Though the low-carb craze may be waning, many people are still avoiding potatoes like the plague. That’s a shame, because potatoes are a nutritious, inexpensive, and not particularly fattening food. Unless you fry them or cover them in butter or cream, they are fairly low in calories and are quite filling. True, a baked potato has more calories per ounce than most other vegetables, but it has less than half as many as bread, and fewer calories than rice. And in your quest to eat at least nine servings of fruits and vegetables a day, one medium-size potato counts as two servings. Besides being good for you, potatoes were once a miracle crop. Imported to Europe from Central and South America around 1570, potatoes contributed needed calories and nutrients to the diet of the poor. Dependence on potatoes became so great that when the crop failed in Ireland in the 1840s, it led to widespread famine and massive emigration to the U.S. Today potatoes are almost universally grown—the world’s most widely consumed and economically important vegetable. On any given day about half of all Americans eat potatoes in some form. The average American ate 136 pounds of them in 2004 (down slightly from a few years ago). Unfortunately, two-thirds of these potatoes were processed. The single biggest use: frozen French fries, especially at fast-food restaurants. Potatoes are indeed contributing to the obesity epidemic in the U.S., but that’s primarily because they are fried or are covered in high-calorie ingredients like cheese, butter, cream, sour cream, or mayonnaise. Fast-food French fries are also a leading source of unhealthy trans fats. Potatoes have a bad reputation, in part, because they have a high glycemic index (GI), a measure of how rapidly carbohydrates in foods cause blood sugar to rise. In theory, foods with a high GI are more likely to promote weight gain, but this remains unproven. Moreover, the GI looks at foods in isolation. For instance, if you eat a potato with some chicken, beef, or sour cream, its carbs are digested more slowly and blood sugar rises less. The GI gives many good foods (including carrots) a bum rap. How spuds stack up A medium-size potato (6.5 ounces raw, about 5 ounces after baking), with its skin, has just 130 to 140 calories, virtually no fat, and 4 grams of fiber. It is one of the best sources of potassium, beating bananas handily. It’s also a good source of vitamin C, B vitamins (notably folate), magnesium, and iron. To get all these nutrients from your baked potato, you have to eat the skin, which, ounce for ounce, is more nutritious than the flesh. Here are some comparisons: FOOD CALORIES* FAT (g)* Baked potato, baked, 5 oz 135 0 with 2 tbsp butter/margarine 335 22 with 3 tbsp sour cream and 2 tbsp butter 425 31 with bacon and cheese 330 15 Potato salad, 5 oz 220 13 Hash browns, cooked in oil/butter, 5 oz 265 13 French fries, fast-food, medium, 5 oz 435 21 Potato chips, 5 oz 750 50 * average values Colorful choices About 100 potato varieties are commonly grown. They vary in shape, color, flavor, starch/sugar/moisture content, and texture. Some, like the popular russets (also called Idaho), are better for baking or mashing, others are better for roasting, boiling, or even steaming. “New” potatoes are freshly harvested and have very thin skin. Some potatoes have gold, red, purple, or blue skin, or gold, red, blue, orange, or purple flesh. Like other colorful vegetables, rich-hued potatoes provide extra phytochemicals, including carotenoids (such as beta carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin) and flavonoids. In fact, researchers have found that varieties with deep red or purple flesh can be as rich in antioxidants as kale, Brussels sprouts, or spinach. Colorful potatoes cost more than white ones; look for them at Asian, gourmet, health-food, or farmers markets. Even though they are unrelated to regular potatoes, sweet potatoes are another good option. Despite their sweet taste, they have the same number of calories as regular potatoes. Ounce