Are you a French Fries lover or Potato Chips addict? How many dishes do you cook in a week where you have potato as ingredient? Should this root crop be given so much importance in our daily meals when it is affiliated to a negative person character “The Couch Potato”?

As you should always believe, there is no one food that will bring about one particular disease; French Fries isn’t supposed to make you fat (as it is deep fried), what will make you fat is not having the adequate amount of physical activities that will help you burn the calories you took in from your French Fries. Baked or fried potato chips in the market that brings a load of sodium to your body when you eat it, is not the only risk factor that will make you hypertensive, it's lack of control over your day’s total sodium intake.

Why should we pay so much attention to potatoes when it is just an ordinary root crop that is in abundance in the market? The reason for this is that, potato has now been known as a source of an extract that can help lower blood pressure. Finnish researchers have looked into the protein isolates from this root crop as biologically active and capable of reducing blood pressure and even have an anti-oxidant activity. The result of this research has already been published in the Journal of Food Chemistry. The benefit from the potato extract can be made into something that can bring about the same effects of some ACE inhibitors (a medication that hypertensive people take). The researchers reported that the ACE-inhibitory potencies of the isolated proteins from potato extract were high. When the researchers subjected the protein isolates to a two-hour hydrolysis, there was an increased anti-oxidant activity. With a research like this one, many have considered looking into identifying more active compounds from potato.

Looking into what foods can benefit humans, is something that we should support to help feed the growing population of our world and of our country. With the huge global population in mind, this simple root crop has an important part in our effort to ensure food security for the present and future generations. This root crop which sometimes just rot in abundance in supermarkets, should be seen as a source of good nutrition. Potatoes can be a source of nutrients like Vitamin B6, Copper, Potassium, Manganese, the amino acid Tryptophan and also dietary fiber. Other than these vitamin and minerals, potatoes contain other health-promoting compounds like carotenoids, flavonoids and caffeic acid, as well as unique tuber storage-proteins, such as patatin, which exhibits activity against free radicals.

Often times, potatoes are served as in a greasy dish, lets simply have it boiled, mashed (add just a little salt to taste) or your baked potato can come with a reduced fat cheese instead of bacon on top of it. Serve the simple root crop in a simple manner, so it can perform both as a heart and cancer protective food. To get the most out of eating potatoes, we suggest that you take it including the skin (just don’t forget to wash the crop very thoroughly). There are 60 different kinds of phytochemicals and vitamins in the skins and flesh of over 100 commercially grown potatoes An analysis of red and Norkotah potatoes revealed that the spud’s phenolic content even rivals that of broccoli, spinach, and Brussel sprouts.

That was too much of a benefit that we can get from the humble potato. Start planning your dish now and make sure to include a slice or cube of potato in it.

(Write the author at wellbeing@mb.com.ph.)