Shire Baked Potatoes

The health benefits associated with regularly eating jacket potatoes are vast. They provide us with many of the vitamins, minerals and macronutrients we need for our bodies to function properly. Outlined below are just some of the things contained in a jacket potato and how they benefit us.

 

Calories One 10oz jacket potato with the skin left on contains only around 260 calories

 

Vitamin C is required to help form bones, teeth, muscle and skin. It also helps to maintain healthy blood vessels and gums. Vitamin C helps in resisting infection, in healing wounds and in iron absorption. A deficiency in vitamin C can lead to a medical condition called scurvy. One 10oz jacket potato contains 35% of an adults RDI.

 

Vitamin D  is required for the maintenance of healthy teeth and bones. A deficiency in vitamin D can result in bone deformities in children such as rickets, and cause painful conditions such as osteomalacia in adults.

 

Vitamin B-6 One 10oz jacket potato contains 65% of an adults RDI of vitamin B-6. This vitamin has several important functions including enabling the body to use and store energy from proteins and carbohydrates in food and also helps form haemoglobin, a key component of red blood cells responsible for their ability to carry oxygen around the body.

 

Thiamine  is a B vitamin which has many important functions in the body. It works with other B-group vitamins to help break down and release energy from food and also helps to keep nerves and muscle tissue healthy. A 10oz jacket potato contains more than 15% of an adults RDI for thiamine.

 

Niacin One 10oz jacket potato contains around 30% of an adults RDI. Niacin has numerous functions in the body including helping produce energy from the foods we eat and helping keep the nervous and digestive systems healthy.

 

Magnesium One 10oz jacket potato contains around 20% of an adults RDI of magnesium. Magnesium is important in the body as it helps turn the food we eat into energy and helps make sure the parathyroid glands, which produce hormones important for bone health, work normally.

 

Iron One 10oz jacket potato can provide enough iron for around 40% of adult males RDI and around 20% for an adult female. Iron has many important functions within the human body. For example iron is a key component of the protein haemoglobin, the component of red blood cells responsible for their oxygen carrying ability. A lack of iron in the diet can therefore lead to a condition known as iron deficiency anaemia, a condition where the organs and tissues receive less oxygen and can make you more susceptible to disease and infection.

 

Folate Jacket potatoes are one of the best sources of folate. Folate is a substance which is required by the body to make DNA and other genetic material. It is also required for cells to divide, and helps synthesise healthy red blood cells.

 

Potassium  can counter act the negative effects of excessive sodium and help regulate blood pressure. Guidelines released by the Institute of Medicine encourage consuming 4600mg of potassium every day and one 10oz baked potato can provide around 1500mg! Potassium is also important in the metabolism of carbohydrates, building muscle, maintaining normal body growth and heart function.

 

Fibre: One 10oz baked potato provides about 35% of the recommended daily fibre intake. Fibre is essential both for good digestion and for the absorption of other key nutrients from our food. It may also help prevent heart disease, diabetes, weight gain and certain cancers.