Why Eat The Second Most Healthy Vegetable?

What's the second healthiest vegetable you can eat?

The first is Asparagus, accoding to Melmagazine.  

The second top vegetable is sure to surprise you.  Potato! Sweet Potato, not the good, ol' white, potato.  The Sweet Potato is rich in beta-carotene - for healthy skin, vision, and organ function.  It also has more potassium than a banana, which helps reduce muscle spasms and swelling.  Further, one cup of baked sweet potato is loaded with vitamin C.

Though not as healthy for you, white potatoes are very good for you - but not the fried variety.  It's always best to bake the potato and leave the skin on, because it contains many valuable nutrients.  Nowadays you bake your potatoes in the microwave and it takes just a few minutes.

Throughout America, potatoes are the most popular

vegetable, even being ahead of other well known

vegetables such as lettuce and onions.  You can

cook potatoes in a variety of ways, and they are

included in one out of three meals eaten by almost

all Americans.  When they are prepared in a healthy

way, a potato can be an excellent source of energy

and also pack a nutritional punch.

Like oranges, potatoes are very high in vitamin C.

The fact is, one medium potato contains 45% of the

vitamin C that's recommended for good health. 

Potatoes are also high in fiber and carbohydrates

and contain more potassium than a banana.

A potato is naturally low in calories and contains

no fat, sodium, or cholesterol.  The skins of the

potatoes provide a helpful dose of fiber, iron,

potassium, calcium, zinc, phosphorus, and several

B vitamins.

The Ketchup Murder!

You can prepare potatoes by boiling them, steaming

them, or even roasting them.  If at all possible,

you should avoid putting potatoes in the refrigerator

or freezing them, as cold will turn the potato

starch to sugar and cause them to turn dark when

they are cooked.

When you store potatoes, keep them in a cool, dark

place. Too much light will cause them to turn green.

You can store them in the basement if you have

one, as the basement is the best place to keep

potatoes.

From mashed potatoes to baked potatoes, a potato

is something we all know and love.  They serve

many different tasty foods, and they provide our

bodies with plenty of healthful benefits.  We all

eat potatoes, some of us even grow our own.  Whether

you grow your on or buy them, the potato is

the one vegetable that makes everything just a

little bit better.

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