Kira Stoletova

The benefits and harms of potatoes are very relative concepts that largely depend on the correct use of the product. The beneficial properties of potatoes are based on its rich composition, and the harm - on some features of storage and preparation. Let's look at what potatoes are good for the body and in what cases they can harm us.

Supporters of a healthy lifestyle are trying (sometimes unsuccessfully) to exclude potatoes from the diet: "second bread" is considered the cause of obesity, metabolic disorders and many other troubles. However, there are nutritionists who, on the contrary, claim that potatoes are a valuable and very healthy product. Is it so? First, it is worth understanding how the consumption of potatoes affects our body.

The benefits of potatoes

Scientists have found 14 amino acids in the tubers of young potatoes, which are necessary for maintaining the vital functions of the body.

Here are just a few of the vitamins and minerals that ordinary potatoes can saturate our body with:

• vitamin C is one of the most important vitamins. Its deficiency leads to tooth loss and premature aging of the skin. Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant that protects the body from the negative effects of the environment. It strengthens the walls of blood vessels, accelerates the process of tissue regeneration (including subcutaneous collagen) and improves immunity. 300 grams of young potatoes contains a daily dose;
• b vitamins, which are responsible for the condition of the skin and walls of blood vessels;
• potassium is a trace mineral necessary for the functioning of the cardiovascular system and the maintenance of normal blood pressure levels. It has a diuretic effect, helps to remove excess fluid from the body, so potatoes are useful for dropsy, swelling, and kidney dysfunction. 500 grams of potatoes contains a daily dose of potassium;
• magnesium - a trace element necessary for protein synthesis in the body, as well as for tissue regeneration;
• selenium, which ensures the functioning of the thyroid gland. This trace element influences the immune processes, prevents premature aging;
• calcium, which is necessary for the formation of bone tissue;
• folic acid, on the presence of which the correct cell division, DNA and RNA synthesis depends. It is especially necessary for pregnant women.

As you can see, the list is very impressive, and the benefits of potatoes are undeniable. However, it should be borne in mind that all these substances are contained in raw tubers, which need to be able to cook properly.

Cooking potatoes while preserving nutrients

100 grams of potatoes contain 80-85 kcal (the body's daily requirement is 1800-2400 kcal, depending on age, gender and occupation). There is a lot of starch in the tubers, which is easily absorbed by the body and has an enveloping effect.

All nutrients in potatoes are easily washed out with water. Therefore, after cleaning, the tubers cannot be soaked for a long time, and when cooking it is better to throw them into boiling water. The greatest amount of vitamins and microelements is stored in baked potatoes or cooked with peel, "in uniforms." This is due to the fact that the most useful part of the tuber is the one that is closer to the skin.

It is potatoes in uniforms that are recommended to be eaten with various diets. Moreover, the less a potato dish contains salt and fat, the healthier it is. If you cannot do without fat at all, it is best to season boiled potatoes with olive oil or butter, you can use crushed garlic. Nutritionists recommend throwing 2-3 bay leaves into a saucepan when cooking tubers: then the dish will have a beneficial effect on the condition of the joints. Boiled potatoes with bay leaves are good for people with frequent headaches and tinnitus.

Unfortunately, french fries and a healthy lifestyle are incompatible. But for lovers of fried, there is also a way out: the tubers can be baked on the grill. Another way is to fry the potatoes cut into thin slices for 10 minutes over high heat (preferably in olive oil), and then simmer for 10-15 minutes under a lid over low heat.

The use of potatoes in traditional medicine

Traditional medicine has long appreciated the regenerating and wound-healing properties of potato tubers. So, with gastritis with high acidity, it is recommended to drink a glass of freshly squeezed potato juice on an empty stomach for 10 days in the morning. The course of treatment should be repeated 2-3 times. The break between courses is 10 days. But it should be borne in mind that the juice loses its therapeutic effect within 10-15 minutes after pressing. It is better not to peel the tubers before pressing, but just wash them well with a brush.

