You can make mashed potatoes a number of ways, although most recipes contain potatoes, milk (which can be whole, skim or low fat) and butter or margarine. Potatoes supply a number of vitamins along with minerals and fiber, especially if you eat the skin.
Vitamin C
The average potato supplies 45 percent of your recommended daily requirement of vitamin C, the Washington State Potato Commission states. Vitamin C, a water-soluble vitamin, serves as an antioxidant, meaning it destroys free radicals, harmful by-products of food breakdown. Vitamin C also repairs tissue and helps form collagen, which builds blood vessels, ligaments, tendons, skin and scar tissue. While all vegetables contain vitamin C, white potatoes are one of the best sources, MedlinePlus reports. The RDA of vitamin C is 90 milligrams for men and 75 mg for women over age 19.
Vitamin B-Complex
Vitamin B-complex includes thiamine, or B1; niacin or B3; pantothenic acid, B5; pyridoxine, B6; biotin, B7; folic acid, B9; and cobalamin, or B12. B vitamins serve a number of functions within your body, including growth and development and energy production. One potato, mashed, contains 10 percent of your RDA for B6, 8 percent for B1 and B3, 6 percent for B9 and 2 percent of B2.
Vitamin A
Although potatoes themselves contain no vitamin A, mashing them with milk adds 138 International Units, or IU of the vitamin to a serving, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports. Since men over age 19 require 3,000 IU of vitamin A and women need 2,333 IU, mashed potatoes supply a fraction of your RDA for vitamin A, less than 5 percent for men and just under 6 percent for women. Vitamin A helps form teeth, skin and bones and also protects the eyes against certain diseases.
Vitamin D
Although potatoes have no vitamin D, mashing them with milk adds vitamin D if you use vitamin-D fortified milk. One serving of mashed potatoes contains 10 IU of vitamin D, necessary for building bones. The RDA for vitamin D is 200 IU for men and women between the ages of 19 and 51, and 400 IU for those over age 51.
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