why and what the danger is.

After long-term storage, usually closer to spring, some tubers acquire a green color. This happens, as a rule, in the light, and there is no big difference between natural and artificial lighting. Solanine begins to form in potatoes - a very dangerous poison, which stains the tubers green.

Due to its insecticidal properties, solanine protects potatoes from pests and, for the same reason, becomes a real poison for both humans and animals. So, from such a potato - one harm and no benefit.

Perhaps someone will say that he ate green potatoes repeatedly, and nothing - he is alive and well. Yes, not every dose is lethal, but experts warn that the content of solanine in tubers of more than 200 mg per 100 g of product is life-threatening. Nobody tells how to determine these very milligrams when peeling potatoes, so it's better not to risk it.

With solanine poisoning, a person develops weakness, nausea, vomiting, sometimes diarrhea, heaviness in the head, and cramps in the calf muscles. The victim tends to sleep, the skin becomes dry, itching appears. Having found these symptoms, it is best to seek help from a doctor, since solanine is hardly excreted from the body, and it can take a long time to independently fight toxicosis.

In order not to become a victim of solanine, of course, it is best to completely abandon the use of green potatoes. For those who “didn’t eat anything like that,” we advise you to cut the peel from the green tubers as thickly as possible and carefully cut out the eyes, because there is the most solanine.

Hold the peeled potatoes in clean cold water for about 20 minutes and drain the water. And remember, solanine does not decompose when heated, but frying such potatoes is strictly not recommended - it is better to cook. The lesser of two evils must be chosen.

Why are sprouted potatoes dangerous?

Another state of the potato raises doubts - can sprouted tubers be used for food? Potatoes sprout after long-term storage, and here the toxic substance hakonin begins to accumulate, and the already known solanine is also present.

If the potatoes are hard, then they can be cooked by carefully cutting out the eyes. It is advisable to refuse soft sprouted tubers - there will be no tasty dish anyway, so it is better not to risk it.

What to do with blackened potatoes?

It often happens - you start peeling potatoes, and there are dark spots under the skin. There may be several reasons for this phenomenon - improper transportation, storage errors, harvesting in wet weather. There is no great harm from using such potatoes, but the economic losses are palpable. All dark places have to be cut off, and most of the tuber ends up in the trash can.

Darkening of tubers can sometimes be observed after or during cooking. The peeled potatoes were clean and light and that's bad luck. This happens again due to improper storage or, one more reason, the balance of trace elements during cultivation is disturbed. Excessive nitrogen content in the soil with a lack of potassium disrupts the synthesis of chemicals and leads to unpleasant consequences.

Eating such potatoes does not pose a health hazard, although the aesthetic appearance leaves much to be desired. To keep the potatoes from darkening, experienced cooks advise adding table vinegar to the water during cooking.

When asked why peeled potatoes darken, experts have an answer. The tubers contain the amino acid tyrosine, which oxidizes in air to melanin. There is no harm from such a darkened potato, and it is very easy to avoid this phenomenon. Peeled tubers should be immediately immersed in cold water. During cooking, potatoes are placed in boiling water - this will help preserve as many nutrients as possible.

Healthy potato pie recipe

In conclusion, I would like to give a simple recipe for a very tasty and healthy potato dish. We will need:

• Peeled and washed potato tubers - 400 g;
• 1 onion;
• The white of one egg;
• 150 g salmon or other "noble" fish;
• A little olive oil;
• Salt, pepper, herbs to taste.

Grate potatoes and onion on a coarse grater and squeeze. Mix well by adding protein, salt, spices and herbs. Cover the baking dish with baking paper, brush with olive oil and lay out some of the mixture.

Gently level and spread the sliced fish on top. Cover everything with the rest of the potato mass, smooth and brush the surface with olive oil. It is convenient to use a special brush for this.

Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes. at a temperature of 210 ^to C. As soon as a golden crust - the dish is ready.

Dear Readers! You can argue for a long time about the benefits and dangers of potatoes, but let's leave this occupation to specialists - this is their job. Knowing all the strengths and weaknesses of this popular culture, everyone decides for himself whether to use it for food, how often and what dishes to cook in order to get the most useful product. And this can only be healthy clean potatoes.