Freshly squeezed potato juice also helps with pancreatitis. In this case, it is necessary for 5-7 days three times a day, half an hour before meals, to drink a mixture of 100 g of potato and 100 g of carrot juice. After a month, the course can be repeated.

Thanks to the starch it contains, mashed potatoes have a beneficial effect on gastritis and digestive disorders. Baked potatoes, which are high in potassium, are recommended for patients undergoing rehabilitation after a heart attack or stroke.

The famous healer Fr. George's recipe for getting rid of stones in the gallbladder is widely known. It is necessary to boil a kilogram of potatoes in 6 liters of water for 3-4 hours. When half of the water has evaporated, the potatoes are kneaded and left in water overnight to allow the mixture to settle. In the morning, the liquid is drained and the precipitate is discarded. The resulting liquid is taken in 2 tablespoons half an hour before meals for 40 days.

Steam inhalation of freshly boiled potatoes is a proven remedy for coughs, colds and bronchitis.

Those who want to lose weight can be advised a potato diet: within three days, you need to eat 500 g of boiled "in uniforms" or baked potatoes in a peel without salt and fat. As a result, you will lose up to three kilograms of excess weight.

External use of potatoes

The gruel of raw potatoes has an antiseptic, wound healing and regenerating effect on the skin. Raw potato masks are useful at any age. They help with irritations, youthful acne, boils. Vitamin C found in tubers is a powerful antioxidant. Therefore, grated raw potatoes are just a balm for tired or aging skin. Potato masks are a good tool for lifting and smoothing fine wrinkles.

This remedy also helps with swelling under the eyes. Many artists and directors in Hollywood, leading a bohemian lifestyle, start the morning with a potato mask to hide the traces of a hangover. If there is no time, you can not even rub the potatoes, but take two thin slices and apply them for 20 minutes to the eyelids.

It is only important not to overdo it: grated potatoes are an aggressive substance. In order not to cause irritation on the delicate skin of the face, it is better to first try the effect of the mask on the wrist. For those for whom masks made from raw potatoes are not suitable, it is recommended to make weaker masks from boiled ones.

Grated raw potatoes are a proven remedy for corns. In this case, it is mixed in equal proportions with grated onions, the resulting mass is put in socks in the evening. By morning, the skin on the legs softens to such an extent that it can be removed without problems.

Potato harm

Still, potatoes can be harmful. As already mentioned, French fries are a real test for the body, practically poison. Also, you can not eat old, shriveled tubers that have already sprouted: poison accumulates in such potatoes - solanine, which causes diarrhea and vomiting. If the tubers were kept in the light and turned green, it is best to discard them or, in extreme cases, carefully cut off the green areas.

It is not recommended to abuse potatoes and patients with serious forms of diabetes: such people are harmful to starch. Can you get better from potatoes? Of course! If there is more than 300-500 grams of it per day, and even fried with fat or meat. Over time, lovers of such dishes will inevitably experience metabolic disorders.

Potatoes containing an excessive amount of nitrates are very harmful. But from homemade potatoes, lovingly grown, boiled or baked with peel - only benefit to the body.

It is difficult to imagine a meal without potatoes. If you collect all the potato dishes, you get several volumes of a culinary encyclopedia. Even an inexperienced housewife can cook something from a vegetable, while few people are familiar with the beneficial properties.

Nutritional composition varies with cultivar, maturity and growing conditions. Russian scientists I.M. Skurikhin and V.A. Tutelyan different varieties were studied and summarized in the "Table of chemical composition and calorie content".

Raw ripe tubers contain a complex of vitamins:

• C - 20 mg;
• PP - 1.8 mg;
• B5 - 0.3 mg;
• B1 - 0.12 mg;
• E - 0.1 mg.

Potatoes contain macro- and microelements:

• potassium - 568 mg;
• phosphorus - 58 mg;
• chlorine - 58 mg;
• sulfur - 32 mg;
• magnesium - 23 mg;
• vanadium - 149 mcg.

