Young potatoes: for and against

Take caution with the young potatoes. The damage from the excess of nitrates outweighs all the advantages of this product.

Young potatoes came to our shops from the southern edges. Many people eat and praise her. Others believe that it is harmful - in particular, with type 2 diabetes. Still others believe that it should be cooked in a special way, otherwise the money is wasted ... And how things really are?

About diabetes

Any potato, regardless of its age, is harmful or useful for a diabetic, depending on how it is cooked. And the point here is in this. Potato tubers are rich in starch, which is very useful for diabetics carbohydrates. They are digested in the intestine slowly, enter the blood for a long time and increase the sugar relatively slightly. And now attention!

Starch significantly changes its properties depending on the culinary processing. Therefore, the sugar-raising effect of different dishes from potatoes is significantly different. Mashed potatoes, and even more so cooked in oil, not water, is one of the most dangerous products for diabetics. It raises blood sugar just like honey and Coca-Cola. And boiled potatoes, especially young, are among the most useful products. Its influence on blood glucose is comparable to fruit juices without sugar or bran bread. The advantages of the "young tubers" for diabetics is this. Although starch in them is less than in old, but early potatoes are rich in other carbohydrates, even more slowly digestible than starch.

Dangers

Treat with caution to young potatoes, cabbage, beets, garlic of a new crop, which are imported to us from the southern countries in April-May! What seems to be a receptacle of use, can do much harm. They are "kicked out" in a hurry, as a rule, at the expense of shock doses of fertilizers. Therefore, in early spring vegetables, nitrates are usually more than in those that have remained since the last harvest. In addition, because of lack of sun and heat, root crops and cabbage do not get many vitamins. So I do not advise to fight with spring avitaminosis with the help of such vegetables.

So, having weighed the "all" for and against the May potatoes, experts do not recommend using it to diabetics, as well as other patients with chronic diseases, as well as pregnant and lactating women. Harm from an excess of nitrates outweighs all the advantages of such a product. By the way, much more useful and safe sources of "spring vitamins" are our first May greens: dill, parsley, onion, nettle, dandelion spinach and other plants. As for imported young potatoes at the end of spring, experts recommend waiting for the harvest of our middle belt in late July-August.

Simple recipes, following which the level of nitrates in young potatoes can be reduced even more. The potato has the most nitrates in the peel. But since the most useful substances of these roots are concentrated close to it, then it should be scraped as carefully as possible. And even better to wash the tubers well. However, young potatoes can be cooked in a uniform if you have taken several "anti-neutral measures".

1. Keep the young potatoes in the refrigerator, since at low temperatures it is impossible to convert nitrates into more toxic substances - nitrites.
2. To reduce the content of nitrates in young potatoes by another 20-25%, it is enough to store these vegetables in water for 30-40 minutes before cooking.
3. During the cooking of potatoes, most of the nitrates pass into the water in the first 30-40 minutes, and the tubers lose up to 80% of nitrates with this treatment. However, the longer the potatoes are brewed, the more together with the nitrates in the boiling water, the valuable substances will also move: vitamins and mineral salts. In a word, take pity on the young potatoes, do not cook it longer than 30-40 minutes.
4. Potato salads and juices eat and drink freshly prepared. Their long storage at room temperature promotes the multiplication of microflora, which converts nitrates into nitrites. Multiple change of temperature (from the refrigerator to the table and back) will only intensify this process.
5. For potato salads it is better to use vegetable oil, and not mayonnaise and sour cream. In these supplements, if in time not to remove such dishes in the refrigerator, the microflora is actively developing.

The young potatoes of the first harvest appearing on Ukrainian shelves at the end of spring are usually small, condescendingly called "peas" by buyers. But how useful it is! Although starch in it is less than in the old, but it is more saturated with bioflavonoid substances, strengthening the walls of blood vessels, and most importantly - vitamin C, and also from group B and PP. And the younger the tuber, the more it contains trace elements, especially magnesium, calcium, zinc, iron.

Proteins of potatoes, in comparison with other vegetables, are the most complete. They have all the essential amino acids. That is, the potato proteins are very similar to animals. Before cooking, young and old potatoes contain about the same number of proteins, both in quantity and in quality. But after cooking, older tubers lose most of their protein, as it is removed along with the cut "under the skin layer." Cooking is the same old potatoes in the uniform of nutritionists categorically do not recommend. If you disregard this advice, then the proteins will not be lost, but one old tuber will give the consumer as much nitrate as a whole plate of "youth."

How to crop

Although they say, "young green", meaning that this is how it should be in life, this does not apply to young potatoes. Never miss a tuber with green spots and "eyes".

Carefully cut them. So the carcinogenic substance solanine shows its presence. Choose a young potato should be right. Tubers should be solid, even, uniformly colored. Green sides mean that the product was stored in the light and accumulated solanine. In short, the faster you use May potatoes, the better, and this applies to any early vegetables.

How to cook

The best way to prepare young potatoes is to cook on moderate heat, with the lid closed, in a small amount of water, not more than half of the volume of tubers. Throwing potatoes should be in boiling water - this will preserve vitamin C. Young potatoes are poorly suited for frying. She does not like to brown and turns tough. But puree and fritters from it are no worse than from the old one.