Blackberries, eggplant, and acai berries are all recognized to be a vibrant purple, however potatoes? In case you’ve grown up consuming white or yellow potatoes your entire life, purple potatoes may appear bizarre – till you begin including them to your eating regimen. Not solely does their coloration make any dish extra enticing, however they’re additionally loaded with health-promoting antioxidants, making them a worthy addition to any eating regimen, and particularly a plant-based eating regimen.
Are purple potatoes more healthy than different potatoes?
Potatoes typically have typically been painted as a eating regimen villain, however nothing could possibly be farther from the reality. “Potatoes are nutrient-dense greens roughly comparable in dietary worth,” says RJ Harvey, R.D.N., culinary director for Potatoes USA, a dietitian in Denver, and authorized government chef.
One medium-sized potato with the pores and skin on, it doesn’t matter what kind it’s, has about 100 energy, 3 grams of protein – greater than mostly consumed greens aside from dried beans, Harvey says – and quite a few minerals and nutritional vitamins, together with vitamin C, Vitamin A, potassium, fiber, vitamin B6 and folate.
Purple potatoes are additionally excessive in antioxidants referred to as anthocyanins, the pigments that give them their purple hue, Harvey says. These anthocyanins pack distinctive advantages that different potatoes don’t have.
For starters, a research in Food & Nutrition Research discovered that anthocyanins can assist keep your imaginative and prescient and forestall ailments like most cancers (particularly colon most cancers, per one other research from the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry), diabetes, and heart problems. In truth, when of us with hypertension ate two small helpings of purple potatoes a day, they decreased their blood stress by about 4 p.c with out gaining any weight, per a research within the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. Researchers concluded purple potatoes not solely lowered blood stress however may additionally lower the danger of coronary heart illness and stroke.
Purple potatoes might even give your mind a lift. In accordance with a research within the journal Molecules, anthocyanins may help cognitive operate, probably serving to keep off Alzheimer’s illness.
What’s one of the simplest ways to make use of purple potatoes?
Whether or not you mash them or bake them, deal with purple potatoes as you’ll every other potatoes. Their moist, agency flesh retains its form throughout cooking, making them excellent for steaming or baking. The shock, although? “Their coloration is greatest preserved by microwaving,” Harvey says.
Simply anticipate a distinctly nutty taste whenever you add them to dishes. That’s why Harvey says they’re an ideal complement to inexperienced salads. Or mix them with white and crimson potatoes in salads or roasted medleys to make all three colours pop.
What recipes can I make with purple potatoes?
Use purple potatoes wherever you’ll common potatoes. And to get you began, listed below are 4 recipes from Potatoes USA:
Backside Line: Begin including purple potatoes to your dishes for optimum vitamin
Whether or not you want your potatoes mashed, roasted, steamed, or baked – any white or yellow potatoes pale compared to the variety of antioxidants and vitamins you get from purple potatoes. As soon as you turn to purple your outdated white potatoes will appear fairly uninteresting compared, and you will get hooked on the superb well being advantages of purple potatoes.