Potatoes contain a group of essential amino acids:

• phenylalanine and tyrosine - 0.19 g;
• lysine - 0.135 g;
• leucine - 0.128 g;
• valine - 0.122 g

In 100 gr. raw ripe tubers contains 16.3 gr. carbohydrates, 2 gr. proteins and 0.4 gr. fat. The calorie content of raw potatoes is 77 kcal. Most of the energy is released through the breakdown of carbohydrates.

The energy value varies depending on the cooking method:

• boiled potatoes and in their uniforms - 82 kcal;
• puree on water - 90 kcal;
• puree in milk - 132 kcal;
• fried - 192 kcal;
• fries - 445 kcal;
• chips - 520 kcal.

A vegetable is considered the enemy of a good figure and is undeservedly crossed off the list of healthy foods. But scientists, chemists and doctors have proven the benefits of boiled and baked root vegetables in moderation.

From edema

Raw grated potatoes are a component for the folk treatment of leg edema and bags under the eyes. If you eat without salt, you will remove excess fluid from the body. The effect is achieved thanks to potassium. Sodium, which is rich in salt, attracts water. If sodium is in excess, then in excess and fluid in the body. Potassium neutralizes sodium, while sodium releases water.

For muscles

For normal contractions of muscle fibers, water is needed. With a lack of moisture, the muscle “shrivels” and cannot straighten out. In this state, it cannot increase in volume. Due to the lack of moisture in the fibers, cramps and muscle pain occur. Potassium does not allow excess fluid to burden cells, but it also prevents the body from drying out. Potassium retains moisture in muscle fibers and creates an optimal environment for contractions.

The muscle health benefits of potatoes are due to the presence of a macronutrient. An average root crop with a diameter of 5-6 cm contains 1/4 of the daily dose of potassium.

For digestion

Potatoes are an easily digestible product. It contains 16.3 grams. carbohydrates - of which 15 gr. falls on starch and dextrin, which are easily processed by the stomach and envelop its walls. Therefore, you should not give up boiled potatoes for gastritis, ulcers and abnormalities in the work of the stomach. This is one of the permitted foods for gastrointestinal infections.

For gout

Uric acid is inevitably produced in the body during the breakdown of purines found in food. Uric acid is not beneficial for the body, therefore it is excreted in the urine. But if a person consumes a lot of purines, then uric acid can be retained and accumulated in the blood. As a result, there is a threat of urolithiasis and gout. Potatoes remove excess uric acid from the body.

For the nervous system

Scientists have noticed the anti-stress properties of potatoes, and this is not surprising: the vegetable contains a biocomplex of vitamins and minerals that are useful for the nervous system. Magnesium ensures the stability of nervous reactions to external stimuli, vitamin B6 improves the transmission of nerve impulses.

From inflammation

Traditional medicine women have long noticed the benefits of raw potatoes for inflammation, burns, and skin lesions. Raw potato juice helps to relieve inflammation from purulent wounds, boils, disinfect the affected area and accelerate the process of tissue regeneration. Potato juice can be taken orally to treat stomach ulcers and inflammation in the mouth.

For constipation

To prevent constipation from becoming a constant companion of life, it is necessary to properly organize food. One of the important prerequisites for normal stool is to eat enough fiber. The benefits of jacket potatoes are hidden in the vegetable's richness in fiber: one vegetable contains 4.8 grams.

Dishes from potatoes have helped the Russian people through hard times more than once. However, few people know about the healing properties of potatoes. Therefore, in my article I will consider what the benefits of potatoes can be for our body.

Potatoes: composition, benefits, properties.

It is generally known that potatoes are very nutritious food, rich in carbohydrates (mainly starch), proteins and mineral salts. Potato proteins contain almost all amino acids that can be found in plants!

By eating potatoes, we get a significant amount of vitamin C and vitamin R. And if you eat about 300 grams of potatoes every day, then this ensures the body's daily need for these vitamins. At the same time, the benefits of potatoes for the body are so great that with their daily use, it is an anti-scurvy agent.

Potatoes also have other valuable properties that can be used to treat various diseases. Many people who know about them have long been using potatoes to treat ailments.

