Noshing with The Nutrition Twins:
Wanna know what The Nutrition Twins have been loving this month?

Potatoes!
Why are the Twins eating potatoes? Aren’t they fattening?

Absolutely not! In fact, eating potatoes at breakfast, lunch or dinner could help you to lose those last pounds!

Guess what? For years we’ve been witnessing our clients who include one medium sized (5.3- ounce) skin-on, baked potato in their regular meal plan feel more satisfied and meet their weight loss goals while doing so.

As registered dietitians, we aren’t surprised that potatoes can be helpful in weight loss. After all, besides witnessing the weight loss results in our clients (who are thrilled to be told they can eat potatoes and lose weight!) here’s what we know:

• One medium-size (5.3 ounce) potato has just 110 calories and is fat-, sodium- and cholesterol-free.
• Potatoes are nutrient-dense, meaning you receive many nutrients for the amount of calories they have.
• Bite for bite potatoes are one of the foods that promote the most satiety but with the least amount of calories.
• On a fullness rating scale called the “satiety index” (SI) the highest SI score was produced by potatoes, which was more than three times the SI of white bread. FYI: Other foods ranking high in satiety after potatoes were fish, oat porridge, oranges, apples, wheat pasta, steak and baked beans.
• People mistakenly think that potatoes are fattening for these reasons:

1. Many people slather their baked potatoes in butter, sour cream, and other fatty condiments that add more calories to the potato than the potato itself. Add two tablespoons of butter (200 calories to a 5.3 skin-on baked potato (110 calories) and your 110 calorie potato is 310 calories loaded with artery clogging fat!
2. Many people are eating potato chips, not potatoes!!

That’s why we top our baked potatoes with nonfat Greek Yogurt, salsa or low-fat cheese! Yum!

Fun facts:

• Several of our clients who formerly binged late in the day who now eat a small baked potato (see: Chipotle Chayote Twice Baked Potatoes recipe below) no longer binge later in the day!
• You say POTAto, we say POTAssium. That’s because one medium-size (5.3 ounce) skin-on potato contains 620 mg of potassium; that’s more potassium than a banana to help reduce blood pressure and conquer stress
• Potatoes are an excellent source of vitamin C, providing nearly half (45 percent) of the recommended Daily Value so they can help boost your immune system to help fight off colds and flus.