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The Debunker: Are Most Nutrients in a Potato Really Found in the Skin?

by Ken Jennings

Great news, everyone—the Idaho Potato Commission has named February as its official Potato Lovers' Month! In the commission's own words, this is a time to "explore Idaho® Potato versatility from a different and exciting angle." Some of us in the other forty-nine states sadly don't get to take all of Potato Lovers' Month off work, like they probably do in Idaho, but we can celebrate in other ways. For example, we've asked Jeopardy!'s Ken Jennings, who lives in an Idaho-adjacent state, to correct any morsels of our potato knowledge that might be a little half-baked.

The Debunker: Are Most Nutrients in a Potato Really Found in the Skin?

Many of us still feel bad when we peel a fruit or a vegetable, remembering childhood warnings that "that's where the vitamins are!" It makes sense, in a roundabout way. Healthy things are usually unpleasant. The skin is the most unpleasant part of most produce. Therefore, that must also be the healthiest part. Q.E.D.

potatoooo

In fact, that's not true of potatoes. Let's back up. Contrary to popular belief, potatoes aren't just nutrient-free starch bombs. They're actually rich in fiber, protein, vitamins C and B6, and potassium. And an average-sized potato has only 110 calories. If you don't load them up with butter and sour cream, there are plenty of worse things you could do to your body than eat a lot of potatoes.

And does any of that nutrition get lost in the peeling? Not according to studies going back to Dutch scientists in the 1960s. Potato skins do contain about half of a spud's fiber, we now know, but everything else is richest in the flesh. (Do potatoes have flesh? Do we have a better word for "you know, the potato-ey inside part of a potato"?) Now if you boil a potato, you will lose some of its water-soluble nutrients, namely the B and C vitamins. Leaving the skins on can help a little, says the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization, but the real solution is to steam, braise, or roast your potatoes instead of boiling them. (My apologies to British readers for this insult to their national dish, mushy boiled vegetables.)

Quick Quiz: U.S. Army personnel on "K.P." are often depicted peeling potatoes. What does "K.P." stand for?

Ken Jennings is the author of eleven books, most recently his Junior Genius Guides, Because I Said So!, and Maphead. He's also the proud owner of an underwhelming Bag o' Crap. Follow him at ken-jennings.com or on Twitter as @KenJennings.