Potato Problem

I would like to discuss a vegetable that has been through enough.

The potato.

The potato has been baked, boiled, mashed, scalloped, fried, chipped, smothered in cheese, drowned in gravy and blamed for approximately everything that has ever gone wrong with carbohydrates.

And when you start trying to improve your blood sugar, it can feel as though someone immediately arrives with a clipboard:

POTATOES? Absolutely not. Hand them over.

But do I really need to give up potatoes forever? Thankfully, no. I do, however, need to acknowledge something the potato would probably prefer we didn’t discuss.

THE POTATO: I am a vegetable.

Yes.

THE POTATO: Excellent. Meeting adjourned.

Not so fast.

You’re also a starchy vegetable.

THE POTATO: I would like an attorney.

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Potatoes Have Carbohydrates. This Is Not Breaking News.

Potatoes contain quite a bit of starch, and that starch is broken down into glucose. So if you’re watching your blood sugar, potatoes aren’t nutritionally interchangeable with vegetables like zucchini, mushrooms, green beans or bok choy. Those vegetables can generally occupy a big chunk of my plate without contributing nearly as much carbohydrate.

A potato needs a little more planning.

But “contains carbohydrate” and “must never pass my lips again” are two very different statements.

The American Diabetes Association says starchy foods, including potatoes, can be part of a healthy meal plan. Portion size matters because these foods contain more carbohydrate and will raise blood glucose.

That sounds considerably more reasonable than banishment.

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So How Much Potato Are We Talking About?

This is where I am learning that portion changes the conversation. There’s a difference between having some potato with dinner and constructing Mount Mashed Potato in the center of the plate.

One practical way to think about a meal is to give roughly:

• Half the plate to non-starchy vegetables
• One quarter to protein
• One quarter to your carbohydrate or starchy food

If potato is occupying that carbohydrate section, I probably don’t also need a dinner roll, rice, corn and dessert joining it for a carbohydrate family reunion. The potato can come. It just doesn’t need to bring everybody it knows.

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A Potato Is Not a French Fry

This one seems obvious, but it’s worth saying. A plain potato starts out with very little fat and provides nutrients including potassium, vitamin C, vitamin B6 and some fiber, particularly when you eat the skin.

Then humans get involved. We cut it into strips. Deep-fry it. Salt it. Possibly cover it with cheese. Dip it in something creamy.

And announce:

“See? Potatoes are terrible for you.”

The potato has grounds for defamation.

How we prepare potatoes matters. In fact, a large long-term study published in 2025 found an important difference: greater French-fry consumption was associated with a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, while baked, boiled and mashed potatoes weren’t associated with that same increased risk in the study.

That does NOT mean I now have medical authorization to consume unlimited mashed potatoes.

Nice try.

But it does reinforce something important:

Food preparation matters.

A baked potato and a giant restaurant order of French fries both came from potatoes. They are not nutritionally identical meals.

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What About Sweet Potatoes?

Ah, the sweet potato. For years I somehow absorbed the message that sweet potatoes were the morally superior cousin of regular potatoes.

SWEET POTATO: I attended private school.

Settle down.

Sweet potatoes really are nutritious. They’re a good source of fiber, potassium and several vitamins, and orange-fleshed sweet potatoes are particularly rich in beta-carotene, which our bodies can convert to vitamin A.

They’re wonderful food. But here’s the part that surprised me:

Sweet potatoes still contain plenty of carbohydrate.

They can still raise blood glucose. So replacing a giant regular potato with a giant sweet potato doesn’t make carbohydrate disappear.

This is another place where portion matters. And if my sweet potato arrives under three inches of marshmallows, brown sugar and butter, we have perhaps wandered away from the original nutritional argument.

SWEET POTATO: But technically I’m still underneath.

You are. Somewhere.

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WAIT. THERE ARE PURPLE POTATOES?

This is where things get interesting. There are actual purple potatoes, and there are also purple-fleshed sweet potatoes. And no, they are not the same thing.

Purple potatoes belong to the same botanical family as ordinary white potatoes. Purple sweet potatoes are varieties of sweet potato. And then there are true yams, which are something else entirely.

The produce department has apparently been operating without adequate supervision.

Purple Potatoes

Purple potatoes have a nutritional profile broadly similar to other potatoes, but their gorgeous purple color comes from plant compounds called anthocyanins. Those are antioxidant pigments also found in foods like blueberries, blackberries and red cabbage. Some purple potato varieties may also have a somewhat gentler effect on blood glucose than certain white potatoes.

