Are potatos good or bad for you?

For example, is a bake potato without all the added butter/fats considered a "nutritious" food or is it more like white bread? Is it classified as a healthy food or unhealthy? What re somebenefits of potatos? What are some disadvantages? Any tips or ideas or opinions??

Potatoes are not "bad".  They are starchy vegetables that have a lot of good vitamins in them.  They are relatively high in carbs.

If you add butter to them -- well it really depends on how much you add.  Butter is not "bad" by itself either.  Lotsof people add other things to a potato like cottage cheese, or something that is less high in fats.

Sweet potatoes are an alternative that is high in fiber and has more nutrients than a regular white potato. 

I don't think any foods are "bad" or "unhealthy". 

If you eat cooked potatoes after they have cooled (eg in a potato salad), the insoluble fibre count increases. The fibre count is also better if you eat potatoes with the skin on, eg a baked potato, and you get more nutrients this way. The more fibre in your food, the lower the GI count. Adding butter will also lower the GI value slightly. I vote potatoes a healthy food - they are natural and totally unprocessed until we cook them. That has got to be good in my book!

Potatoes are incredibly healthy.

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=food spice&dbid=48

anything that comes from the earth is not "bad." what's bad is the crap people do to the food.

White potatoes have a higher Glycemic Index.  Plain white potatos will spike your blood sugar which is not very healthy... (it is similar to white bread in that way.)

The healthier potato is the sweet potato.  It is low GI, and high fiber.

Potatoes are not "bad", they got a bad rep during the whole low carb madness. As for hi GI index. Since potatoes are usually part of a meal it doesn't really matter. If you are worried about it, have a salad with the potatoe.

UD

Potatoes are on the list of the Worlds Healthiest Foods

http://www.whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=food spice&dbid=48

1 cup of potato provides 25% of the daily requirement of vitamin C, 20% of your B6, important minerals, and almost 15% of daily fiber.  At 163 calories, I'd say that's pretty healthy, wouldn't you?

i eat red skinned baked potatoes all the time. i think its because people put so much crap on it to make it "loaded" that it becomes unhealthy. like sour cream, cheese, bacon, etc.

i love baked potatoes! I get one that is about 250g and baked it then take a Frigo string cheese stick (80 cals) and string tear it up then melt it over the top then add about 60g of salsa ( i really like Tostitos Natural medium) and some banana peppers (15g) and some jalapenos (15g) and some fresh cracked black pepper. soooo yummy and filling!!!

Original Post by jellobee:

anything that comes from the earth is not "bad."

 The poisonous mushrooms and berries that come from the earth might disagree with you.

Original Post by floggingsully:

Original Post by jellobee:

anything that comes from the earth is not "bad."

 The poisonous mushrooms and berries that come from the earth might disagree with you.

No they wouldn't, they'd say that it was for their own protection~!

Original Post by karozel:

I don't think any foods are "bad" or "unhealthy". 

I agree with your statement, but only because there are some things that I don't consider to be food.  Like soda pop.

Patrick

Try the little red skinned "b" sized potatoes, plain and baked they're high in fiber and protein.  And loaded with vitamins.  Yeah they have a few carbs but your body needs those too!

Potatoes are awesome! I had a baked sweet potato last night and it was wonderful. They were on sale for $0.79 a pound. Red potatoes make great mashed potatoes. Mashed potatoes normally get a bad rep. It's the junk we put in them and on baked potatoes that can be bad news lol. If you uses skim, light soy, or almond breeze and no butter when making mashed potatoes they're not bad for you at all. Same with the baked potato. I LOVE wishbone balsamic spray on them! I have a butter phobia anyways lol. In my book a sweet potato is great with just salt :-).

More potassium than a banana. I love potatoes!

Good