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Are potatoes healthy? What the nutrition data and the big studies say

Potatoes get blamed for a lot, but most of the evidence points at how they’re cooked. Here’s what’s in a medium potato, how sweet and white compare, what large studies found on fries, and how to cook them well.

By the Nourish & Strong teamBuilt from 14 sources7 min read
Two baked potatoes split open with butter and black pepper on a white plate, beside a dish of sliced roasted sweet potato, a halved avocado, a bowl of spinach, white beans and a bunch of bananas on a wooden table

The short answer: yes, potatoes are healthy when they’re baked, boiled or roasted with little added fat. A medium baked potato with skin has about 940mg of potassium, 22mg of vitamin C and 3.6g of fiber for around 160 calories. Fries are the problem. In large US studies, fries were linked to higher diabetes risk, while baked, boiled and mashed potatoes were not.

The full picture has a few more layers, including the glycemic index, the skin and a useful trick with leftovers.

Are potatoes good for you?

Potatoes are good for you as a source of potassium, vitamin C and fiber, with almost no fat when you cook them plainly. Here’s a medium potato in USDA data, with fast-food fries for comparison:

Food (USDA medium portion)CaloriesCarbsFiberPotassiumVitamin CFat
White potato, baked with skin (173g)15937g3.6g941mg22mg0.3g
Red potato, baked with skin (173g)15134g3.1g943mg22mg0.3g
Russet potato, baked with skin (173g)16437g4.0g952mg14mg0.2g
Sweet potato, baked in skin (114g)10324g3.8g542mg22mg0.2g
Fast-food fries, medium (117g)36549g4.4g677mg6mg17.2g

USDA’s medium sweet potato weighs less, which is why its numbers look smaller. For context, MedlinePlus lists adult potassium needs at 2,600mg a day for women and 3,400mg for men, so one baked potato covers about a third of a woman’s daily amount. Adults need 75mg to 90mg of vitamin C a day. Our list of foods high in potassium shows how potatoes rank.

Harvard’s Nutrition Source notes that potassium is lost during wet cooking methods such as boiling. If you have kidney disease, MedlinePlus says to avoid eating too many potassium-rich foods, so ask your care team how potatoes fit.

Which is healthier, sweet potato or white potato?

Neither sweet nor white potato is clearly healthier: each wins on different nutrients. Per 100g in USDA data, baked sweet potato has more fiber (3.3g against 2.1g) and more sugar (6.5g against 1.5g), while white potato has more potassium (544mg against 475mg). The big gap is vitamin A. A medium sweet potato has about 1,096mcg, more than the daily RDA of 700mcg for women and 900mcg for men, while a white potato has almost none. MedlinePlus says beta-carotene from vegetables won’t make you seriously ill, though large amounts can tint your skin yellow or orange.

Boiled sweet potato also has a lower average glycemic index than boiled white potato, 63 against 78. Eating both, on different days, gets you the best of each.

What is the glycemic index of potatoes?

Most potatoes have a high glycemic index (GI), meaning they raise blood sugar quickly, but the number swings with the variety and how you cook it. GI is ranked against pure glucose: 55 or less is low and 70 or more is high. These figures come from a North American potato study and the 2008 international GI tables:

PotatoGlycemic index
Red potatoes, boiled, eaten hot89
Instant mashed potatoes87 to 88
White potato, boiled (average)78
Russet potato, baked77
White potato, roasted72
Sweet potato, boiled (average)63
French fries (average)63
Red potatoes, boiled, eaten cold56

Fries score lower than boiled potatoes, yet they come out worse in the studies below, so GI alone doesn’t tell you what’s healthy. What you eat with a potato matters too. Harvard says healthy fats such as olive oil slow how fast its glucose is absorbed. If you’re watching your blood sugar, our guide to normal blood sugar levels explains the numbers. Harvard’s Healthy Eating Plate doesn’t count potatoes toward your vegetables, because of their effect on blood sugar.

Are french fries bad for you?

French fries are the one form of potato consistently linked to health problems in large studies. A medium fast-food serving has 17g of fat and 246mg of sodium, against almost no fat in a plain baked potato. Here’s what the research found:

  • Diabetes, BMJ 2025: among 205,107 US adults followed for decades, each extra 3 servings of fries a week was linked to 20% higher type 2 diabetes risk. Baked, boiled and mashed potatoes together showed no meaningful link. Swapping 3 weekly servings of fries for whole grains was tied to 19% lower risk. Swapping baked, boiled or mashed potatoes for white rice was tied to higher risk.
  • Blood pressure, BMJ 2016: in the same three cohorts, eating fries 4 or more times a week was linked to 17% higher risk of high blood pressure, compared with less than once a month. Baked, boiled or mashed potatoes showed an 11% higher risk, a result that could have been chance, though the authors counted both as linked.
  • Mortality, 2017: in 4,440 adults followed for 8 years, eating fried potatoes 2 to 3 times a week was linked to about double the risk of dying during the study. Unfried potatoes showed no link.