So, it is used for many diseases: gastritis, arthritis, diabetes mellitus, disorders of the digestive system and many other diseases.

If you regularly eat potatoes and dishes prepared from it, then due to the high fiber content, the work of the organs of the gastrointestinal tract improves, and toxins are removed from the body. It also provides for the prevention of the onset and progression of diseases of the digestive system.

By the way, potatoes as a preventive measure can be used to prevent the appearance of such dangerous diseases as rheumatism and diabetes mellitus.

And those who suffer from cardiovascular diseases are also shown the frequent use of potatoes in food. Indeed, this vegetable contains a large amount of potassium, which has a beneficial effect on heart activity. Potassium is so important for the body that when it is lacking, muscle cramps begin. But it's not difficult for us to replenish its reserves, for example, from baked potatoes. The benefit of baked potatoes is that it reduces blood pressure, and its peel also greatly increases potency!

Nowadays, few people manage to avoid such troubles as stress, fatigue, depression, insomnia. But potatoes will help get rid of these unpleasant phenomena. Regularly including it in the diet, you will feel a surge of strength, become alert and efficient, despite all the difficulties.

Potatoes are usually boiled, fried, baked, cooked on potato starch jelly. However, there are benefits of raw potatoes as well. So, traditional medicine uses raw potatoes for eczema and burns, applying it to the affected skin to treat it.

And all because potato juice is the strongest activator of anti-inflammatory processes. The benefits of raw potato juice have been noted for belching, heartburn, and bleeding in the stomach. For the treatment of fungal infections, eczema, dermatitis, erysipelas, soak a gauze bandage with potato juice and apply to the inflamed area. Change the dressings every 5 hours.

And recently, the benefits of potato juice in cancer have been discovered. It is explained by the fact that it contains many active substances that kill cancer cells.

After peeling potatoes, usually, we immediately throw away their peel, not even a little thinking about the fact that we have deprived ourselves of many useful substances. But the benefits of potatoes in their skins! It is in it that zinc and potassium are located, which are necessary for the cardiovascular system for normal functioning.

It contains more minerals and vitamins than the tuber itself, and only it contains enzymes that help the body absorb potato starch. So next time, boil or bake potatoes in their uniforms, keeping in mind the benefits of potato peelings!

The potato starch just mentioned by me is used by folk medicine as an anti-inflammatory, emollient, enveloping agent for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. It also protects the lining of the stomach and intestines from chemical irritation when taking pills. And it is also the basis for compresses, powders and ointments.

And, of course, what kind of jelly without potato starch ?! By the way, the benefits of potato jelly for the stomach are explained by starch. It envelops its walls well, thanks to its viscous structure, as if replacing the mucous membrane ...

And the benefits of potato starch can be assessed when taking baths to relieve itching in skin diseases, exudative diathesis in children and with neuroses. To do this, dissolve about 750 grams of potato starch in cold water and pour into warm water for a bath.

As a rule, after boiling the potatoes, the broth is poured out. And completely in vain!

Decoction of potatoes is an excellent remedy for getting out of fasting and for burning fat, if, of course, potatoes were cooked in their uniforms.

Its decoction is useful for those with arthritis. For the treatment of this ailment, the broth is drunk in the morning before meals, in the afternoon and before going to bed. In addition to the broth, it is recommended to grate the potato with the skin on a grater every day and eat it.

The benefits of potato broth are also manifested in the treatment of heart disease and hypertension. To do this, wash the peel of 4 potatoes, pour 2 cups of water and boil for 15 minutes over low heat, then wait for the broth to cool and filter it through cheesecloth. After that, you can drink the broth in half a glass 30 minutes before meals.

And what can we say about the benefits of mashed potatoes, and even with onions, garlic ... In general, the benefits of mashed potatoes are quite obvious, especially if it is cooked not with milk, but with the same potato broth. But mashed potatoes are used not only in nutrition, but also in folk medicine!

