Green potatoes

I always wondered about potatoes green under the skin.

Does this Snopes article deal with all-green, or just under skin?

Anybody have the skinny on this?

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HB

Reply to
Higgs Boson
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I've never seen a potato turn green other than just under the skin. The green flesh is poisonous, but it would take a large amount to cause harm. We usually just peel them a bit deeper.

Reply to
Steve Peek

Go here:

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Reply to
George Shirley

To me, that means the potato is safe if the green is localized to the skin. We have never gotten ill from such potatoes even though we generally eat the skins.

Also, with potatoes that have started to sprout but are still firm, we remove the sprouts and then cook and eat the potatoes without suffering any harm.

Reply to
David E. Ross

I'm with you, though I don't usually eat skins, but not because of greenfear.

Sometimes I carve out some flesh along with sprout, harden it off a day or so, then plant. Have some coming up now. This time will harvest YOUNG, as I'm becoming addicted to those baby potatoes one can buy for $$.

HB

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Reply to
Higgs Boson

I have never seen a potato that was green all the way through, it seems to me to be unlikely to ever happen as the green is chlorophyll which is only useful if exposed to light.

Snaopes have it right, you would have to eat a great deal of tater to get ill. Another useful test is that nearly all alkaloids are very bitter and solanine is one such, if your spuds don't taste at all bitter then there is no problem.

Keep in mind that many plants have toxins in them to ward off animals (like us) who would feed on them. This is a perfectly normal state of affairs and if you take normal precautions you will come to no harm. In some cases (eg chilli) we prize the defensive mechanism!

D
Reply to
David Hare-Scott

As potatoes sprout, the starch starts to turn to sugar, which could mask the bitterness of the solanine. However, if the potato is still very firm, that conversion is not very far along.

Reply to
David E. Ross

This is very conservative advice. I have eaten many potatoes (after peeling) that were green under the skin and never tasted any solanine nor suffered any ill effects. But if it suits you to lay in bed at night fretting about the next chemical attack upon your person then plant your green taters.

D
Reply to
David Hare-Scott

Where are these droves of people suffering solanine poisoning from potatoes? Are there any cases at all reported? You would think that there would be some evidence other than the theoretical possibility if it was a widespread real issue.

D
Reply to
David Hare-Scott

Hi Higgs,

Solanaceae!

Spent weeks on those critters in my college Economic Botany class.

Potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant are all members of the Solanaceae family, commonly know as the "nightshade" family.

All Solanaceaes produce a poison called "belladonna". Some call it "Solanine".

Here is a good reference on Solanaceae:

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Now the good new is that some enterprising humans in our past hybridized reduced the poison out of the fruits and the tubers. DO NOT, DO NOT eat the leaves. The leaves are still poisonous.

Now for green potatoes, just peal off the green. What little belladonna you get won't hurt you. The green should only be skin deep. If they are green all the way through, toss them.

The green comes from exposure to light. Store them in a dark place. Out in the open, under florescent lights at the supermarket, will accelerate the greening up of potatoes.

Speaking of hurting you, those same enterprising humans also increased the carbohydrate levels of potatoes to unnatural levels not found it nature. You are much more likely to get T2 Diabetes from them (1 out 6 chance) than to get nightshade poisoning.

And, folks who eat a lot of nightshades do start to build up a small resistance to belladonna. (You don't get resistant to the excess carbs, unfortunately.)

Oh! If you like little potatoes, you must (friend for a suggestion, not a command) try "Dintje". They were my favorite! I was thinking of growing them before the Diabetes.

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I use to love my potatoes as hash browns fried in butter with Rosemary. I will live vicariously through you.

-T

Reply to
Todd

This is where your religion gets so weird and impractical.

Roughly 2/3 of food calories world wide is carbohydrates and we can't give everybody enough to eat as it is. If we went back to "natural' levels of carbohydrate intake (yet to be defined) what is the chance that most of the world would starve very quickly? I accept that there are too many humans but don't you think this method of population reduction is rather harsh?

It is simply impossible to get enough calories without grains, tubers and bananas, all high carb foods. Despite all its drawbacks we simply cannot give up farming and become hunter-gatherers, we cannot turn the clock back

10,000 years and specifically we cannot give up farming grain. How do you think the green revolution saved hundreds of millions from starvation?

Please don't rabbit on about T2 diabetes, a disease of the people of rich countries who over eat and under excercise, focus on this one question.

How do you feed the world for the next 50 years without heavy reliance on farming and consuming high carb crops?

In case you missed it I repeat: please don't rabbit on about T2 diabetes, a disease of the people of rich countries who over eat and under excercise, focus on this one question.

David

Reply to
David Hare-Scott

David!

Where in the world are you getting this bull shit. T2 Diabetes is all over the world, rich or poor.

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The Philippines ranks 10th among countries with the highest diabetes incidence worldwide*. An estimated 6 Million Filipinos know they have diabetes. Another 6 Million Filipinos have diabetes but do not know they have it. Health experts believe many more have impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and are prone to diabetes.

And, that was only one of the hits.

And if you want other countries, try:

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THIS IS A WORLD WIDE EPIDEMIC!

The only difference between rich and poor is the test equipment. I will let you guess how they test it in poor countries. (Hint: your kidneys spill glucose at ~160 mg/Dl. World's second worst job.)

The problem is that carbs are addictive and cheap. The idea that Diabetes is caused by "over eat and under exercise" is absolute rubbish. They probably move 20 times as much as I do in a day over in the Philippines and eat a hell of a lot less. BUT SURPRISE! THEY EAT RICE!

