Potatoes: Evil starch or nutritional superhero?

Run! Run away! The CARBS are coming to get us! This is the latest cry of fad dieters everywhere. Anything that even LOOKS like it may contain carbohydrate or some sort of sugar is demon food.

Apples and bananas are put in the same category as muffins and pies. Eating some rice? Heaven help you! You're going to get diabetes!

Unfortunately for people selling diet books, carbohydrates are, and will always be an essential macronutrient.

We NEED them in order to thrive

Now, we may need FEWER carbs than what most people eat and we may need to stop deep frying our carbs or eating ultra-refined breads, but we still need carbohydrate in our diet.

One of the best ways to get some carbs is to eat a potato. Potato is one of very few foods that is almost nutritionally PERFECT - you could live on potatoes alone and be pretty healthy.

Does this sound like a food to avoid?

Anyway, potatoes are part of the perfect pantry because they have a decent shelf-life, are versatile, AND they are really healthy! Just control your portions and don't deep fry them in chemical-laden oils.

So if you want some starch with dinner have some. It should cover 10-15% of your plate. Any more and you're probably overdoing it.

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