Is a potato a vegetable? There's no 'straightforward answer,' says nutritionist (2024)

FAQs

Is a potato a vegetable? There's no 'straightforward answer,' says nutritionist? ›

“A potato is not a vegetable from a nutrition point of view,” Lilian Cheung, lecturer of nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, tells CNBC Make It. “Potatoes almost behave like a refined carbohydrate. It increases your blood sugar.”

The Bottom Line

A potato is definitely a vegetable. Because it's considered a starchy vegetable, it's nutritionally different from other types of veggies — but that doesn't mean it's bad. If anything, white potatoes simply aren't veggies you necessarily need to prioritize for daily consumption.

Potatoes do contain important nutrients—vitamin C, potassium, and vitamin B6, to name a few. But the potato is not the only source of these nutrients, nor is it the best: Broccoli, for example, has nearly nine times as much vitamin C as a potato.

Now we've established that a potato is in fact botanically vegetable, we can confirm that they also belong to the carbohydrate group, one of the three main macronutrients in our diet.

“Thinking about what a vegetable really is, a potato does fall under that. It's just a starchy one,” says Porrazza. Vegetables are “the edible portion of a plant,” she adds, and tubers like potatoes fit that description. Botanically, potatoes are only vegetables because there isn't any other category for them, says Dr.

The potato still scores more wins than losses on nutrients. It yields about half the calcium and vitamin C of broccoli per acre and none of the vitamin A, but it has three times the iron, phosphorus and potassium.

Eating too many potatoes, especially deep-fried or laden with added fat and salt, can cause side effects such as raised blood sugar and blood pressure, despite potatoes being a good source of vitamins, minerals, and fiber.

Raw potatoes should be firm to the touch with tight skin that's free of large bruises, black spots, or other blemishes. If a potato has become soft or mushy, you should throw it out. Though it's normal for potatoes to smell earthy or nutty, a musty or moldy odor is a hallmark of spoilage.

It is argued that the single, most complete food a human needs to survive is human breast milk. Other foods may be nutritious but inevitably lack certain vitamins, minerals, etc.

2. Kale. Kale is a very popular leafy green vegetable with several health benefits.

What vegetable should I eat every day? ›

Healthy eating means consuming more dark green vegetables, such as broccoli, spinach, and other dark leafy greens. Include more red or orange vegetables, such as carrots, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and legumes, in your diet (dry beans and peas).

Potatoes don't count as vegetables in some dietary guidelines. There's speculation that potatoes may be reclassified as a grain in the upcoming Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2025–2030. Unlike green vegetables, potatoes are high in carbohydrates and starches. But they're also nutrient-dense and virtually fat-free.

Botanically speaking, a banana is both a berry and a fruit. (Remember, if it's a berry, it's also a fruit by default.) Here's the deal: The banana flower contains one ovary, which grows into a single banana. The banana also has a somewhat soft skin, juicy flesh, and many tiny seeds.

The rumors are true: Vegetables aren't real — that is, in botany, anyway. While the term fruit is recognized botanically as anything that contains a seed or seeds, vegetable is actually a broad umbrella term for many types of edible plants.

The Bottom Line. It is totally fine to eat potatoes every day. While how you prepare and cook potatoes and how much you eat could possibly impact your health, whole potatoes with skin are a nutritious vegetable with health benefits.

Technically, the traditional white potato contains all the essential amino acids you need to build proteins, repair cells, and fight diseases. And eating just five of them a day would get you there. However, if you sustained on white potatoes alone, you would eventually run into vitamin and mineral deficiencies.

Potatoes. Potatoes don't count towards your 5 A Day. This is the same for yams, cassava and plantain, too. They're classified nutritionally as a starchy food, because when they're eaten as part of a meal they're usually used in place of other sources of starch, such as bread, rice or pasta.

Forbes suggests that the potato be moved from its current “second class” status as a vegetable in the dietary pyramid to the base of the pyramid, noting that potatoes are an inexpensive source of energy and can prevent scurvy.