I eat lots of plants. All low carb plants. ALL HAVE BEEN FARMED. ALL HAVE BEEN HYBRIDIZED. The idea is to match what our ancestors ate, not to become them. (Okay, growing it yourself or catching it yourself is fun. Good exercise too.)

Farmers need to hybridize the fat up and the carbs down. This will be what finally solves the World Wide Diabetes EPIDEMIC. But, they will have to get past a lot of special interests to do it. "over eat and under exercise" is just the special interests looking guilty say, "Gee Wiz, how did that happen?"

With one out of six of us going to be injured by this (perhaps one out of three in the near future), yes, I will warn others. It is the decent thing to do. I will also let others that have already been injured know how they can live a normal life, Diabetes and drug free. Also the decent thing to do.

For people who are not already injured, a half a potato here and there won't hurt anyone. Just watch yourself. Eat a variety of food in balance. And, eschew foods that are full of chemicals and have four times the amount of carbs found in nature.

THERE ARE LOTS OF OTHER PLANTS TO EAT! Yummy ones too, especially after your satiation switch normalizes and you get your sense of taste back. I am looking forward to a ton of them this harvest! If I get good at this, maybe I will freeze or bottle some.

DRUG AND ALLOPATH FREE SINCE SEPTEMBER 2013!

-T

Reply to
Todd

All Solanaceaes produce a poison called "belladonna". Some call

Isn't that used to poison people in mystery novels?

Damn, damn, damn! I had no idea "they" were ****ing with my potatoes!!! As a card-carrying potato freak, I highly resent this meddling.

Would buying "organic", whatever THAT means in this day & age, get me potatoes the way "God" made them? Surely SHE wouldn't ****with one of HER creations...

You are much more likely to get

I'll see if they're sold around here (So. Calif). I've been getting my little darlings at Trader Joe

I nuke big potatoes & when they've cooled somewhat, slice & fry in butter with paprika.

Sorry about the diabetes! Medical researchers,esp. the Israelis, are always coming up with technical & medical progress. I mean mind-blowing stuff that might help you. Not meaning to be pushy, but sometimes we have to do our own research.

Good luck!

HB

Reply to
Higgs Boson

Hi Higgs,

No, same amount of carbs. But, you'd get a lot less chemicals. And the people growing them and packing them aren't exposed to the chemicals either.

Back when I could eat them, the local grown (organic) ones tasted a lot better.

I use to like them that way too. You have got to try them as hash browns with Rosemary. Add a couple of farm fresh organic fried eggs (best fried in butter) and you have a feast.

And, play around with your paprikas too. There are some of them out there that are spicy! I *LOVE* hot Paprika! (It ain't all the hot.)

You "always" have to do your own research. You must take your health in your own hands.

And thank you for the condolences. Diabetes has actually been a blessing in my life. I eat better, I am learning to cook, I am closer to my family, I go fishing a lot more (exercise that is fun). And, my health is better than it has been in years. And, and, TROUT FEAR ME!

You do have to admire the Israelis in many ways.

Did you catch those organic hot house tomatoes at Trader Joe's last year. A taste of the holy land: tomatoes picked way to green -- YUK!

-T

Reply to
Todd

Had a friend years ago that harvested potatoes. When he got hungry, he'd pop one down the exhaust pipe of his tractor. When it was done, it would pop (fly) out of the pipe and land in the field somewhere. He'd get out, fetch it, and eat it. YUK! It must have tasted like utter hell.

Reply to
Todd

Yes.

Somewhere I heard that Agatha Christy made sure the poisons in her novels didn't actually work to keep bad people from using them for real.

Reply to
Todd

Hunter-gatherers would have gorged on any form of food that was abundant if they could get their hands on it regardless of whether it was a carb or a protein so I find it odd that anyone would try to turn back the food clock.

we cannot turn the

Yes. I find it amazing how little exercise seems to be done these days in comparison to how much intake of chow there is in our modern societies. The paleo walking regime would be a good thing to resurrect. Or even a Victorian walking regime.

There is an innitiative of the Qld health dept that has gone round the country as a Healthy Heart program. It's called something like "10,000steps" and the goal is to walk 10,000 steps each day. I put on a pedometer and did over 10,000 steps on a normal day of doing housework, gardening and animal care. I did 2 lots of baking in addition to the meals, did a bit of gardening, did 2 loads of washing and hung them out on the line and then brought the clothes in when they were dry and put them away. I did a bit of vacuuming and visited the chooks twice to let them out, feed and water them, collect the eggs and then lock them up for the night. Just an average day for me but I wonder what a lazy sloth step count would be.

Reply to
Fran Farmer

Sorry folks I couldn't resist the temptation. I know it's puerile, like tapping on the cage in the reptile house. Todd didn't disappoint, struck out like an Eastern Brown in an ants nest. I'll try not to do it again. He might hurt his nose on the glass.

David

Reply to
David Hare-Scott

Yep.

What's easier to accept:

I got poisoned by the food industry, or, I ate too much and I got sick.

Reply to
Dan.Espen

The conspiracy/victim thing is what gets to me. There is no denying that there is a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding about diet. There always has been, and probably always will be. But taking things to the point where potato farmers are out to poison us all is just silly.

Thinking about diabetes and convenience foods tends to take my mind to all the 20th century futurists (and fiction authors) who predicted by now we'd drop food and live on sugar pills packed with vitamins.

Reply to
Drew Lawson

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