White-fleshed potatoes...in an overall sense, do you think they are a "healthy" food or an "unhealthy" food?

[Prof_Don]

An answer on a previous ? of mine sparked me to ask this.

I real PLENTY of magazines, books and online articles about nutrition from various sources, and one aspect that has consistent conflicting arguments about is "white" potatoes, as in Russet, red-skinned, etc.

Some say that they're a healthy food that can be eaten everyday.

Some people say they should be avoided because of their high starch / calorie content compared to other veggies.

Some say as long as the skin is on, they are a healthful food, but removing the skin "makes the potatoes an unhealthy ball of sugar"

See the conflict? Anyone who reads about health knows what I'm talking about.

What do you think?

Please vote and respond. Thanks for your input. :)

There's no threat to your health with eating white potatoes regularly

Overall, the eating of white potatoes should be minimized / avoided for good health

[Darkfairie17]

I think that potatoes, no matter what type are healthy and can be eaten everyday. I think many people confuse the candy sugar with natural sugars found in food. Candy only has sugar and fake ingredients that make it taste good, Potatoes on the other hand, have natural ingredients that make it taste good.

But I hear ya, there is so much conflicting information. First potatos are healthy, then they are the worst food ever! Its just silly, if you eat things in moderation, you will be fine :P Even unhealthy food, if you eat it in small portions, only ocasionally, you have nothing to worry about. It's when someone basis their whole diet around eating McDonald's, that's when the problems arise.

[cun7n1nja]

Nothing wrong with eating potatoes, lol, they ARE super high in starch but the skin contains most of the actual nutrients. So I prefer to just scrub them well and keep the skin on, in whatever manner I'm preparing them. Mainly I'd just get bored of eating potatoes every day, but I figure as long as the rest of your diet is balanced and high in nutrients, then it wouldn't be a big deal. As far as trying to lose weight though, eating a bunch of potatoes probably won't help you there, lol, so it would be better to cut them out or decrease the amount you consume.

[Anonymous]

They're starchy. I can get obsessive and eat the same thing for dinner 3 months in a row. I did this with 2 Baked Russet Potatoes with skins every night. They're incredibly delicious, but they make weight loss almost impossible, especially if you eat them all the time. Once a week is no big deal. Once I stopped doing that and started eating more protein and less starch my weight dropped quickly.

[martyfellow]

Potatoes are nutritious compared to the sugar content, that's why they are a staple of many countries' diets. They're not a great dieting food becaus eof the high carobhydrate content, true, but they're in no way a ball of sugar. The skins are rich in trace minerals among other things and shouldn't be removed, but potatoes are still a reasonably healthy food without them.

[astatine]

Potatoes generally have a bad image because we love to fry them and eat them as fries... unless you are going that, potatoes are really healthy!
they release their sugar slowly, making you feel fuller for a long time, thus preventing one from snacking on junk, not to mention the minerals and salts that they are loaded with...
they are healthier with their skins on, but they are healthy otherwise too
but sweet potatoes are a healtiER alternative

[rachiee]

I think that they shouldn't be a big part of a diet, the starch and calories can really put you off track. The skin has a lot of nutrients though. But eating the skin won't cancel out the bad stuff in them.

[kheserthorpe]

They're not poisonous.

A diet with potatoes as a core part could be healthy or unhealthy, depending on the rest of the diet.

They are better, imho, then bread or pasta.

[justlilly]

If you are replacing really unhealthy foods with them, then they are OK. It is all relative to your normal diet.

[OpenArmsAlice]

Red are better but white are not bad for you