Are Potatoes Good for You

Solanum tuberosum or commonly known as the potato is a starchy, fibrous crop which is edible. After rice, wheat and corn, potatoes are the fourth largest food crop grown all over the world. They have many benefits and comparatively fewer disadvantages. Along with long term storage, durability, affordable prices and less perishable timings, potatoes are also very healthy for the human body. Throughout the world, and across all civilizations, people eat potatoes as one of their regular and most favorite food items. Potatoes are eaten in many forms like fried, boiled, baked and grilled to add taste to many delicious food items. Hence, if you are wondering are potatoes good for you, take a look at the information mentioned below and find out!

Why are Potatoes Good for You

Not many people know that apart from being the yummiest snack in America called the "French fries", potatoes have a lot more to offer. Potatoes as well as sweet potatoes are stuffed with abundant vitamins and minerals (potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, vitamin B, and vitamin C among them) which can be just as nourishing for your skin as your body. Therefore, if you have always thought that by eating them, are potatoes good for you or not, let's take a look at how they are helpful to your health and skin.

Nutrients in Potatoes
Among these important health-promoting compounds are carotenoids, flavonoids, and caffeic acid, as well as unique tuber storage proteins, such as patatin, which exhibit activity against free radicals. Potatoes also contain a variety of phytonutrients that have activity of antioxidants. Other main potato nutrients are as follows:

• Vitamin C
• Thiamin
• Niacin
• Vitamin B-6
• Folate
• Pantothenic Acid
• Iron
• Magnesium
• Potassium
• Copper
• Dietary Fiber

Are Potatoes Good for Your Skin?
Potato juice, though not very tasty to drink, is an excellent tonic for your health. It can help you feel better and younger as it helps your body heal and rejuvenate from all the toxins that invade it through food, drinks, and pollution. A glass of potato juice a day and eliminate all meat for a healthier body. The toxins in your body can make your skin erupt with blemishes. A body that has too many toxins create pimples and other skin ailments. Skin that is too dry and does not respond to lotions or creams tells you that you need to clean up your body. Thus, as a part of health benefits of potato, you can drink potato juice to help your skin recover from the toxins that build up in your body and clean it in no time! If you don't like the flavor of this healthy potato drink, just add a few teaspoons of apple juice so it's edible.

Are Potatoes Good for Your Heart?
Vitamin B6 plays another critically important role in methylation, a chemical process in which methyl groups are transferred from one molecule to another. Methylation is also important to cardiovascular health. Methylation changes a potentially dangerous molecule called homocysteine into other, benign substances. Eating foods rich in vitamin B6 can help keep homocysteine levels low. In addition, diets high in vitamin B6-rich foods are associated with overall lower rates of heart disease, even when homocysteine levels are normal, most likely because of all the other beneficial activities of this energetic vitamin B.

Potatoes rank highest for potassium content among the top 20 most frequently consumed raw vegetables and the top 20 most frequently consumed raw fruits. One medium potato (5.3 ounces) with the skin contains 620 mg of potassium. As heart disease remains America's number one killer, it is estimated that one out of every three Americans is at high risk, and sadly most don't even know it. One of the most powerful, yet lesser known cure for heart disease, is increasing potassium intake. Potassium plays an essential role in the response of nerves to stimulation and in the contraction of muscles, including the heart muscle. Potassium is an electrolyte that's essential for the body's growth and maintenance and is necessary to keep a proper balance of water inside and outside the body's cells.

Thus, with this useful information about are potatoes good for you, as well as some potato nutrition facts, there is a good possibility, that they are! You can minimize your chances of heart diseases by eating potatoes moderately and also improve your skin. So make sure you try this out with your doctor's advice.