The Advantages of Potato Skin Nutrition

potato skin nutrition

potato skin nutrition

Updated on 4/18/2024
Martin AlvarezBy Martin Alvarez
Nutritionist/Dietitian Professional Guide
Learn More about Martin Alvarez

Is it true that potato skin nutrition will provide you with more fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals than consuming only the flesh of a potato? There is no doubt that potatoes are one of the most popular root vegetables in the world. It is important to note that potato skins are low in calories and provide several health benefits if you do not include butter, sour cream, cheese, or bacon in an appetizer made with potato skins. A number of these benefits have:

  • Helping with digestion.
  • Lowering blood pressure.
  • Maintaining strong bones.
  • Preventing diseases from entering the body, to name a few.

Advantages to Nutrition on a Macro Scale

Advantages to Nutrition on a Macro Scale

Advantages to Nutrition on a Macro Scale

 

Potato skins contain no significant amount of cholesterol or fat; they do not contain fat, and potato skins do not contain fat. When you consume only the skin of your baked potato, rather than the entire potato, you will get a higher concentration of protein and fiber than if you finish the whole potato simultaneously. Even though it will cost you a few more calories per 100 grams, the overall nutritional benefit may make up for the cost of the extra calories.

The Following is a List of The Macronutrients That Can be Found in One Baked Potato Skin, as Provided by The USDA:

potato skin

potato skin

 

  • Calories: 115
  • 27 grams of carbohydrates, which is equivalent to 9 percent of the daily value (DV)
  • Protein: 2.5 grams, or 5% of the daily value
  • 4.6 grams of fiber, or 18 percent of the daily value

As a point of comparison, if you were to consume an entire medium-baked potato (173 grams), including the flesh and the skin, you would consume 161 calories from eating the potato as a whole. The meal would contain 37 grams of carbohydrates and 4.3 grams of protein. It should be noted that, as a starting point, this change would decrease the beneficial amount of dietary fiber from 3.8 grams to 2.8 grams.

Nutrition Found in The Potato Peel

Nutrition Found in The Potato Peel

Nutrition Found in The Potato Peel

 

Rather than eating the whole potato, you can also benefit from a significantly higher concentration of minerals and vitamins that potatoes contain if you eat the potato skin instead. It has been reported that the following nutrients can be found in each potato skin, according to the USDA:

  • Vitamin C: 9 percent of the daily value (8 grams)
  • Calcium: 20 milligrams, or 2 percent of the daily value for calcium
  • Potassium: a total of 332 milligrams, or 7 percent of the Daily Value
  • Magnesium: 25 milligrams, or 6 percent of the daily value for magnesium
  • Phosphorus: 59 milligrams, which is 5% of the recommended allowance for phosphorus
  • Manganese: 0.4 milligrams , which is equal to 16 percent of the daily value
  • Iron: A daily requirement of 4 grams of iron, or 23% of the recommended daily intake
  • Zinc: 3 percent of the Daily Value (DV) is 0.3 milligrams.
  • Copper: 53% of the daily value is 0.5 milligrams

The Numerous Advantages Of Vitamin B

The Numerous Advantages Of Vitamin B

The Numerous Advantages Of Vitamin B

 

For your body's nerves, muscles, skin, heart, and brain to function correctly, they must all be supplied with the energy the B vitamin group provides to do their jobs. Potato skin can give a good amount of essential B vitamins, including the following if you eat potato skin regularly.

Thiamine: makes up 6% of the daily value.

Riboflavin: 5% of the daily value

Niacin: 11 percent DV

Vitamin B-5: 10 percent DV

Vitamin B-6: 21 percent DV

Folate: 3 percent DV

Vitamin B is found in potato skins, which have been shown to alleviate stress and improve mood in people who consume them. It was revealed in a study published in the Nutrition Journal in December 2014 that Australian researchers gave antioxidants and B vitamins to a group of 200 full-time employees throughout the study. The researchers involved 200 full-time employees in the survey, and the study lasted for six months. In the end, as a result of the experiment, it was found that the subject's mental capacity and mood were enhanced.

The findings of these studies suggested that dietary B vitamins may be beneficial for reducing occupational stress, increasing work productivity, and reducing absenteeism. By the fact that these vitamins were healthy, You suggested that this be the case.

Advantages of Having a Healthy Digestion

Advantages to Having Healthy Digestion

Advantages to Having Healthy Digestion

 

To maintain a healthy digestive system, one must consume a diet rich in fiber to maintain a healthy digestive system. Compared to eating a whole baked potato with skin, eating potato skin rewards you with nearly four times as much fiber per 100 grams as eating a whole baked potato without skin. This results in a difference of 32 percent of the daily value for potato skin per 100 grams, compared to 9 percent for whole-baked potatoes for 100 grams.

As a result of the fiber found in potato skins, it can assist the body in maintaining regular bowel movements. An indigestible form of cellulose is found in many foods that the body, called fiber, can't break down. As a result, it increases the volume of the stool. It absorbs water, making it easier to pass the seat through the digestive tract, which in turn helps prevent constipation by facilitating the passage of stool.

Consuming adequate amounts of fiber can also help mitigate digestive conditions such as diverticulitis, irritable bowel syndrome, and hemorrhoids, all of which can be mitigated by consuming enough fiber. According to a study published in October 2015 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, dietary fiber may also potentially reduce the risk of colon cancer development.

