You say bad potato, I say good potato
“The degree to which these sugars polymerize, or link together, helps to determine the functionality of the carbohydrate.”
Why are potatoes getting such a bad rap? They are a literal canvas for some of the most amazing dishes in the world, the flowers of the potato plant are stunning, and it is one of the most affordable caloric sources for a large portion of the world. Why then are many trend diets shunning this tuberous crop, with some even simultaneously opting for the sweet potato?
I like learning how colloquialisms, slang terms and sayings, are attributed and stay rooted. For those who share this quirk: the term “spud”, commonly associated to potatoes, was given as reference to the act of digging a hole in the ground to plant this crop, and the tools associated with doing so.
My top 5 most memorable dining experiences have involved potatoes. In each instance the potatoes complimented the dish, while also adding its own essence; namely, Maillard reaction products from frying, or just from crispy salty goodness. Potatoes absorb flavour beautifully, like literal sponges. In a distinct regard, potatoes can act as a scaffold for some of the most basic, yet delicious, flavours to plant themselves onto. To me, however, the easily overlooked beauty of potatoes lie in the various textures they can attribute to food. Texture, and mouthfeel, are so absolutely essential to a good meal. Just close your eyes, imagine your favourite meals, and try and feel the texture in your mouth. If you can't trust your memory on this, try and be cognizant of it in the future, trust me it’s worth it! Moreover, perhaps the simplicity of the potato is itself what makes the potato innate in so many meals. What I mean by this is that say for example a chef has prepared a succulent confit de canard, or perhaps an immaculate cedar smoked salmon - both worthy of the dining patrons full attention for their beautiful symphony of unique endorphin inducing flavours - well how better to accentuate this than to accompany it with a simple, perhaps even bland compliment in comparison, as a side. This is a principle that can be ubiquitously applied to practically all aspects of life. Without the darkness, how can one see the stars?
This is all well and good to get hot and bothered about potatoes in your food, but the preface here was to investigate whether or not potatoes belong on the plate of the health conscious eater. Macro scale issues for any crop such as farming techniques, footprints, macroeconomic impacts, and the like, are extremely convoluted and our intent here is to reflect on the investigation of the nutritional impact of the potato. That being said, current potato slandering doesn’t really centre around its role in good meals or on its footprint on the planet, but in its impact on health through their consumption. I haven’t received a concise answer from many, but I’m going to assume its due to its high starch content - those nasty carbohydrates! I’ll keep this simple but lets look at some macro (and yes micro) nutrient details for this nasty carb loaded blob. When I try to assess whether or not to consume a food I look for a few things: macro-nutrient distribution, micro-nutrient content, effects of various cooking methods on said food, and susceptibility to pests.
When assessing the macro nutrient breakdown, the distribution between proteins, carbohytdrates and fats don’t actually persuade me into, nor disuade me from, eating said food. What it does do, is help me to analyze what I can get from this food and when may be the best time to consume it. As potatoes contain essentially no protein, or fat, I wont even touch these two macros today, but instead focus on carbohydrates.
Amylopectin
One of two forms of “starch”
Let’s quickly go over what exactly carbohydrates are. Carbohydrates are basically chains of sugars (glucose, sucrose, etc.), or mono and di-saccharides, linked together into what is called poly (many) saccharides. This form is typically adopted in cells as means of storing energy, since sugars are typically used for fuel in cellular function. Being linked together allows them to remain stable for consumption when food, or energy, is required. The degree to which these sugars polymerize, or link together, helps to determine the functionality of the carbohydrate. In this regard you will often hear the terms “complex carbohydrates”, “starch”, “sugars”, and so on. This is in a sense a way of categorizing the degree to which the carbs are linked together and somewhat resultantly how easy it is for your body to break it down for energy, or cellular “food”.
The intent here isn’t to bog one down with the chemistry, but let’s note that the carbohydrate profile of potatoes (obviously varietal dependant) can contain in the area of 90% starch; so 90% of their carbs come in the form of starch. So lets look at starch. Starch is the primary form of glucose energy storage in plants (analogous to glycogen in animals, which is essentially the same just with different branching on the amylopectin molecules), so you tend to find a high proportion of it in many staple crop foods (maize, carrots, barley, etc.). Its conversion into fuel, in the form of glucose, typically involves a complex enzymatic pathway; the essentials of which are to basically cut the starch into gradually smaller molecules until glucose is available. It’s here that we run into issues. Having an abundance of glucose available in the body means more energy. However, we don’t always need energy do we? This is where the significance of the carbohydrate distribution become important. Complex carbohydrates require more processing to become energy for your cells, while simple carbs require less. Having glucose available in your blood is something that your body needs to deal with immediately. When your body is in a state of relative ease, and perhaps your muscles don’t require any glucose storage, glucose might not be needed for cellular function at that time and will alternatively be stored as dreaded fat. This is of course oversimplifying a beautifully complex hormonal process, so please look into this more to appreciate what exactly is happening.
