Emma Miller
Potatoes are called the second bread, and people who keep fit often refuse to eat them. But in fact, you shouldn’t do that.
Potatoes are one of the most popular vegetables. They are available all year round, are inexpensive, and can be used to make many different dishes. The easiest way is to boil potatoes. But do you know whether hot or cold potatoes are healthier?
By the way, for potatoes to be tasty and dense, not sticky and watery, they need to be boiled properly. You can read what tricks experienced housewives use in this article: How to cook the perfect potatoes in a salad jacket.
What is the harm of potatoes?
Potatoes are called the second bread, and people who follow the figure often refuse to eat them. And there’s a reason for this potatoes have a high glycemic index, which is dangerous for our bodies.
The glycemic index is the rate at which carbohydrates are absorbed and increase blood sugar levels. However, a high GI is not a reason to completely exclude potatoes from your diet, because you can reduce it yourself. The fact is that the starch contained in potatoes behaves differently when exposed to different temperatures.
Why potatoes should be eaten cold
If you eat hot potatoes, your body will receive fast carbohydrates and a lot of sugar, which will be stored for later use.
If you eat potatoes at room temperature or chilled, the properties of starch change: it becomes an absorbent, that is, it absorbs all the toxins from the intestinal walls and removes all the bad things from the body. As a result, we get blood sugar control, clear skin, hunger control, and a sharp reduction in the risk of overeating.
Boiled potatoes – benefits and harms
Potatoes are a storehouse of vitamins and minerals. They contain vitamins C, B1, B2, B6, PP, and K, as well as iron, calcium, and phosphorus.
Most of the nutrients are found in the skin, not in the flesh, so nutritionists recommend boiling potatoes “in their skins” or baking them in the oven and eating them with the top layer.
Due to their high potassium content, potatoes are the number one food in the diet of heart patients and hypertensives. In addition, it has a mild diuretic effect, so it is indicated for kidney disease.
Boiled potatoes in the form of mashed potatoes are good for recovery after surgery. If boiled potatoes are cooked in water, most of the starch will remain in the broth.
At the same time, potatoes are also dangerous. We are talking about solanine, which is contained in the peel and begins to be actively produced when the fruit is exposed to UV rays for a long time. The increased content of this substance has a destructive effect on the human nervous system.
Why you shouldn’t eat fried potatoes
The dangers of fried potatoes are obvious. When cooked, moisture evaporates from the root vegetable, and water is replaced by fat. It should be noted that 100 g of French fries contain almost 40 g of carbohydrates, and this can be quite a serious blow to the figure if abused.
In addition, at temperatures above 50⁰C, the vitamin C contained in potatoes is destroyed. In addition, when fried for a long time, a large amount of fat in the product produces the carcinogen acrylamide.
Therefore, despite the taste and satiety of the dish, it is better not to overuse fried potatoes, nutritionists advise.
