Potatoes for Heart Health, Bone & Mental Wellness. A Healthy All-Rounder?
Potatoes in the USA:
Potatoes came in the Colonies in 1621, when Bermuda’s Governor, Nathaniel Butler, delivered two big cedar chests carrying potatoes and other vegetables to Virginia’s Governor, Francis Wyatt, at Jamestown.
Scotch-Irish settlers planted the first permanent potato patches in North America in 1719, most likely around Londonderry (Derry), NH. The crop expanded throughout the country from there.
In the 18th century, A. Parmentier assisted King Louis XIV in popularizing the potato in France. Parmentier devised a meal consisting entirely of potato dishes, an idea he recognized as feasible after being imprisoned in Germany and fed just potatoes.
In 1767, Benjamin Franklin, the ambassador to France, attended Parmentier’s feast.
Idaho, the world’s greatest potato grower now, did not start farming potatoes until 1836, when missionaries traveled west to teach the native tribes to cultivate crops rather than rely on hunting and gathering ways.
The Idaho potato business did not begin to thrive until 1872 when the Russet Burbank variety was introduced.
The potato became the first vegetable to be cultivated in space in October 1995. The technology was developed by NASA and the University of Wisconsin, Madison, with the purpose of feeding astronauts on extended space missions and, eventually, feeding future space colonies.
The fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals it contains, on the other hand, can help prevent disease and promote human health.
They are presently the most important vegetable crop in the United States (U.S.), where the average person consumes 55 pounds (25 kg) of potatoes per year. They are a staple dish in many places all over the world.
Let’s move further to check Health Benefits of potatoes.
Health Benefits of Potatoes
Potatoes are high in fiber, which might help you lose weight by keeping you fuller for longer. Fiber can help prevent heart disease by maintaining healthy cholesterol and blood sugar levels.
Potatoes are also high in antioxidants, which help to prevent disease, as well as vitamins, which help your body function efficiently.
Even when cooked, potatoes retain vital nutrients that can improve human health in a variety of ways.
We look at the Amazing health benefits of potatoes which can help you live a healthier lifestyle, including preventing osteoporosis, maintaining heart health, and lowering your chance of illness.
Supporting Heart, Brain, & Bone, Is a potato a healthy all-rounder? Let’s go into details.
High in Vitamin C
A medium 5.3 oz skin-on potato offers 27 mg of Vitamin C or 30% of the daily value. Vitamin C, commonly known as ascorbic acid, is a water-soluble vitamin that humans require. Only fruits and vegetables contain naturally occurring vitamin C.
Potatoes are a good source of vitamin C, contributing significantly to Americans’ daily vitamin C requirements.
The Most Important Facts and & Functions of Vitamin C
Vitamin C is essential for collagen formation and immunological function.
Vitamin C, as a powerful antioxidant, stabilizes or eliminates free radicals in the body, assisting in the prevention of cellular damage.
The finest and only natural source of vitamin C is fruits and vegetables.
A medium 5.3 oz. skin-on potato is a good source of vitamin C, giving 30% of the daily requirement (DV).
This has more vitamin C than a medium tomato (27 percent DV) or a sweet potato (20 percent DV).
The recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for vitamin C for men aged 19 and up is 90 mg per day. The RDA for women aged 19 and up is 75 mg per day.
Vitamin C is required for the manufacture of collagen, a structural protein that provides strength and elasticity to a wide range of bodily tissues (e.g., skin, gums, tendons, ligaments, and bone) and is essential for wound healing.
Vitamin C also acts as an antioxidant in the body, stabilizing or eliminating free radicals and so assisting in the prevention of cellular damage. Finally, vitamin C aids in the absorption of iron and is found in a variety of immune cells, assisting in the support of the body’s immune system.
1. Potatoes for Heart Health
The fiber, potassium, vitamin C, and vitamin B6 levels of potatoes, together with their low cholesterol content, all promote heart health.
The fiber content of potatoes is quite high. Fiber aids in the reduction of total cholesterol levels in the blood, lowering the risk of heart disease.
Because of the fiber content, potatoes give your heart lots of reasons to swoon. Fiber has been linked to the removal of cholesterol from blood vessels; vitamins C and B6 aid in the reduction of free radicals; and carotenoids aid in the maintenance of good cardiac function.
According to NHANES data, a higher potassium consumption and a lower salt intake are associated with a lower risk of all-cause death and heart disease.
According to Harvard, B6 is also important in the methylation process, which converts the potentially harmful chemical homocysteine into methionine, a component of new proteins.
Homocysteine can damage blood vessel walls in excess, and high levels have been linked to an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.
2. Reduce Blood Pressure
Potatoes may reduce blood pressure for a variety of reasons. By binding with cholesterol in the blood, fiber contained in potatoes may help decrease cholesterol.
Potatoes are a good source of potassium as well. The outer potato peel is also high in fiber. According to the US Food and Drug Administration, potassium is a mineral that helps decrease blood pressure.
Potassium, like sodium, can help reduce blood pressure by acting as a vasodilator (blood vessel widener). Potatoes contain compounds known as kukoamines, which have been linked to reducing blood pressure.
The potato contains potassium, calcium, and magnesium. These have been naturally lower blood pressure.
3. Supporting Bone health
Potatoes contain iron, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, and zinc, all of which help the body grow and maintain bone structure and strength.
Iron and zinc are essential for collagen formation and maturation.
Phosphorus and calcium are both vital in bone structure, but the two minerals must be balanced for effective bone mineralization. Too much phosphorus and insufficient calcium cause bone loss and lead to osteoporosis.
