When you think about potatoes, it is the norm to have them cooked, boiled, or roasted. However, some eat the potatoes raw. That’s despite the fact that they have a bitter taste and contain substances that can cause stomach upsets and supplementary gastrointestinal problems.
This resistant starch has minimal nutritional benefits, but cooking it makes it digestible by humans and increases its palatability. Nevertheless, eating raw potatoes also has several health benefits.
Why Am I Craving Raw Potatoes?
People crave raw potatoes due to the absence of enough water and energy. Raw potato lovers once in a while crave the sour taste if they have not had one in a while. Nevertheless, they shouldn’t be taken in enormous amounts, so it is essential to find out the root cause of your desire and how to manage it. Raw potatoes contain many nutrients, and the lack of any of them might cause raw potato hankering.
How Can I Tell I Crave Raw Potatoes?
You can know you have a craving when the feeling is focused on a particular food, flavor, or texture, some selective hunger. Some say when they crave raw potatoes, they need a crunchy yet juicy and salty meal.
My cravings come with a strong desire for a salty taste in the mouth and something starchy. I have experienced a wild desire with a feeling that nothing more can satisfy my hunger than raw potato.
How Can I Manage My Raw Potatoes Craving?
Cravings can strike at any time; it is not advisable to satisfy the need every time it arises because large amounts of raw potatoes can harm your health. Here are a few methods for controlling the urge.
- Drinking a lot of water: I have realized that I crave more raw potatoes when dehydrated than hydrated, probably because the body needs water.
- Eat a balanced diet: A balanced diet keeps the body filled up constantly with all the nutrient contents it requires.
- Change your surroundings: I prefer to stay away from places where there are raw potatoes since seeing them can trigger specific cravings, but when you’re away, your mind will eventually forget them.
- Manage your stress levels: cravings have a lot to do with the need to quell emotional desires.
- Chew gum: Gum is sweet and salty hence it significantly reduces food cravings; thus, this will not lead you to crave raw potatoes.
- Get enough sleep: Sleep is known to bring about hormonal balance.
- Visit your doctor: It is crucial to see a doctor if the cravings are uncontrollable to determine whether they are caused by a health issue and get assistance in managing them.
How Is Eating Raw Potatoes Healthy to My Body?
Raw potatoes have significant contents of vitamins C and B, as well as fiber and other nutrients necessary for the growth, development, and repair of body tissues. The following are the benefits of eating raw potatoes.
Regulates blood pressure
Chlorogenic acid and anthocyanin, the blood pressure-lowering chemicals, are highly concentrated in raw potatoes. Moreover, when you consume resistant starch from foods like potatoes, your gut bacteria ferment it, resulting in increased butyrate production.
It is necessary for balancing bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract and energy production by some of your gut cells. It can also treat gastrointestinal diseases and regulate blood sugar and cholesterol levels.
Anti-aging effects
Vitamin C, is an antioxidant that works best on the skin’s surface, can aid in the reduction of wrinkles and fine lines.
Improves Immunity
Vitamin C, B-complex vitamins, manganese, magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, and iron are all abundant in raw potatoes. These elements are necessary for the formation of collagen, a protein that provides structural support to tissues, as well as the efficient functioning of the immune system.
Improves Heart Health
Human body cells require potassium to function normally. It maintains proper muscle and nerve function and is necessary for protein synthesis and carbohydrate metabolism. That reduces the likelihood of having a heart attack, developing atherosclerosis, or suffering a stroke.
Improves Circulation
Niacin is another B vitamin that is abundant in raw potatoes. This vitamin can improve oxygenation in various body parts by stimulating circulation and delivering essential nutrients for repair and normal function.
What Are the Dangers of Eating Raw Potatoes?
While eating raw potatoes may have some health benefits, the magnitude of the side effects exceeds the benefits. That is due to the concentration of lectins and the potential availability of solanine which are harmful compounds for human consumption. Below are some of the dangers of eating raw potatoes.
- Inhibit nutrient absorption: Raw potatoes contain anti-nutrients such as protein trypsin inhibitors and lectins that cause slow digestion and supplement absorption. That can result in malabsorption. Diarrhea is a typical result of malabsorption syndrome and can aggravate the situation.
- Contain toxic compounds: Raw potatoes have harmful contents such as glycoalkaloids, primarily concentrated in green potatoes due to sunlight exposure. That can cause acute gastrointestinal symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhea, and nausea.
- Cause significant digestive issues: Consuming a lot of resistant starch may lead to digestive problems. That is because, as the digestive system, it is likely to result in uncomfortable stomach cramping, bloating, constipation, and lots of gas production.
Frequently Asked Questions to Why Am I Craving Raw Potatoes?
Why Do I Have Raw Potatoes Craving?
If you crave potatoes, your body is likely deficient in water or energy. Sometimes it is also caused by a lack of certain nutrients in the body. During pregnancy, some women have been known to crave raw potatoes.
Can I Get Sick From Eating Raw Potatoes?
Whether green, sprouting, or normal potatoes, when raw, they contain harmful alkaloids such as solanine. When consumed, these cause drowsiness, weakness, apathy, and gastrointestinal symptoms, making it dangerous to eat raw potatoes.
What Can I Do To Stop Raw Potatoes Craving?
The best suggestion is to find supplements to quench your cravings. For example, you may opt to add whole grains with nutritional value to your diet. These will provide your body with the carbs it requires and supply fiber. Take enough water as well.
Conclusion to Why Am I Craving Raw Potatoes?
Cravings for raw potatoes may occur during times when the body is dehydrated and in need of energy. To ensure that cravings are kept in check, we should always make sure that we are hydrated and that we eat a varied, balanced diet to ensure that our bodies always have the nutrients it needs.