POTATO FACTS AND NUTRITION

Potato Facts:

The potato is the second most consumed food in the U.S., trailing only milk products.

Potatoes per Person:

The average American eats 136.5 pounds of potatoes a year. That is almost 412 per person; or over a spud a day.

Nutritional Information:

To calculate nutritional value of a 250 gram potato (a typical baking potato) multiply values below by 1.6

Nutritional Benefits of Potatoes:

The potato is a nutrient-dense food. It provides good nutritional return for the calories. Why is nutrient density important? Our need for calories has probably decreased by one-third since the turn of the century because we aren't as active.  In general we still need about the same amount of nutrients as we did then. This means that in order to get all the nutrition we need without consuming too many calories, we must include many nutrient dense foods like potatoes in our diets.

A medium-size potato (5.3 oz or 148 grams) has only about 100 calories, four to five percent of the average adult's total daily intake of calories, but provides much higher percentages of our needs for many nutrients.
For a real potato lover, a medium-size potato may not be enough of a good thing. Even a 250-gram potato (a little over one-half pound) has only about 160 calories, and the larger size gives you a real nutrition bonus. The potato gives us a wide spectrum of valuable nutrients, including complex carbohydrates, often lacking in the American diet.
The potato is a good source of vitamin C and hard to get B6 and has long been known to be a storehouse of minerals. Exact needs for all minerals are not established yet. The potato contains valuable supplies of such essential trace elements as manganese, chromium, selenium and molybdenum.

One current nutritional goal is to reduce the amount of sodium consumed. Research indicates that a typical potato provides less than 1 0 mg. of sodium - compared to a typical daily intake of more than 4,000 mg. On the other hand, many Americans need to be concerned about adequate supplies of potassium. Here again, it appears that for the typical potato-eating American, the potato supplies about 21 percent of the daily potassium needs.

  Fiber, almost entirely complex carbohydrates, has been the subject of renewed interest. Fiber is that part of the food we eat that is not digested by the body but rather travels through and holds water, forming the bulk we need for eliminating solid waste. While official recommendations for fiber haven't been established, about six grams daily is considered desirable. Most Americans fall short of this amount. Potatoes can add to the overall fiber intake. An average serving provides about 10 percent of a desirable daily intake of fiber.

Potatoes contain small amounts of protein. In fact, the protein in potatoes is among the best to be found in vegetables. Potatoes offer a good inexpensive supplementary source of protein in menu planning.


Iron is a mineral that's hard to get in sufficient amounts and is lacking in many diets, particularly those of women, teenage girls and young children. Although few foods contain large amounts of iron, potatoes are a very good source. When consumed on a daily basis (5 1/3 oz. average per person), potatoes furnish more iron than any other vegetable. And, whereas not all the iron content in all foods is available for body use, the iron in potatoes is usable by the body.

The potato has been criticized for being "just a starch." There's a lot more to potatoes, of course, but the carbohydrates in potatoes are the most common form of complex carbohydrates and as such are important to a good diet. Carbohydrates are the body's primary source of fuel for energy. Experts say at least 50 percent of our daily body fuel should come from carbohydrates.

Carbohydrates are of several types. Sugars are the most basic carbohydrates, the building blocks of complex carbohydrates. Complex carbohydrates are longer chains of sugars, such as starches and fiber. Contrary to popular belief, gram for gram, carbohydrates have no more calories than protein and less than half that of fat. In fact, potatoes are virtually fat-free.