Enter the roles of insulin, glycogen, and the Glycemic Index (GI) and Glycemic Load (GL) indices. The GI is a metric developed for measuring the effect that various foods have on raising your blood-sugar levels. We love metrics. They so nicely provide answers to things in numbers that we can easily compare to other numbers! Unfortunately, like the limits of the human brain, these metrics try and reduce an incredibly, almost unfathomably, complex interaction of mechanisms into one, two or maybe even 3 variables. Using a metric such as the GI for determining food consumption is perhaps a good tool, but not to be taken as all encompassing.
So how can you use the GI, and how does this relate to potatoes? Potatoes tend to be getting a bad rap and it may be due to their being relatively highly positioned on the GI list in relation to other fruits and vegetables. This is likely due to the ease with which their starches are broken down, especially following cooking (the physical chemistry of which again is astounding, please investigate!), into simple sugars. Does this mean more fat? No. For two reasons. First, the primary measure of losing, or gaining, weight is a simple energy balance. The concept of the “energy balance” is a beautifully simple principle which engineers have been using for centuries to try and manipulate simple systems in nature. It holds true in the human body, to a certain degree. You want to lose weight? Consume less calories than you expend. This is of course not so simple in a biological system, such as a human body, but it is a more appropriate way of shooting for that weight loss than the distribution of the carbohydrates which you are consuming. Secondly, you’re worried about those sugars being stored in fat? Why not chose when to consume your high GI carbohydrates; namely pre, or post, exercise? Your muscles will need that extra glucose from those delicious mashed potatoes!
Any comparison of the GI (and GL) and caloric values for sweet potatoes and regular old boring potatoes will show their relative similarity, with slightly higher values for regular potatoes. Comparison of micronutrients, antinutrients, antioxidants, phytonutrients, and fibre (undigestible carbohydrates) tend to be quite similar for both. Every factor mentioned above will vary with varietal, type (i.e. waxy), cooking method and accompanying food. In fact, most micronutrients present in potatoes (i.e ascorbic acid or vitamin C) become inactive when cooked; and who wants to eat an uncooked potato? Confused? Don’t be; like most things in life there is no easy answer. However, what one can infer from investigating potatoes, as well as sweet potatoes, is that both can be consumed in a healthy manner; especially when consumed in conjunction with a healthy lifestyle, preparation method, accompanying foods, consumed in moderation, and at appropriate times (maybe no French fries before bed?). You want to lose weight and be healthy? Cutting out beautiful bounties that nature has at our disposal isn’t necessarily the answer. Hard work, research, knowledge, and moderation is key.
How does this investigation into potatoes relate? Well, travelling to places where potatoes are culinary staples, one can experience what is possible with something so simple as a potato. So much respect is given to something so simple; from the farmer ensuring that the ground has the right salinity and microbiome, to the chef marrying flavours with artistic license, and to the patrons sitting around talking about the delights of the flavours and the appearance. Friends and family sitting around talking about potatoes and the flavours and smells which they are eliciting, conversations and sensations which flood one with endorphines for the evening. All of these things are possible from not cutting out a simple potato from ones diet from lack of knowledge or granularity in decision making! Try not to deny oneself those moments, unnecessarily.
Spaghetti Squash & Potato Bowl
Ideal as a high intensity work-out-day meal
Ingredients
1 small sized red potato (~100g)
1 small clove of garlic (~1g)
2 tsp Ghee butter (~3g)
Himalayan salt
1 tsp fresh lemon juice (~1g)
2 tsp raw honey
½ small yellow onion (~60g)
35g broccoli crowns
20g chopped walnuts
1/3 small haas avocado (~30g)
40g quinoa
1 tsp curry powder
1 large poached egg
40-60g butternut squash
1 tbsp coconut oil
¼ tsp mustard seed
1 tbsp hemp hearts
10g spinach
18g broccoli sprouts
1 tbsp hummus
1 tbsp kefir yogurt
Instructions
Pre-heat oven to 375°F
Dice 1 small red potato and place in tin foil with 1 clove of garlic (chopped), 1tsp ghee butter, Himalayan salt, 1tsp fresh lemon juice and 1tsp raw honey
Close tin foil and place in oven for 30 mins. After 30 mins, stir potatoes and replace in oven with tin foil open, for another 10 minutes or until golden brown
Caramelize onion using, Himalayan salt, 1/2 tsp ghee butter and 1tsp honey
Chop walnuts and mix with ½ tsp ghee butter and 1tsp honey
Cook spaghetti squashUsing a corkscrew pierce the spaghetti squash 4-5 times. Place in a dutch oven or any deep baking dish with roughly 1-2 inches of water. Cover with foil. Place in the oven at 375°F fo5 50 mins
Cut spaghetti squash lengthwise. Remove seeds with a spoon. Use spoon to scoop squash into a bowl. Add Himalayan salt, pepper and 1tbsp coconut oil. Use roughly 40-60g serving
Poach 1 large eggBoil water. Add 1tbsp apple cider vinaigre. Swirl with spoon to create vortex. Crack egg and drop into the center of the vortex. Reduce heat to low. Cook to desired consistency
Combine ingredients, including remaining ingredients, in a bowl and serve
Nutritional Profile
