Do Potatoes Count As One Of Your 5 A Day?

Remember that kid from school whose whole reason for living was letting people know tomatoes are a fruit, actually?

Well, I’m afraid I was a bit like that about potatoes being veggies. 

When my Home Ec teacher would talk about the importance of getting your five-a-day, I’d argue my beloved chips counted ― and when I was told it didn’t, I thought the judgement was as unfair as it is uninformed. 

I’m going to be honest; I have lived by the same rules since. But was I right?

Sadly, no

Ah, the NHS ― such a great institution, but a carrier of such terrible news. 

Their page says that though yes, the tubers are technically vegetables, dietitians see them a little differently to, say, kale. 

“Potatoes don’t count towards your 5 A Day,” their site reads.

“This is the same for yams, cassava and plantain, too.” 

That’s because, they say, the foods are “classified nutritionally as a starchy food, because when they’re eaten as part of a meal they’re usually used in place of other sources of starch, such as bread, rice or pasta.” 

But they add that sweet potatoes, parsnips, swedes, and turnips DO count because they’re usually eaten alongside the starchy part of your dinner. 

Other foods that count towards your five a day include: 

• Frozen fruit and vegetables
• Tinned or canned fruit and vegetables
• Fruit and vegetables cooked in dishes such as soups, stews or pasta
• A 30g portion of dried fruit, such as currants, dates, sultanas and figs, counts as 1 of your 5 A Day, but should be eaten at mealtimes, not as a between-meal snack, to reduce the impact on teeth
• Fruit and vegetables in convenience foods, such as ready meals and shop-bought pasta sauces, soups and puddings. 

So are potatoes bad for me then?

Not inherently. The NHS says that “Potatoes are a starchy food and a great source of energy, fibre, B vitamins and potassium,” adding that a lot of people in the UK get a load of vitamin C from the food too. 

Of course, frying potatoes or adding lots of salt and butter to them will make them less healthy. 

But potatoes are very high on something called the satiety index, which tells us how full different foods are likely to make us feel. 

They also contain a lot of fibre, especially if you leave the skins on. 

So, fellow spud lovers, we can keep our favourite carbs ― as long as we serve them with some veggies, preferably less-processed ones. 

Fine, you win this one, miss…