Potatoes have had a rough go of things.
Most recently, the high-protein, anti-carbohydrate people have spread the message that potatoes are full of fattening carbs. Back in the anti-fat ’80s, we were told that mashed or fried potatoes were too rich, guaranteed to pack on the pounds. Before that, there were the anti-nightshade adherents, who believed that potatoes were laced with poisons.
In the United States, where a 5-pound bag of potatoes was in every pantry when I was a kid, we are eating fewer spuds these days. U.S. annual consumption of fresh potatoes fell from 48 pounds per person in 1982 to 28 pounds per person in 2024, while frozen potato consumption rose from 41 pounds to 58 pounds per person over the same period, respectively.
That means we aren’t cooking with potatoes, but we’re eating a whole lot of French fries and tater tots. Here’s how nutritionists want us to start thinking about potatoes in our everyday diets.
Potatoes are a whole food
Like other vegetables, potatoes have a spectrum of nutrients, not just carbohydrates.
According to Toby Smithson, a registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN) and the senior manager of Nutrition and Wellness at the American Diabetes Association, “they are a rich source of vitamin C, vitamin B6, potassium and fiber, especially when the skin is left on. Potassium is particularly important for heart health and healthy blood pressure”. In fact, potatoes are a potassium superstar and even have some protein.
“Potatoes rank highest in potassium of the top-selling fruits and vegetables. Potatoes are delicious and a good quality carb – that even offers a little bit of plant protein too (3 grams per serving),” Barbara Ruhs, a registered dietitian (RD), said.
Yes, they are called a starch for a reason
It’s true that potatoes contain carbohydrates. You may have heard of the Glycemic Index, a scale devised to help diabetic patients manage their carbohydrate intake. It rates foods on a scale of 0 to 100 based on how quickly the foods break down and raise your blood sugar after eating them. In recent years, the glycemic ratings of certain foods have entered the lexicon of weight loss, as people strive to lower their sugar intake.
The highest-GI potato is a plain baked Russet potato, scoring at 111. A boiled white potato scores 82, a boiled New Potato is 58, and French fries 73. Russets have more of a starch called amylopectin, which digests quickly, while waxy potatoes have more amylose, which burns more slowly. New potatoes have the most amylose and, when eaten with the skins on, are the lowest GI. But GI is just part of the picture.
Potato salad, on the other hand, has a GI of 45, which is low. How does that work? There are two important factors in how a potato affects your blood sugar. One is the way it is cooked, and the other is what you eat with it.
How you cook them matters
The same potato, which has a GI of 82 when cooked and refrigerated overnight, now has a GI of 49. That’s because of the phenomenon of resistant starch.
“The flesh contains resistant starch that increases in content when potatoes are cooked and cooled and actually works to blunt the glycemic effect of potatoes, meaning your blood sugar levels are lower than if eating hot potatoes,” Carolyn O’Neil, RDN, said.
The resistant starch remains even when you reheat a chilled, boiled potato, so cooking your potatoes the day before and then reheating them lowers their GI, even if you sauté them for breakfast.
Most foods are eaten in a dish, as part of a meal. That high-GI baked potato is usually topped with butter, sour cream or cheese. Adding cheese to that high-GI Russet potato brings the GI down to 39, which is considered low. Making that boiled and chilled potato into potato salad, with added acids, fat and fiber, drops the GI to 45.
“Who knew that potato salad was the way to go?” O’Neill said. “Turns out that by adding acid and fat to the cooled potatoes you can blunt the glycemic response even further.”
Even diabetics can enjoy potatoes
The people who really need to monitor their blood sugar are diabetics, and experts still recommend potatoes as part of the diabetic diet.
“Potatoes are often misunderstood when it comes to diabetes, but they can be part of a healthy eating pattern,” Smithson said.
“Potatoes are a quality carbohydrate and fit into the carbohydrate portion of the Diabetes Plate, where about one-quarter of the plate is filled with carbohydrate foods and the remainder includes non-starchy vegetables and lean protein.”
How many of the nutrients are in the skins?
You’ve probably heard that all the nutrients are in the skin of the potato, especially the fibre. The flesh may seem creamy, but it also has its share of cholesterol-lowering fibre, too.
A medium Russet potato has 3-4 grams total dietary fibre, and “30-50% is in the peel, 50-70% is in the flesh,” O’Neil said.
The dietary fibre in the skin is primarily insoluble or indigestible fibre “that works like ‘nature’s broom’ to support gut motility,” and “the flesh of the potato contains soluble fibres, like the type in oatmeal, that slows down glucose absorption and helps manage cholesterol levels,” she added.
Why you don’t need to avoid carbs
While the rest of us are trimming carbs, endurance athletes are carrying packets of carbohydrate gels to slurp down during long runs or bike races. A 2019 study showed that Russet potatoes are as effective as packaged carbohydrate gels for fueling endurance athletes. The trend of carrying a baked potato along while training continues to this day.
The overall takeaway? If you’re concerned about carbs, boil, chill and then eat your potatoes. Lean toward new potatoes when appropriate, and make sure to enjoy them with some fat and acid to counter the blood sugar boost.