NO – there’s no such thing as a French fry diet – but you can eat fries even when you want to lose weight.
How?
Surprisingly, French fries aren’t the diet villain we always thought. Yes, they are fattening, but they aren’t empty calories and potatoes have definite health benefits.
Although it is considered a simple carbohydrate (which means your body burns up the energy quickly), white potatoes do contain a significant amount of nutrients. We all know that sweet potatoes are a more complex carbohydrate and digest slower than their white counterpart. We have also been told that sweet potatoes have a lot of potassium, but it turns out that the white potatoes have more. Who knew?
Take a look at what a medium sized baked potato (we will come back to the fries) eaten with the skin contains:
• Calories: 161
• Fat: 0.2 grams
• Protein: 4.3 grams
• Carbs: 36.6 grams
• Fiber: 3.8 grams
• Vitamin C: 28% of the RDI
• Vitamin B6: 27% of the RDI
• Potassium: 26% of the RDI
• Manganese: 19% of the RDI
• Magnesium: 12% of the RDI
• Phosphorus: 12% of the RDI
• Niacin: 12% of the RDI
• Folate: 12% of the RDI
Not only that, but potatoes contain antioxidants (cancer fighters) and something known as resistant starch (which can help reduce insulin resistance, which, in turn, improves blood sugar control).
So, potatoes pack a nutritional punch. The best way to eat them is baked with the skin – maybe forget the butter and sour cream.
Which is healthier, mashed potatoes or French fries?
If you peel potatoes and boil them, a lot of the potassium and nutrients will leach into the water and be dumped out when you are done cooking them. You can boil potatoes with the skin on for a healthier version of mashed potatoes, but it’s a lot more work. You actually retain more nutrients when you fry the potatoes quickly in hot oil. Also, most people add butter and cream to their mashed potatoes as well, which is more fattening than a quick fry. The only caveat is that the oil should always be fresh. So if you really want fries, you should make them at home and use fresh oil every time. Or, better yet, use an air fryer which will give you crispy fries without hardly any oil. You can also bake them in the oven. And if you leave the skin on, it’s even better for you!
Outside of the house (restaurants or fast food joints), all bets are off. Oil is used for days and mashed potatoes are loaded with butter and salt for extra flavor. If you really want to eat potatoes, you’re better off preparing them at home where you control the fat. So, you see, you CAN eat French fries and potatoes and still maintain a healthy diet.
