Food & Fitness

   

Soaking potatoes before cooking may help to remove a minimal amount of the starch from potatoes. However, potatoes are primarily made up of starch, so you cannot remove all of it and they will still need to be counted as a high-carbohydrate food in a diabetes meal plan. 

Foods that contain carbohydrates will raise blood glucose if you have diabetes. However, this doesn’t mean that your father-in-law has to completely avoid all high-carbohydrate foods. Even people with diabetes need some carbohydrates in their diet since our brain’s main fuel source is glucose.

He can still enjoy mashed potatoes in portions that work with his meal plan – no need to worry about trying to remove the starch. If he uses the Plate Method to plan meals, he can fill about ¼ of a 9-inch plate with them, and enjoy them as a side dish along with some non-starchy vegetables and lean meat. Or, if he is carb counting, he should remember that there are about 15 grams of carbohydrate in ½ cup of mashed potatoes.

Sometimes, mashed potato recipes call for a large amount of added fat from butter, cream, or bacon. Look for recipes that do not call for these ingredients or try substituting these ingredients for healthier ones:

• Use 1% or skim milk instead of cream
• Use trans-free margarine or another “healthy fat” like olive oil instead of butter
• Skip the bacon or other added fatty meats
• Use pepper, garlic, and herbs to flavor up your mashed potatoes instead of salt
• Keep the skin on for a higher-fiber side dish

You may be interested in sharing this healthy recipe from diabetes.org with him for Mashed Potatoes.