Russians' second bread as good as oranges

Eating potatoes makes people gain weight. It causes cellulite, worsens the condition of the skin and brings no good to the human body whatsoever. This is what many Russians think about this vegetable in spite of the fact that it is the most popular vegetable for the majority of the Russian people. As a matter of fact, the above-mentioned negative opinion about potatoes is fair only with old tubers. Young potatoes are rich with proteins. Moreover, the content of ascorbic acid in young potatoes is comparable to that of oranges during the harvesting season.

Potatoes are often referred to as "Russians' second bread." An average Russian consumes 117 kg of bread, crops and macaroni a year, whereas the consumption of potatoes is larger - 125 kg. Specialists say that this is too much, because vitamin C is very hard to find in tubers by January. Proteins partially break up, and starch moves on to the category of "quick carbs." All of that indeed causes excessive weight, but young potatoes are very good indeed.

Young potatoes strengthen the immune system, saturate the body with light vegetable proteins and do not cause any weight problems. It is much better to either boil or bake potatoes rather than fry them. This vegetable absorbs a lot of fat during cooking. Only 100g of boiled potatoes give only 80 kcal, whereas the same amount of fried vegetables give 500 kcal.

Some people are convinced that white potatoes are best. Some others try to purchase yellow sorts, whereas somebody else like purple tubers. Who is right? Different strokes for different folks, as they say. From the medical point of view, bright-colored harvests are the best. The yellow color of potatoes says that the vegetable is rich with carotene. Purple and reddish tubers are rich with anthocyanin, which protects people from ageing.

The content of starch is another aspect that is important for this vegetable. There can be 8-12 percent and over 20 percent of starch in different types of potatoes. It is impossible to determine the content of starch in potatoes by simply looking at them. The content of starch in the Russian-grown potatoes is usually high, and the situation with foreign sorts of the vegetable is the opposite. However, neat and nice-looking tubers from Holland, Germany, Poland, Egypt and Israel are usually treated with herbicidal chemicals. They do not pose much danger healthwise, but it would be better not to give such vegetables to children.

Green spots on the tubers mean that the vegetables contain solanine, a toxic substance that can cause food poisoning. This poison preserves even during thermal treatment. Specialists recommend to either cut out the green parts of tubers or not to use such tubers for food at all.

When choosing young potatoes, avoid large tubers. Most likely, giant potatoes are rich with nitrates and fertilizers.

Alexander Orlov

Medpulse

pravda.ru