A spud is a complete whole food a bit like a multi vitamin pill. It’s full of cold-fighting Vitamin C and potassium, which help keeps your blood pressure in check. It’s also a good source of B vitamins. And the humble potato may not be strong on looks, but it’s got more iron than any other vegetable to help give you the strength to get you through the day.
Carbs make you fat, right? Wrong! Carbohydrates are the body’s primary source of fuel. And the type found in potatoes are virtually all complex carbs that are loaded with fibre, which in turn gives you longer lasting energy and more stable blood sugar levels. Compared to your common garden-variety serves of rice and pasta, potatoes have higher quality carbs.
In actual fact, spuds have less fat than pasta or rice.
| Food (100g) | Energy (cal) | Fat (g) | Carbs (g) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pasta | 365 | 2 | 77 |
| Rice | 182 | 1.2 | 40.7 |
| Potato | 82 | 0.1 | 19.7 |
Source: www.westernpotatoes.com.au
The potato is one of the most nutrient-dense vegetables available and provides substantial nutrition for few kilojoules. As recommended by nutritionists, Spudbar spuds are cooked in their skins in order to retain the maximum benefit of the nutrients in the spud.
A medium sized potato of 150 grams provides a good proportion of the recommended daily requirements of many important vitamins and minerals (then you can up those figures because Spudbar serves are around 240 grams).
| Nutrient | 150g Potato | +RDI | *% DAILY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dietary Fibre | 2.85g | 30-40g ^ | 14.5(calculated on averages) |
| Energy | 286kj | ||
| Protein | 3.75g | 0.75g/kg body weight/day | N/A |
| Fat | 0g | 20-30% of kilojoules in diet | 0 |
| Carboyhdrates | 13.8g | ||
| Sugars | .5g | ||
| Vitamin C | 20-30mg | 35mg | 57-86 |
| Folic Acid | 37µg | 200µg | 18 |
| Niacin (B3) | 1.35mg | 16mg | 12 |
| Thiamin (B1) | 0.12mg | 1mg | 10 |
| B6 | 0.6mg | 1.3mg | 46 |
| Potassium | 500-700mg | 1950- 5460mg | 16(calculated on averages) |
| Phosphorous | 50mg | 1000mg | 5 |
| Magnesium | 28.5mg | 295mg | 10 |
| Calcium | 6mg | 800mg | 0.6 |
| Zinc | 0.6mg | 12mg | 5 |
| Iodine | 4.5µg | 135µg | 3 |
+ Recommended Dietary Intake (Daily Intake)
* This is an approx. percentage of the recommended daily requirement
^ Recommended range by Australian nutritionists
RDI has been calculated as an average of recommendations for adult men and women (19-64 years)
Source: NHMRC (1991), Recommended Dietary Intakes for use in Australia, Rosemary Stanton (1994), Eating for Peak Performance.
