The many benefits of the humble Potato

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People love writing about green veggies, various kinds of diets, fruits, nuts and their many benefits, however the one vegetable that is rarely written about positively is the Potato. I have always loved potato since i was a kid. Anything that has potato i like. In fact of someone had to get me to eat something unpleasant tasting , all they had to do was add potatoes.

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On a lighter note did you know that the Russian Czar Tsar Nikolai I once took to an ingenuous route to get his people to cultivate potato ? Russia used to have frequent famines. To deal with this problem the leader decided that the farmers needed to be encouraged to grow two crops in a year to deal with food shortage. One of the crops was Potatoes. However, the idea was met with resistance. The king then devised a way to motivate his people. He made a few farms of potato crops under the supervision of his people. He then declared Potatoes to be a "Royal Crop" and banned anyone outside of the royal family from growing this royal crop. The guards were given strict instructions in public to guard the potato crops and punish law breakers strictly. However, in private he encouraged the guards to be lax and let normal citizen steal from the royal farms. Sure enough soon there was a massive under ground potato crop movement going on in Russia. Now howz that for social engineering ?!

Anyways coming back to the benefits of potatoes. The humble potato has many health benefits. It has even more interesting cooking applications.

From a nutritional perspective the following are the benefits of Potatoes.

1- Potatoes contain many minerals, nutrients and vitamins. The amount depends on the variety and manner of storage and cooking.
2- Potatoes are an excellent source of anti-oxidants which help curb the free radicals in the body. In layman terms free radicals are what causes aging in many ways.
3- Potatoes are supposed to contain a special kind of starch. Its called resistance starch which can apparently help the body process glucose content better.
4- Potatoes with purple coloring tends to have significantly more anti-oxidants than the white variety.
5- This resistant starch is also good for your tummy. Its a good food source for the bacteria in our gut which in turn helps us digest food better.
6- This is a great vegetable for those who have a gluten free diet.

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Cooking benefits

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1- Potatoes are great mixers. They can be use with almost anything. They can be used with meat, veggies in salads and curries. If you want to spice a boring dish add potatoes. Want your kids eat veggies? Mix them with potatoes.

2- Potatoes are extremely filling. If you want to make a dish that fills people up. Potato is the way to go. It has a special kind of protein that helps inhibit appetite.

3- Potatoes are extremely versatile by themselves as a vegetable. You can fry them, bake them, boil them, mash them and so on so forth.

4- French fries Potato chips etc are some of the ways the humble potato has managed to save humanity from depression 😜

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If there was ever a versatile lifesaver in the kitchen its the old faithful potato. As a final tip.

The skin of the potato is super rich in nutrients. Its best to keep the skin of the potato on which cooking. A potato without its skin is significantly less nutritious than a potato with its skin on.

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Hope you enjoyed reading this little short article. Do feel free to reach out via the comments section in case you want to know anything on Indian recipes or usages of Potatoes or anything else for that matter :)

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Cher!