Potatoes

Potatoes are a perennial herbaceous plant belonging to the Gooseberry genus of the Potato family. The tubers of this plant are an extremely valuable staple food, unlike its poisonous fruits.

Its stem is furrowed and moss-free and part of it is in the soil. The leaves of the potato plant are dark green. Its flowers are pink, white and violet, resembling a shield at the top of the stem.

The tubers ripen in August September, but this applies to the potato plants that are grown in the mountainous and semi-mountainous regions of Bulgaria.

And Polish potatoes appear on the market already in June-July. The homeland of the potato plant is South America, where it can still be found in the wild today.

Nutritional value of 100 grams of potatoes

• Proteins – 2 grams;
• Fats – 0.4 grams;
• Carbohydrates – 16.3 grams;
• Mineral composition – 1.1 grams;
• Water – 78.8 grams;
• Calorie content – ​​80 kilocalories;

Potatoes have an increased carbohydrate content and their raw calorie content is 80 kilocalories, when boiled – 82, and baked ones provide 192 kilocalories.

The energy value of the dried potato is 298 kilocalories per 100 grams. Overdoing the vegetable in this form may become a cause of obesity.

Potatoes – useful properties

Potato proteins contain practically all amino acids found in plants, including the essential ones.

If a person eats 300 grams of this vegetable per day, he will fully provide his body with the necessary amounts of carbohydrates, potassium and phosphorus.

100 grams of fresh potato tubers contain up to 20 mg of vitamin C. But during storage, the amount of ascorbic acid decreases.

Usually, by spring, vitamin C in potatoes is 1/3 of the initial amount when the vegetable is pulled from the soil.

Plant fibers do not irritate the stomach and intestines, and boiled potatoes can be consumed even in a period of exacerbation of gastritis or ulcer.

Potato starch reduces the levels of cholesterol in the liver and lipids in the blood, that is, it has antisclerotic properties.

Potatoes contain a lot of potassium, which helps to remove excess water from the body, which is important for people with sick kidneys, as well as those who like to drink more alcohol.

This vegetable holds the record for potassium content among all foods. Potassium salts contribute to the release of excess water from the body.

That is why potatoes must be present in the diet, not only for people suffering from kidney disease, but also for those with heart disease.

A diet consisting mainly of potatoes and eggs is particularly useful for people with various forms of chronic kidney failure.

Fresh potatoes, that is, those recently removed from the soil, also contain folic acid, calcium salts, magnesium, phosphorus, vitamins of group B, with the largest amount of nicotinic acid vitamin B3 or PP.

Potato tubers are quite high in calories – almost 2-3 times more than other vegetables. Their main energy component is carbohydrates, which are mainly represented by starch.

It is for this reason that those who are prone to obesity should limit their consumption of potatoes. The proteins of the tubers of the potato plant in their composition are very close to those of animal origin.

The amino acids in potatoes are very well balanced and therefore they are easily absorbed by the human body. Potato tubers are especially valuable because, unlike other food sources of protein such as meat, they possess the property of alkalizing body fluids.