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Food and diet reporting

Potatoes in a balanced diet

The NHS Eatwell Guide places potatoes in the starchy carbohydrate group, which it says should make up just over a third of the food people in the UK eat. This site reports what a potato contains, how cooking changes it, how varieties differ and how it compares with rice, pasta, bread and sweet potato.

Read the guidesStart with nutrients
A bowl of boiled new potatoes with their skins on, lightly steaming on a plain table

Guide index

Five reports. Each covers one part of the subject and names the organisation or reference work its statements rest on.

  1. Nutrients in potatoes

    Potassium, vitamin C, vitamin B6, folate and fibre in a plain potato, set against the UK reference intakes and the values in McCance and Widdowson's The Composition of Foods.

    CoversPotassium, vitamin C, fibre
    Main sourceMcCance and Widdowson
    SectionsSeven
    Read

  2. Potatoes and the Eatwell Guide

    Where the NHS and Public Health England put potatoes, why they do not count towards 5 A Day while sweet potatoes do, and how the Irish, US and Canadian guides classify them differently.

    CoversStarchy carbohydrates, 5 A Day
    Main sourceNHS Eatwell Guide
    SectionsSix
    Read

  3. Cooking methods

    Boiling, steaming, baking, roasting, frying and cooling: how each changes energy, fat, glycaemic response and acrylamide, with the Food Standards Agency's advice on browning.

    CoversGI, resistant starch, acrylamide
    Main sourceFood Standards Agency
    SectionsSeven
    Read

  4. Varieties and buying

    Maris Piper, King Edward, Desiree, Charlotte, Jersey Royal and Rooster: floury against waxy, new against maincrop, skin-on cooking, storage in the dark and what green patches mean.

    CoversFloury vs waxy, storage
    Varieties namedEight
    SectionsSix
    Read

  5. Potatoes compared

    Boiled potato against white rice, pasta, bread and sweet potato on energy per 100 g, potassium, vitamin C, fibre, gluten, salt and 5 A Day status, using NHS and FSA positions.

    CoversRice, pasta, bread, sweet potato
    Main sourceNHS 5 A Day rules
    SectionsSix
    Read

Three points that hold across every page

The reports differ in detail. These statements apply throughout and come from the bodies named.

NHS

Potatoes are not one of your 5 A Day

The NHS counts potatoes as a starchy food, not a vegetable portion, because of their role as a staple carbohydrate in the diet. Sweet potatoes, parsnips, swedes and turnips do count.

Composition

A plain potato is close to fat-free

The fat in a potato dish comes from the cooking method. Boiled and steamed potatoes contain a negligible amount; roast potatoes, chips and crisps carry the fat they were cooked in.

Fibre

Much of the fibre is in and near the skin

Cooking and eating potatoes with the skin on keeps more of the fibre and some of the minerals. The NHS recommends 30 g of fibre a day for adults, and skin-on potatoes contribute to that.

About this site

swaylopixelscabn.courses is an independent reference on one subject: the place of the potato in a healthy diet in the UK. Statements about nutrition are attributed to public bodies and published reference works, chiefly the NHS, the Food Standards Agency, the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition and McCance and Widdowson's The Composition of Foods. Nothing on the site is personal dietary advice. Readers with a medical condition, or with questions about their own diet, should speak to a GP or a registered dietitian.