Great news for potato lovers: they may be a health food after all. Although
many people now think of potatoes as fattening, starchy and one of those white
foods to avoid, research shows that just a couple of servings a day reduces
blood pressure almost as much as oatmeal - without causing weight gain.
But don't get carried away. The potatoes in the study were not fried or
served with ketchup or sour cream and bacon bits. They were instead cooked
without oil in a microwave oven. Some might argue that potatoes aren't even
edible like that.
The research was done on a group of overweight people with high blood
pressure and the results were presented at the National Meeting & Exposition
of the American Chemical Society (ACS).
Joe Vinson, Ph.D. of the University of Scranton headed the research and is
hoping to remake the potato's sad nutritional image. He points out that most
people think of potatoes as fattening, high-carb, and basically empty calories.
That's why more than any other vegetable, they've been abandoned by many health
conscious people. But Vinson points out that when prepared without frying or
fat, one potato has only 110 calories and dozens of healthful phytochemicals and
vitamins.
In the study, 18 patients who were primarily overweight or obese with high
blood pressure ate 6-8 purple potatoes (each about the size of a golf ball) with
skins twice daily for a month. The researchers used purple potatoes because the
purple pigment in
fruits and vegetables is especially rich in beneficial
phytochemicals.
The average diastolic blood pressure of the study subjects dropped by 4.3
percent and the systolic pressure decreased by 3.5 percent, said Vinson, who has
done extensive research on healthful components in foods. The majority of
subjects took anti-hypertensive drugs and still had a reduction in blood
pressure. None of the study participants gained weight.
Although researchers used purple potatoes, they believe that red-skin
potatoes and white potatoes may have similar effects.
Vinson said that other studies have identified substances in potatoes with
effects in the body similar to those of the well-known ACE-inhibitor
medications, the main pharmaceutical treatment for high blood
pressure. Other phytochemicals in potatoes occur in amounts that rival broccoli,
spinach and Brussels sprouts, and also may be involved in the beneficial blood
pressure effect according to Vinson.
Should you eat 8 purple potatoes twice a day? Probably not. But the study
does show that it doesn't hurt and potatoes have some serious health
benefits.
Unfortunately for French fry and potato chip fans, high cooking temperatures
seem to destroy most of the healthy substances in a potato, leaving mainly
starch, fat and minerals. Skip the microwave, too, and try them simply baked.
But don't forget
the butter for additional health benefits.