To cure sciatica, take red potatoes, boil them in uniforms, mash, add 3 drops of iodine and a spoonful of sunflower oil. Then mix everything and apply the hot puree to the folded fabric in two layers. Tie to the place where you have sciatica, wrap up with cellophane, and quickly under a blanket for the whole night. Everything will be all right in the morning!

So potatoes are an excellent "doctor". Eat potatoes and potatoes, and you will strengthen your health and become full of strength and energy!

Potatoes are the most common vegetable in our country, we eat them all year round, but they are also the most affordable.

Useful composition of potatoes.

Protein... Compared to onions, tomatoes, radishes, and cabbage, potatoes have a higher biological value. But its amino acid composition is not perfect. All essential amino acids are present in potatoes in small amounts and their ratio is not ideal for complete assimilation of protein. The missing amino acids in potatoes are methionine and cysteine. For better assimilation of protein, this vegetable should be eaten with foods rich in methionine and cysteine. Therefore, potatoes cannot be a complete source of protein.

Vitamins... Potatoes contain vitamins: riboflavin, niacin, vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin B6, biotin, pantothenic acid, folacin.

Minerals... The vegetable contains minerals sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron.

1. In potassium by 68%.
2. In magnesium by 17%,
3. In phosphorus by 22%,
4. In Manganese by 25%,
5. In Iron by 15%,
6. In Molybdenum 34%
7. In Chrome by 60%.

As you can see, potatoes are rich in minerals. But during cooking, a certain part of the minerals goes into solution, that is, into the water with which we boil potatoes. To avoid the loss of nutrients, it is better to bake or stew potatoes, then the loss of minerals will be insignificant, no more than 7%.

Another useful substance in potatoes is According to reference data, its content in 100 g of a vegetable is 1 g. Fiber lowers blood cholesterol levels and promotes intestinal motility.

What diseases are potatoes useful for?

1. In the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases. This vegetable has an anti-inflammatory effect due to the presence of polysaccharides.
2. Red potatoes are used to treat kidney failure.
3. Juice from raw potatoes is drunk for headaches; it is good for the stomach, intestines, and circulatory system. Rinse your mouth with juice when bleeding gums.

The harm of potatoes to the human body.

Are potatoes really harmful to the body and have contraindications?

Let's sort it out in order.

1. The composition of potatoes depends on many factors: on the variety, on the growing and storage conditions. It is necessary to spud the potatoes so that they do not turn green, since green potatoes contain a poisonous substance - solanine. For the same reason, you cannot store the vegetable in a bright place. The longer potatoes are stored, the less vitamins they contain.
2. Fried potatoes are bad for the body. This dish will increase the risk of diseases of the stomach, kidneys, gall bladder, liver.
3. Another disadvantage of potatoes is that they have a high glycemic index, which means that when potatoes are consumed, sugar (glucose) is released into the bloodstream. The body's response to an increase in blood sugar is to produce insulin. Insulin distributes some of the sugar into the bloodstream and stores the other part in fat. This leads to obesity, subsequently to diabetes.
4. Potatoes, in comparison with other vegetables (peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, radishes, beets, carrots), have a high calorie content. The energy value of 100 g of potatoes is 80 kilocalories. But if we compare the calorie content of potatoes with legumes, then beans are 292 kcal, and peas - 73 kcal.

Potatoes are a very controversial vegetable, on the one hand, they have a number of useful substances, and on the other hand, they can be dangerous to the body. Therefore, the question of the benefits and dangers of potatoes arises from those who love this product. Food lovers see more benefits in it, and nutritionists warn.

Councils for potato lovers.

1. You can't eat potatoes often and a lot. The daily consumption rate should not exceed 300g.
2. You cannot eat potatoes with fatty foods: fried or add butter, especially lard.
3. Do not eat green potatoes that contain solanine.
4. Roast potatoes in their skins to preserve their beneficial properties as much as possible and add raw vegetable salad to it to lower the glycemic index of the dish. In soups, potatoes can be substituted for beans. Beans are a complete protein product.

Eat right and be healthy !!!