{"id":175612,"date":"2023-03-16T10:51:53","date_gmt":"2023-03-16T15:51:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/?p=175612"},"modified":"2023-09-10T15:08:49","modified_gmt":"2023-09-10T20:08:49","slug":"all-hail-the-humble-potato","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/leisure\/food-drink\/all-hail-the-humble-potato\/","title":{"rendered":"All Hail the Humble Potato!"},"content":{"rendered":"

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With St. Patrick’s Day tomorrow, people’s thoughts are turning to potatoes a little more than usual.<\/span><\/p>\n

The rest of the year, however, people don’t think too much about these humble tubers. They hold such a ubiquitous place on our tables that we take them for granted.<\/span><\/p>\n

So let’s take a moment today to celebrate this underrated foodstuff by unpacking four reasons potatoes are awesome. <\/span><\/p>\n

1. Potatoes Are Cheap<\/h2>\n

On average, a pound of potatoes costs .95 cents. In contrast, a pound of ground beef costs over $5. Adding potatoes to your meals is a great way to stretch your grocery budget. <\/span><\/p>\n

2. Potatoes Can Help You Lose Weight<\/h2>\n

People started getting down on potatoes a couple decades back as the low-carb movement gained steam. Potatoes are starchy tubers. Starch is a carbohydrate made up of numerous glucose units. Our bodies can quickly break down the starch in a potato and convert it into glucose. The fear is that this glucose will spike blood sugar, and high blood sugar will leave you feeling hungry and cause weight gain. <\/span><\/p>\n

But carbs don’t necessarily make you fat<\/a>; it’s eating a caloric surplus of any food that causes weight gain (and eating a caloric deficit of any food that causes weight loss). Thus a better metric for a food’s “healthiness” than its macro breakdown is its volume relative to its calories. Calorically dense foods give you a lot of calories without filling you up, leaving you feeling hungry and more prone to overeating. Foods that are higher in volume relative to their calories leave you feeling satiated, making it easier to eat less. <\/span><\/p>\n

Potatoes fall into that latter, filling category. While deep-frying and covering taters in butter, cream, and cheese does turn them into an unhealthy, calorically dense food, pure potatoes are high in volume and low in calories: an ounce of Oreos has 140 calories; an ounce of potatoes has 22. It’s hard to overeat plain baked potatoes.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Indeed, in one study on satiety, potatoes were found to be the most satiating of foods, even more so than high-protein foods like steak.<\/span><\/p>\n

3. Potatoes Are Nutrient-Packed<\/h2>\n

Brightly colored vegetables get all the “it’s good for you” attention, while the brown tuber is assumed to be a nutritional slouch. But it isn’t so; potatoes are surprisingly rich in nutrients. A skin-on, medium-sized white baked potato contains: <\/span><\/p>\n