Because they are often fried or consumed with butter, potatoes are frequently overlooked as a nutritious side dish. However, if you use a healthy cooking method, such as baking, and eat the entire potato, including the skin, a red potato can add fiber, vitamins and minerals to your meal.
Carbohydrates
One medium baked red potato with skin contains 154 calories, nearly all of which come from carbohydrates. One red potato contains 33.9 g of carbohydrates, which account for 136 of the 154 calories. Most of the carbohydrates in one red potato are starch, which is a complex carbohydrate that your body must break down before it can use it as a source of energy.
Fiber
Fiber, another complex carbohydrate, is also found in red potatoes, with one medium potato containing 3.1 g. The Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion recommends adults consume 14 g of fiber per 1,000 calories ingested. Based on these recommendations, if you consume 2,000 calories per day, you would need 28 g of fiber. The fiber in one red potato provides 11 percent of this amount.
Protein
One medium red potato contains 4 g of protein, which provide only 16 calories. This 4 g of protein supplies less than 10 percent of the dietary reference intake, or DRI, for protein, but if you were to eat a potato with a 3 oz. of steak, the protein content of the meal would reach 30 g of protein, which is more than half of the DRI. Dietary reference intakes are the recommended amounts for each nutrient per day by the Institute of Medicine.
Fat
Red potatoes contain very little fat, with one medium potato containing only .3 g. However, if you add 1 tbsp. of butter, the fat content increases to 11.8 g, which adds nearly 100 calories to the potato. Adding butter to the potato also adds more than 7 g of saturated fat.
Sodium
If you eat red potatoes plain, they are low sodium, as one potato contains only 21 mg. However, most people add salt and butter to potatoes, which increases the sodium content. Adding just two dashes of salt and 1 tbsp. of butter increases the sodium content to more than 400 mg, which is close to 20 percent of the recommended maximum amount per day.
Minerals
Although low in sodium, red potatoes contain many other essential minerals. One medium potato supplies 47 percent of the DRI for potassium, which is necessary for proper heart and muscle function. One medium potato also provides more than 10 percent of the DRI for magnesium, phosphorus, copper and manganese.
Vitamins
Potatoes are low in fat-soluble vitamins, but they do contain significant amounts of some water-soluble vitamins. One medium red potato supplies more than 20 percent of the DRI for vitamin C, which is essential for wound healing and tissue repair. One medium potato also provides 28 percent of the DRI for B-6 and more than 10 percent of the DRI for thiamin, niacin, pantothenic acid and folate.
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