I adore potatoes. If I had to give up rice or potatoes it would be like asking me which of my children, if I had children, that I’d give up. Potatoes are versatile, and you can even eat them raw if you like*. One of the awful dirty secrets about potatoes is that they are susceptible to toxic overload from pesticides. The potato makes the Environmental Working Group’s dirty dozen list for fruit and veggies to avoid unless organic.

On the flip side non organic sweet potatoes make the Clean 15 list! This food organic or not has a lower incidence of pesticide residue. So when I’m at a restaurant picking between non organic potatoes or sweet potatoes, I’m going to go with the sweet potato. Also, sweet potatoes have a lower glycemic index than potatoes making them a better choice for keeping my blood sugar level.

This week I found a huge bag of organic potatoes (4 pounds) and sweet potatoes (3 pounds) at Trader Joe’s for less than $4 each. They will last me through the end of the month and I can rest assured I’m eating lower toxin foods.

*never eat a green potato raw or cooked! It can become toxic from photosynthesis.

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2009/Aug/05/1f5focusm195324-pros-and-cons-munching-raw-potatoe/

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/health/the-dirty-dozen-and-clean-15-of-produce/616/