When is a potato no longer a potato? Does it make a difference whether you eat a potato chip or a boiled potato?
Potato chips are highly processed with additional fat and salt. Potatoes, whether baked or boiled, are cooked, but unprocessed. The potato makes a great case study for the power of food processing.
First, let’s look at how potatoes have been made a villain. You may have been told to avoid potatoes if you want to lose weight. It’s white starch, right?
It is true that some people react with joint pain and other bothersome symptoms when they eat plants from the Nightshade family, which includes potatoes. This may be one way the potato truly acts as a villain. Outside of that, let’s look closer.
Dr. Suzanne Holt led a study published as the Satiety Index of Common Foods. It tested the concept that unprocessed foods are very filling. Volunteers were fed 38 different foods. Each food was portioned out at 240 calories. The participants were not allowed to see the foods and bite size and temperature were held constant.
After eating a particular food, they were asked to rate their hunger levels. Two hours later, the participants ate whatever they wanted from a buffet. They could even go back for more. Every 15 minutes after eating, hunger levels were tracked. The more they ate at the buffet, the less filling the tested food was rated.
Croissants were the top least filling food per calorie, followed closely by cake. Sugar and fat in general is the least filling.
Boiled potatoes were the most filling food per calorie tested, followed by codfish and oatmeal. Overall, researchers found that fiber, protein, water and starch were the most filling.
What is a potato if not a delicious combination of water, protein, starch and fiber, in that order? No wonder it is filling!
A study that looked at the maximum calorie density per weight of food and another that looked at how much a particular food predicts weight gain both found potato chips as the worst.
A potato falls on both ends of the spectrum, depending on whether and how it is processed! Potatoes are the best when unprocessed; potato chips are the worst because they are processed.
How could the potato be a food villain? It is the form in which it is eaten that determines if it is a hero or villain.
Please comment below how you focus on unprocessed foods and how you feel different eating a potato in comparison to a potato chip.