4. Supporting Digestion & Controlling blood Sugar
The most significant health benefit provided by potatoes is their ability to aid digestion due to their high fiber content.
The fiber present in potatoes is a form of fiber known as “resistant starch,” which offers the health benefits of both soluble and insoluble fiber and produces less gas than other types of fiber.
You can increase the quantity of resistant starch in potatoes by cooking them a day ahead of time and chilling them overnight in the fridge. You are welcome to reheat them before serving.
The resistant starch in potatoes, like soluble fiber, works as a prebiotic – food for healthy bacteria in the large intestine that enhances gut health. It, like insoluble fiber, can help prevent or treat constipation and IBS.
Resistant starch has been related to a variety of health benefits, including decreased insulin resistance, which improves blood sugar control.
A study of persons with type 2 diabetes discovered that eating a meal with resistant starch helped better remove extra blood sugar after a meal.
5. Lowering inflammation
Choline is a critical and versatile vitamin found in potatoes. It is beneficial to muscle movement, mood, learning, and memory.
According to a research paper, potatoes may be quite efficient in lowering inflammation, both internal and external. They may alleviate inflammation in the intestines and digestive system because they are soft, easily digested, and may include a lot of vitamin C (a very good antioxidant that repairs tissue wear and tears), potassium, and vitamin B6.
They may also be an excellent dietary component for persons who suffer from mouth ulcers. As a result, those suffering from arthritis and gout may benefit from potatoes’ anti-inflammatory properties.
This simple vegetable, on the other hand, may produce weight gain, which aggravates these illnesses, and is usually eaten with meat and other rich foods that aggravate gout. As a result, a delicate balance must be struck.
6. Lowering Risk of Cancer
Potatoes are high in folate. Folate plays a function in DNA synthesis and repair, hence it prevents the formation of many types of cancer cells caused by DNA mutations.
Fiber from fruits and vegetables, such as potatoes, has been linked to a lower risk of colorectal cancer.
Vitamin C and quercetin are antioxidants that protect cells from free radical damage.
A daily dose of 50mg of vitamin C, equivalent to two potatoes, reduced the risk by 8%.
Vitamin C is thought to be an important nutrient, acting as an antioxidant to reduce cellular stress in the stomach and battling a bacterium that causes gastric cancer.
Potatoes are high in antioxidants, which are substances that prevent free radicals from causing cell harm. A diet rich in antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables reduces your chances of developing heart disease and cancer.
7. Supporting Brain Health
Vitamin B6 is abundant in potatoes. This is important in energy metabolism because it breaks down carbs and proteins into glucose and amino acids. These smaller molecules can be used for energy more easily within the body.
Potatoes include B6 vitamins, which are essential for sustaining brain function. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, vitamin B6 aids in the production of important brain chemicals such as serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine.
This suggests that eating potatoes may aid in the treatment of sadness, stress, and even attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
The brain requires oxygen, which is delivered by hemoglobin in the blood; iron is its principal ingredient. Iron also be found in potatoes. As a result, they may aid in the delivery of oxygen to the brain.
8. Helping Weight Management by filling
Dietary fibers are widely acknowledged as key elements in weight management and weight loss.
In the digestive tract, they operate as “bulking agents.” They improve satiety while decreasing appetite, so a person feels fuller for longer and is less prone to overeat. Filling foods can help you regulate or reduce weight by alleviating hunger pangs.
Some data suggest that a potato protein called potato proteinase inhibitor 2 (PI2) can suppress hunger. This protein appears to boost the production of cholecystokinin (CCK), a hormone that induces feelings of fullness.
9. Boosting Immunity
According to the Washington State Potato Commission, potatoes provide around 45 percent of the recommended daily consumption of vitamin C, which can help prevent everything from scurvy to the common cold.
According to research, vitamin C may help reduce the severity and duration of a cold. Potatoes are an excellent source of vitamin C.
About vitamin C we have discussed in detail initially.
Vitamin C, vitamin B6, potassium, magnesium, zinc, and phosphorous, according to Organic Facts, can all help keep the skin as smooth and creamy as, well, mashed potatoes. Potatoes include all of these nutrients.
The skin’s support system is made up of collagen. Vitamin C acts as an antioxidant, assisting in the prevention of sun, pollution, and smoke damage. Vitamin C also aids collagen in smoothing wrinkles and improving skin texture.
11. Relieve Premenstrual Symptoms
According to certain research, potato juice may help relieve the symptoms of premenstrual syndrome. Potatoes’ high carbohydrate content helps raise tryptophan levels, which stimulates serotonin generation in the body (Serotonin is also called the happiness hormone).
This increase in serotonin improves mood and decreases anxiety.
12. Gluten-Free
Gluten-free diets are among the most popular in the world. It entails avoiding gluten, a protein family found in cereals such as spelled, wheat, barley, and rye.
Gluten does not cause any negative side effects in the majority of people.
People with celiac disease or non-celiac gluten sensitivity, on the other hand, may experience acute discomfort when consuming gluten-containing meals. Sharp stomach discomfort, diarrhea, constipation, bloating, and skin rashes are just a few of the symptoms.
If you follow a gluten-free diet, you should think about including potatoes in your diet. They are naturally gluten-free, therefore they will not cause any unpleasant side effects.
While potatoes are naturally gluten-free, many popular potato dishes are not. Certain au gratin recipes and potato bread are examples of gluten-containing potato foods.
So, for your health, What are you going to prepare with potato today?..
