THE IMPORTANCE OF POTATOES

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXIII, 15 June 1940, Page 3

THE IMPORTANCE OF POTATOES

(By Sister Evans, N.D.) The potato is an important food, it is easy to prepare, it is easy to take daily. It contains about 2 per cent of protein and 20 per cent of carbohydrates. Sir Herman Weber states that the potato contains asparagin, a protein saver. This asparagin is valuable in the intestines, as it counteracts putrefaction of protein. All warnings, spoken and written, which we have recently heard about meat and potatoes being a dangerous combination are sheer nonsense. The potato is universal and will combine with almost any food. It is also rich in iron, containing twice as much as the banana. Among root vegetables the potato is the best provider of vitamin C, owing to its cheapness. Potatoes should never be peeled, either before or after cooking as most of the protein and or potash lie next to the outer skin. There is also a small percentage of iodine content under the skin —on the wrong side of the skin so to speak. Thus you see the valuable material which you deny yourself when you peel potatoes. The skin when taken inside the body acts as a broom for the large intestine, not only cleansing but also absorbing poisons as blotting paper would absorb ink. Scrub your potatoes well under running water with a brush used only for

vegetables; dry and place on your oven slide. This is economical as a low fire will suffice. Leave them for about an hour and a half, then take them out open, add plenty of butter and a pinch of salt and you have a meal fit for the gods. Sir Wilfred Grenfell found beriberi developing among the polar folk, and on investigation found these people had fallen intc the error of our ways, that of peeling potatoes. When they returned to their habit of eating the potato skins they recovere '. ARE POTATOES FATTENING? Many women tell me t> y never eat potatoes, because potatoes are fattening and they are anxious to reduce their weight. Sheer nonsense! Now let us settle the question by looking at the caloric value of the potato (calories are food measurements inside thi body, something like inch measurements outside the body). Well, one ounce of potatoes equals 28 calories and one ounce of bread equals 84. Yet these misguided folk omit potatoes from their diet and increase their bread ration. A baked potato is digested in half the time required for the digestion of a slice of bread. It is the minerals and vitamins of which the potatf is the provider, that place it high in the scale of food values. In Ireland and Denmark the peasant folk have lived on potatoes and buttermilk and enjoyed good health and produced children free from rickets. Australia and New Zealand would do well to increase their potato ration, the quantity consumed being only half that of Great Britain per head of the population.