Cooked potatoes may be soft and crisp, but if you were to bite into a raw potato, you’d be met with a hard texture and bitter taste. This is reason enough to avoid raw potatoes, but they can also cause gastrointestinal distress, such as bloating, stomach pain, or diarrhea, explains MedicineNet. Raw potatoes are predominantly made up of resistant starch, which is difficult for the body to break down. Left to ferment in the gut, we pay the price in the form of digestive discomfort.
Thankfully, resistant starch gets baked right out of a cooked potato. “For the most benefit and least risk from your potatoes, bake, steam, sauté, or otherwise cook them,” Ashvini Mashru, owner of Wellness Nutrition Concepts, told Prevention. Not only that, but green potatoes have large amounts of solanine. Even minor amounts of this toxic compound can, at worst, damage the central nervous system (CNS) or result in death. If you see any green areas on your potatoes, be sure to slice those chunks off before cooking. (Now that we know green potatoes are out, you might also be wondering: Is it safe to eat sprouted potatoes?)