But—and this is important—

Purple does not cancel starch.

It’s still a potato. I can’t eat a mixing bowl full of purple potatoes and announce that antioxidants have rendered the carbohydrates legally inadmissible.

Purple Sweet Potatoes

Purple sweet potatoes contain anthocyanins too, while orange sweet potatoes are particularly rich in beta-carotene.

So instead of thinking:

Which potato is THE HEALTHIEST POTATO?

I’m beginning to think:

Hey, these are different foods with different plant compounds. Maybe variety is a good thing.

Orange sweet potato sometimes.

Purple sweet potato sometimes.

A little regular potato sometimes.

And approximately seventeen pounds of zucchini because apparently zucchini has acquired squatter’s rights in my refrigerator.

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Here’s Something Else Interesting: Let It Chill

Apparently even potatoes can benefit from spending some time in the refrigerator contemplating their behavior. When cooked potatoes cool, some of their starch changes into what’s called resistant starch.

Resistant starch isn’t digested in exactly the same way as ordinary starch, and cooling cooked potatoes can reduce their glycemic impact somewhat.

This does NOT transform refrigerated potato salad into a diabetes medication.

Please don’t make me explain that to my doctor.

But it does mean that cooking potatoes, cooling them and eating them later—such as in a reasonable portion of potato salad or reheated leftovers—can change the way some of that starch behaves.

Food science is weird.

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What I Eat WITH the Potato Matters Too

This may be the biggest practical lesson for me.

Suppose dinner is:

Giant baked potato.

That’s mostly a carbohydrate event.

But suppose dinner is:

Chicken

• a big helping of green beans and mushrooms
• a modest portion of potato
• perhaps a little olive oil or another source of fat

Now I’ve built a meal containing protein, non-starchy vegetables and fat along with the carbohydrate.

That is a very different plate. And it also satisfies something important:

I actually got to eat the potato.

Because I’m trying to learn how to eat in a way I can continue doing. Not for eleven days. Not until I get aggravated. Not until somebody puts French fries in front of me and I abandon civilization.

For real life.

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I Don’t Want to Be Afraid of Food

This may be the most important part.

I’m working on my blood sugar.

I’m learning about carbohydrates.

I’m paying attention to portions.

I’m experimenting with vegetables I had never cooked before.

I’m walking more.

I’m making changes.

But I don’t want all of that to turn into a giant list of foods I’m frightened to eat. Potatoes don’t need to be an everyday centerpiece for me. French fries probably shouldn’t become a food group. And yes, portions matter.

But I can occasionally put some potato on my plate and enjoy it.

Maybe I’ll try a purple one.

Maybe I’ll roast a small sweet potato.

Maybe I’ll make some little potatoes with olive oil, garlic and pepper.

And maybe I’ll eat them beside a ridiculous amount of vegetables because apparently I am now a woman who voluntarily purchases bok choy.

Life comes at you fast.

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A Statement From the Potato Family

WHITE POTATO: We appreciate finally being permitted to respond to the allegations.

SWEET POTATO: I would like the record to reflect my beta-carotene.

PURPLE POTATO: I have anthocyanins.

WHITE POTATO: Oh, here we go.

PURPLE SWEET POTATO: I am also purple.

ME: This is getting confusing.

TRUE YAM: Hello.

ME: WHO INVITED YOU?

ZUCCHINI: Does this mean I’m not cooking tonight?

ME: Get back in the refrigerator.

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The lesson I’m taking from all of this isn’t:

Potatoes are good.

And it isn’t:

Potatoes are bad.

It’s something considerably less dramatic:

Potatoes are food.

They’re a starchy carbohydrate with some useful nutrients. Different varieties bring somewhat different nutrients and plant compounds. Preparation matters. Portion matters. What else is on the plate matters.

And French fries are not nutritionally identical to the potato that innocently entered the restaurant that morning.

So no.

I don’t have to give up potatoes.

I just have to stop asking the potato to be something it isn’t.

THE POTATO: A non-starchy vegetable?

Exactly.

THE POTATO: Fine. But I’m keeping my skin on.

Good idea.

The science behind the post is solid: potatoes provide potassium, vitamin C, B6 and some fiber; Harvard notes that purple potatoes contain anthocyanins and may have a slightly lower glycemic load than white potatoes, while sweet potatoes remain a significant source of carbohydrate despite their nutritional benefits. Cooling cooked potatoes also increases resistant starch.