Keeping ourselves fueled to take on busy days can be challenging. We are always in a hurry and often turn to whatever options are available. More often than not, we end up consuming food that lacks essential nutrients, causing our healthy meal plans to go out the window.
But fret not! Getting back on track is easy with potatoes. They help us achieve multiple goals at once – getting the nutrition we need, staving off hunger, and satisfying cravings.
The potato is a nutrient-dense vegetable that provides the energy, potassium, and vitamin C needed to fuel a modern active lifestyle. Available in many varieties and formats, including fresh, frozen and instant (dehydrated), the tater possibilities are endless, with any dish elevated to next-level taste and texture.
As the perfect blank canvas for various flavors, potatoes can be adapted in so many applications and preparations. They are naturally fat-, sodium-, and cholesterol-free, making them an excellent foundation for increasing your daily vegetable intake.
Being easy to prep, potatoes can play an important role in establishing healthier eating habits. It works well with other ingredients and can make for amazing pairings with different types of protein. Handling and cooking potatoes is also a breeze, they’re air-fryer and microwave friendly, a tasty solution to the morning rush.
If you’re feeling a bit more creative, try making gluten-free versions of your favorites. Potatoes are naturally gluten-free and can be a delicious alternative to products containing gluten. Potato pasta, potato noodles, potato bread, potato rice, potato desserts — cravable comfort food that are all doable and you can enjoy any time.
Real food
Potatoes are a real food with valuable performance-related benefits that can be part of a healthy, balanced diet. It is more energy-packed than any other popular vegetable. A medium 148-gram skin-on potato provides 26 grams of complex carbohydrates (nine percent DV). Carbohydrates are the primary fuel for the brain and a key source of energy for muscles. The spud also contains 2 grams of dietary fiber (seven percent DV).
In addition, potatoes are also an excellent source of vitamin C (27 mg or 30% DV) that plays an important role in collagen production and immune function; a good source of potassium (620 mg or 15% DV) a key electrolyte that aids in muscle, cardiovascular and nervous system function; and has plant-based protein (three grams).
U.S. potato products provide the nutrition, versatility, and superior quality that will bring out the best in all your culinary masterpieces. They are easy to use, consistent, and readily available in a variety of formats all of which are graded based on standards of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
It is important to recognize the value that the potato brings to the Filipino household. As one of the most affordable, accessible, and versatile ingredients in the kitchen, potatoes can give classic family recipes a much-needed refresh while allowing for more new contemporary ideas to help solve the problems that go with modern-day living. (MARY SY)