These are observational studies based on food questionnaires, so they show links, not cause. Still, they point the same way. If you love fries, make them an occasional food and see our guide to the healthiest cooking oil for frying at home.

Does cooling potatoes create resistant starch?

Yes, cooling cooked potatoes increases their resistant starch, a type of starch your small intestine doesn’t digest. Harvard says boiling and then cooling fresh potatoes raises it, and that baked and microwaved potatoes generally have more than boiled ones. A 2016 lab study found the same pattern: baked beat boiled, and chilled potatoes had more resistant starch than hot or reheated ones. A 2020 review of US foods confirmed that cooked-then-chilled foods carry more.

Does it change blood sugar? Partly. In the North American study, red potatoes eaten cold had a GI of 56, against 89 hot. Cooked, chilled and reheated Russets also raised blood sugar less than freshly cooked ones, but precooking made no difference for boiled white potatoes. So a cold potato salad is a sensible swap, though it won’t turn potatoes into a low-carb food. The same idea applies to rice, covered in our guide to whether white rice is healthy.

What is the healthiest way to cook potatoes?

The healthiest ways to cook potatoes are baking, boiling, steaming or microwaving them with the skin on and little added fat. A few habits make the biggest difference:

  • Keep the skin. Per 100g in USDA data, baked potato skin has 7.9g of fiber, against 1.5g in the flesh.
  • Roast lightly. Harvard’s recipe for homemade fries brushes wedges with olive oil and bake them in a single layer.
  • Mind the heat. The FDA says frying, roasting and baking can form acrylamide, a chemical that caused cancer in animals at very high doses. Longer, hotter cooking forms more, and boiling and steaming don’t typically form it.
  • Make extra and chill it. Leftover boiled or baked potatoes become potato salad or a cold side the next day.
  • Fill the rest of the plate. In the blood pressure study, replacing a daily serving of potatoes with non-starchy vegetables was linked to lower risk. Add protein and greens, as in our healthy dinner ideas.
  • Store them well. Harvard advises a cool, dark, dry place with air flow, and not the fridge, where moisture can cause spoilage.

Your next step

Pick one potato meal you eat often and make one change this week: swap fries for a baked potato with the skin on, or boil extra for a cold salad. A baked potato is also a handy pre-training food, as our guide to what to eat before a workout shows. If you’d like more ideas for building balanced plates, our guide to what to eat during menopause pairs well with four weeks of planned high-protein meals.

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Quick questions

Is potato skin good for you?

Yes, potato skin is the most fiber-rich part of the potato. In USDA data, 100g of baked potato skin has 7.9g of fiber, against 1.5g in the same weight of flesh. Scrub the potato well and cook it with the skin on to keep that fiber.

Are potatoes good for diabetics?

People with diabetes can eat potatoes, but portion size and cooking method matter. Most potatoes have a high glycemic index, though red potatoes eaten cold scored 56 in one study, against 89 hot. Baked, boiled and mashed potatoes weren’t linked to diabetes risk in a 2025 BMJ study, while fries were.

Is a baked potato healthier than rice?

A baked potato with skin has more potassium, vitamin C and fiber than a cup of white rice. In the 2025 BMJ study, replacing baked, boiled or mashed potatoes with white rice was linked to higher diabetes risk, while replacing them with whole grains was linked to lower risk.

Do potatoes have protein?

Potatoes have a little protein, about 3.6g to 4.5g in a medium baked potato with skin in USDA data. That’s useful but small, so pair a potato with a protein food such as cottage cheese, eggs, fish or beans to make a filling meal.

Why are potatoes bad for you?

How potatoes are cooked matters more than the potato itself. Large studies link fries to higher risk of type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and death, while plain baked, boiled or mashed potatoes show weaker or no links. High-heat frying also forms more acrylamide, the FDA says.

This article is general information, not medical advice. If you have diabetes, kidney disease or high blood pressure, ask your doctor or a registered dietitian how potatoes fit your eating plan, and don’t change any medicine without talking to your care team.

Sources