Potato Juice: Recipe, Benefits and Risks

Potato juice has its benefits, but there’re some things to keep in mind. Here’s its recipe, properties and warnings.

Would you like to try this wonderful drink?

Tools / Equipment

• A blender.
• A knife.
• Pot or steamer.
• Vegetable peeler (optional).
• Strainer (optional).

Ingredients

You need the following ingredients.

• 1 medium potato, peeled and cooked.
• 1/2 cup (125 ml) of water.

Potato juice – Recipe

You just have to follow 5 steps.

1. First, peel the potato with a knife or vegetable peeler, rinse it and cut it into pieces.
2. Then, boil or steam it for about 20 minutes or until it’s soft / cooked.
3. Strain it and wait a few minutes for it to cool down a bit.
4. Then, blend the cooked potato with half a cup of water until you get an easy-to-drink juice. If necessary, add a little more water and blend again.
5. Finally, serve and enjoy!

To keep in mind: it’s important to peel and cook the potato before eating it. Next, we’ll tell you why.

Can you drink raw potato juice? – Risks and warnings

Although some people consume raw and / or unpeeled potatoes, experts point out that this may cause digestive problems, among others.

In general, this is due to their content of:

• Antinutrients: hinder the digestion and absorption of nutrients.
• Toxic compounds, called glycoalkaloids. They’re found mainly in green potatoes.
• Lots of resistant starch (not digested or absorbed). It’s worth mentioning that in moderate doses this nutrient may bring certain benefits such as: avoiding sugar spikes and improving digestive health.
• Other possible toxins and bacteria.

To a large extent, cooking inactivates or removes most of these substances.

Considering the above, if you’ve a sensitive stomach, you may prefer to always cook your potatoes before eating them.

Also, raw potatoes tend to taste more bitter.

What’s potato juice good for? – Benefits / Properties

Among its main benefits, this drink may:

• Promote bowel movements, detoxify the body and improve digestive health. Mainly, due to the water and potato fiber (1.8 g per 100 g).
• Improve and prevent circulation problems. To a large extent, due to its combination of fiber, water, potassium (328 mg per 100 g) and antioxidants (vitamin C, carotenoids and flavonoids, among others).
• Help protect the body. Due to its antioxidants, water and more compounds.

You can see more information in our sections: detox, constipation, circulation and boost defenses.

To note: See more nutrients of boiled and peeled potatoes here.

Does potato juice work to lose weight?

1 cup of this drink made with a medium potato, boiled and peeled (167 g) has about 144 kcal. In other words, this juice is far from being the lightest.

Anyway, it’s key to follow a balanced and healthy diet that’s aligned with your goals and possibilities. In this sense, if you follow a correct eating plan, you may include this juice in your diet to lose weight without exceeding your allowed calorie intake.

On the other hand, boiled potatoes may be especially useful to satiate hunger. Here’s a study about it.

Also, as we said before, its fiber and water may help to cleanse the body. That is, in the short term, lose some weight in the bathroom.

To learn more, visit our post on juices for weight loss.

Is potato juice useful for treating gastritis?

Generally, this problem is caused by a bacterium called Helicobacter pylori.

Considering this, there’re antioxidants in this root vegetable that could fight this bacterium.

In any case, this condition is usually treated with medications (antacids, antibiotics and others) with prior medical indication.

Learn more in our section on gastritis.

What’s potato juice on an empty stomach good for?

In addition to the above, drinking it in the morning on an empty stomach may be useful to energize the body and “wake it up”.

Also, let’s remember that this juice may promote bowel movements and make you go to the bathroom.