When you discuss survival, true survival, your desires and preferences will rarely come into the equation. Survival is usually about making one of the best of a foul situation or selecting the lesser of two evils more often than not.
As all the time, the ultimate decision of your actions will likely be necessity. This definitely applies to the food you eat, and you might not all the time have a well-rounded eating regimen, and even food that is correctly cooked.
Let’s take a look at potatoes. Potatoes are definitely popular and surprisingly nutritious, but are you able to survive on raw potatoes?
Yes, you may survive on raw potatoes for some time. Potatoes are caloric and highly nutritious, although they will not be nutritionally complete.
Raw potatoes may cause diarrhea and other digestive problems when eaten steadily. You should never eat green potatoes or some other parts of the plant as they contain the toxic solanine.
The humble potato is one of the consumed staple foods world wide and is an integral a part of every kind of cuisine.
In addition, potatoes will be prepared in a wide range of ways, but are suitable for eating raw in limited amounts.
You can do much worse than potatoes as a survival staple, but you may’t survive them endlessly, and you may’t rule out the potential for eating a toxic potato, which will be bad news.
Below I’ll inform you every little thing it’s essential to find out about surviving on potatoes…
Take care of yourself! Green potatoes contain toxic solanine!
One thing it’s essential to find out about potatoes in a survival situation, and a fact most individuals do not know, is that they will be very toxic. Hard to imagine, I do know, but it surely’s true!
As it seems, potatoes are a part of the nightshade plant family, which incorporates some excellent members which are shockingly dangerous.
The on a regular basis potatoes you and I eat from the food market are obviously not toxic (or not less than they don’t seem to be toxic more often than not), but all parts of the potato plant have this toxin…
The trick is that the potato itself doesn’t develop this toxin when protected against sunlight.
You can tell if a potato is toxic just by taking a look at it: should you see green skin or flesh, it incorporates solanine, and the greener you see or the deeper the colour, the more dangerous it’s!
Don’t even take into consideration cooking to be protected as cooking will only barely reduce your overall toxin load.
If you see a green potato, do away with it, never eat it or feed it to animals, whether it’s raw or cooked!
Solanine is bad news and in small doses will cause severe vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramps and nausea, but larger doses will result in migraines, high fever and death.
Can you eat raw potatoes to survive?
Yes, it’s suitable for eating a raw potato, assuming it just isn’t green as described above. While they’re quite digestible when raw, they will not be very tasty, and eating too many raw potatoes may cause indigestion.
But should you’re stuck and desperate for calories, you would do lots worse than eat a raw potato.
Can you eat boiled potatoes to survive?
Yes, you actually can and will if you might have the time and talent to cook them.
A cooked potato may have barely less vitamins and minerals in comparison with a raw one; most will likely be more bioavailable and easier for the body to digest.
There’s a reason a boiled potato is a lot tastier than a raw one…
Potato dietary information
Potatoes are probably best enjoyed as a delicious side dish, either in the shape of fries, hash browns, or simply a very good old-fashioned baked potato, but remember they’re surprisingly nutritious.
Potatoes have lots to supply a survivor, each when it comes to macro and micronutrients, and you may do far worse than adding potatoes to your survival menu while you’re in need.
Right off the bat, potatoes can provide a very good boost of protein and lots of carbohydrates that may contribute to each short-term and long-term energy.
The vitamin profile can also be impressive, containing a lot of the B vitamins, including thiamine, niacin, riboflavin, vitamin B6, in addition to vitamins K and A. The mineral content can also be good.
You’ll find loads of phosphorus and calcium, loads of potassium, which may help with cell function and electrolyte levels, and a small amount of other similarly essential minerals like copper, manganese, zinc, and iron.
Overall, the potato is taken into account a staple food for a reason, and it will probably definitely keep you alive when the fries are down, no pun intended.
However, potatoes will not be nutritionally complete and shouldn’t have every little thing the body needs. More on that in a moment.
Are potato skins suitable for eating?
Yes, normally, and assuming a potato just isn’t green, it just isn’t toxic. But raw potato skins are especially vulnerable to causing significant digestive problems in many individuals, especially when raw.
Also, be certain you take a look at the skin for green spots, because even on a very good, protected potato, those green spots contain toxins, so that you never need to eat it.
Are potato roots suitable for eating?
No, not raw or cooked. Potatoes are a root vegetable, but you do not need to eat the plant’s actual leaf-like roots in any respect because they contain loads of that terrible toxin, solanine.
You cannot protect them by cooking, so discard this a part of the plant entirely.
Can you eat potato leaves and stems?
NO. All other parts of the potato, including leaves, stems, vines, etc. contain solanine in various amounts and are subsequently dangerous.
No matter how hungry you might be, eating these parts, raw or cooked, will only make your life worse…
Where are potatoes found?
Potatoes will be found everywhere in the world today. Also, potatoes are native to the Americas, not Ireland as is usually believed, but we’re here to learn practical potato facts, not potato history…
All it’s essential to know is that potatoes can grow almost anywhere so long as the soil composition is true for them, although they grow best where it’s warmer.
If you recognize what to search for and find out how to discover the plant, in addition to find out how to discover a protected potato, you’ll find them growing wild in lots of areas, and after all they’re grown in huge numbers on industrial farms and in smaller gardens… mainly anywhere you may meet people.
Are there health risks related to eating potatoes?
The biggest health risk related to eating potatoes, especially raw ones, is the ingestion of a dangerous dose of solanine.
A small dose will make you miserable, but generally manageable, although it will probably dramatically complicate your survival situation should you suffer from debilitating diarrhea or vomiting.
As long as you listen, avoid eating potatoes which were clearly exposed to the sun, and likewise avoid eating green potatoes that you mustn’t be concerned about.
Potatoes are suitable for eating raw as mentioned, but they are going to generally be easier to digest should you cook them.
Eating large amounts of raw potatoes could cause other problems, but smaller amounts are wonderful.
In addition, a serious problem in long-term survival scenarios, especially when food variety is kind of limited, is that potatoes will not be nutritionally complete. Yes, they supply numerous calories and even some protein.
Yes, they’ve many vitamins and minerals that humans must survive.
But no, they do not have every little thing humans must survive, and attempting to survive potatoes alone implies that malnutrition will certainly be a think about timing.