Advantages to the Health of Your Bones

Advantages to the Health of Your Bones

Advantages to the Health of Your Bones

 

Several minerals in the potato peel are necessary for properly maintaining and preserving bone strength and structure. Potato peels have several health benefits, and this is one of them. These essential nutrients include magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, calcium, copper, iron, and zinc, to name just a few.

Magnesium is a mineral found in the body's bones, accounting for about 50 to 60 percent of the magnesium in the body. You have found that in a study conducted by researchers at the National Institutes of Health.

A study by the National Institutes of Health found that eating potato skin can help maintain bone density and reduce the risk of osteoporosis in women after menopause (NIH). It is well known that Potassium in the diet has a positive effect on the body's skeletal system. Essentially, it does this by inhibiting the release of calcium from bones, which ultimately results in an increase in the mineral density of the bones as a result.

A study by the National Institutes of Health found

A study by the National Institutes of Health found

 

In March 2015, a study published in the Nutrition Journal found that phosphorus consumption increased bone mineral content and density. A study published in the Journal of Nutrition found that consuming an adequate amount of calcium and phosphorus in sufficient amounts is associated with a 45 percent reduction in the risk of osteoporosis when consumed in adequate quantities.

It is important to remember that calcium, which can be found in potato skin, is necessary for maintaining the integrity of your teeth and bones and their density. You could risk weakening bones and breaking them very quickly if you do not get enough calcium in your diet. As mentioned earlier, potato skins contain copper, iron, and zinc, essential to the body's ability to produce collagen, and your bones are held together by a collagen protein.

Beneficial Effects on Immunity and Anti-Allergy

Beneficial Effects on Immunity and Anti-Allergy

Beneficial Effects on Immunity and Anti-Allergy

 

The flavonoids in potato skins are a type of phytonutrients that occur naturally in the skin of potatoes. There is also evidence that flavonoids are believed to protect your body from disease and infection and their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. It is important to note that potato skins are a good source of flavonoids. Among the flavonoids found in potato, skin is quercetin, a flavonoid that has been shown to have antiviral properties and may inhibit the release of histamine in the body. There is no doubt that quercetin is known for its ability to stimulate the immune system and its antibacterial properties.

A study published in the journal Molecules in 2016 suggested that quercetin could effectively treat allergic rhinitis, bronchial asthma, and anaphylactic reactions caused by peanuts. The authors conclude that quercetin, a natural component derived from plants, is the primary component of a wide range of potential anti-allergy medications. The central part of many of them is quercetin.

Advantages to Keeping Your Blood Pressure in Check

Advantages to Keeping Your Blood Pressure in Check

Advantages to Keeping Your Blood Pressure in Check

 

One of the benefits of potato skin is that it has several health benefits, one of which is that it keeps your heart healthy and working correctly. 

It has been suggested that eating potato skin may be beneficial for managing blood pressure naturally due to the minerals that can be found in it, such as potassium, magnesium, and calcium.

For your muscles to function correctly, you need potassium to allow the walls of your blood vessels to relax, which is a prerequisite for relaxing your muscles. There is a decrease in blood pressure as a result of this. As a conductive medium for electrical signals within the heart, potassium also regulates irregular heartbeats.

Besides playing a role in the transport of calcium and potassium ions across cell membranes, Magnesium also helps to relax the blood vessels, which is another of its benefits. As a result of this process, your heart will be able to beat in a regular rhythm, and you will be able to maintain an adequate pressure level in your blood vessels.

Magnesium

Magnesium

 

A recent review that analyzed the data from 3,048 participants from 16 trials found that increasing calcium intake significantly reduced blood pressure. Even those whose blood pressure levels were already considered to be expected were able to experience this effect. As a result of their investigation, the Hypertension Group published its findings in June 2015.

Advantages Derived From Choline

potato skin nutrition

potato skin nutrition

 

The nutrient choline is present in a wide variety of foods. Choline, found in potato skins, is an essential component of lecithin, Which you can see in the walls of the body's cells, plasma, and lipoproteins. Potato skins contain a significant amount of choline, which can be found in them. Your brain and nervous system utilize choline to carry out many functions, such as regulating your mood and memory and controlling your muscles and body movements.

The average American diet does not provide an adequate amount of choline to its citizens, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Potato skin contains 18 milligrams of choline, which contributes to the recommended daily amount of choline for adults, which varies from 425 milligrams to 550 milligrams depending on their age and gender. There is this amount of choline in one potato skin.

Organic Purchase Potatoes

Organic Purchase Potatoes

Organic Purchase Potatoes

 

There is no doubt that potatoes' skins have the potential to contain traces of pesticides, so you should be aware of this fact. In a recent study published by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), 70 percent of the food samples tested in 2019 contained pesticide residues, a potential human carcinogen. 

A study by the Environmental Working Group found that potatoes are included in the top 12 list, also known as “EWG's dirty dozen.”

As a result of a study published in Environmental Research in 2019 that found that eating organic produce for just six days resulted in a 60% reduction in the number of synthetic pesticides measured in the urine of the subjects as compared to eating a conventional diet, as a result of eating organic produce, according to the study's findings, a study was conducted on people who ate a traditional diet and participated in the study.

funny potato

funny potato

 

Consuming adequate amounts of fiber can also help mitigate digestive conditions such as diverticulitis, irritable bowel syndrome, and hemorrhoids, all of which can be mitigated by consuming enough fiber. According to a study published in October 2015 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, dietary fiber may also potentially reduce the risk of colon cancer development.

It is essential to remember that if you cannot grow your potatoes, you should consider purchasing organic potatoes to enjoy the nutritional value of the potato skin nutrition without peeling them.