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I have recently started the gym and have been going bout 3-4 times a week mostly focusing on cardio.

I'm trying to eat more healthy and i'm quite picky with food, so I tend to have sandwhiches with usually chicken or ham for lunch and then jacket potatoes for tea.

I eat jacket potatoes everyday with a small amount of cheese, as I don't like any other filling. I sometimes have chicken breast with them too.

Would eating them everyday make it more unhealthy than healthy? Am trying to lose weight, so would this help?

Jacket Potatoes are the only food I can think of which I like which are actually "healthy".

I understand I should have a balanced diet but as i'm very picky with food its hard to have a range, without just eating junk food.

Appreciate any advice :).

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For others like me who were left befuddled: "Jacket Potatoes" are also known as "Baked Potatoes". – GWLlosa Feb 15 '12 at 21:23

closed as off topic by Ivo Flipse♦ Feb 22 '12 at 18:40

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2 Answers

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Potatoes, like corn are a very starchy food. As a result it has a higher carbohydrate content than green vegetables and other foods that are known to be more healthy for you. According to Self Nutrition Data potatoes have a decent amount of vitamins, and the proteins it has (while not much) are complete.

That said, the glycemic load is what you want to be careful of while losing weight, as well as for general health. The Self Nutrition Data site suggests that having a glycemic load above 100 for the day is unhealthy. Lowering that to about 90 would be even better. That guideline will give you plenty of energy, without overdoing it.

Now, you are not the only picky eater I know. You may need to explore some options to open your pallet up, which will give you healthier foods and a bit more variety:

  • It takes up to two weeks to develop a taste for something. That's anything from black coffee to sardines. If you find a preparation you can live with during that two weeks, you will find yourself wanting it more often.
  • Choose to have something you don't like as much, and reward yourself with something you like. For example, if you have a portion of broccoli on your plate along with a portion of potatoes you will be on your way to eating healthier.
  • Experiment with different preparations. There are thousands of recipes out there, and more you haven't tried that you might really like.
  • Develop a habit of trying a food you've never tried before once a week. If you don't like it, you don't like it. But you won't have to be afraid of food. Most picky eaters I know tend to refuse to try anything new and are a slave to what they know they like. Be adventurous, regularly, but not so much you're afraid to eat.
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Thanks for the advice ! =) – Elliott Aug 6 '11 at 13:58
up vote 3 down vote

A recent study associated potato consumption with weight gain of one or more pounds per year, depending on how the potatoes were prepared: Mozaffarian D. Tao Hao PH. Rimm EB.Willett WC. Hu PH. Hu FB. Changes in diet and lifestyle and long-term weight gain in women and men. N Engl J Med. 2011;364(25):2392-2404.

On the other hand, potatoes are a whole food that is considered a staple food by many cultures, so it's hard to say that they are unhealthy.

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+1 for the journal entry, but I have to pick on the second part of your answer. Being a cultural staple means that potatoes have been historically abundant, not that they are healthy; there are plenty of unhealthy cultures. – Greg♦ Aug 3 '11 at 20:56
What long term staple of a culture is unhealthy? When a country eats something for hundreds or thousands of years, I think we adapt. You can't deny that the potato is a whole food, and there is more to health than weight. Anyway, I think I made it clear that the second paragraph was opinion. – michael Aug 3 '11 at 23:55
Thousands maybe. I think hundreds of years is too short a time to adapt, otherwise we'd have adapted to white flour and sugar by now. Just speculating here in any case; guessing that Paleo acolytes would claim that thousands of years isn't enough time. Regarding the potato as a whole food, I think that most people don't eat the skin of a baked (jacket) potato, which has some fiber to help slow down the effect of the concentrated starch inside (not to mention other nutrients). – Greg♦ Aug 4 '11 at 2:01
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@michael!! potatoes are a brand new food. they were unknown until 1600, and only became popular in 1800. just like sugar, chocolate, coffee, corn, white flour, etc - a highly novel, brand new food. Totally unknown to humans until a blink ago! – Joe Blow Aug 4 '11 at 19:53
"they were domesticated 7,000–10,000 years ago" according to wikipedia. In any case, they are nothing like sugar and white flour, in that they are not processed and they are made of the same building blocks as other plants the body is very familiar with. Although most people do not eat leaves, I suspect your body would recognize them if you tried to eat them. – michael Aug 4 '11 at 20:04
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