Keeping portion size in mind when you are cooking is important, whether you are making it for just yourself or a group of people.
If you are using portion size, you are using something that can help you figure out much food to give each person. Also, it can help you not overeat and undereat, which both lead to excessive weight gain.
People use portion sizes with a lot of food which includes food like mashed potatoes. In this article, you will figure out how much-mashed potatoes a person gets, if you can eat too much, and finally, the benefits of eating it!
By the end of the article, you will know everything there is to know about this staple American food.
Contents
How Much Mashed Potatoes Does Each Person Get?
Mashed potatoes are a staple of the American household. It’s common comfort food and something we all have eaten at some point or another.
Most often you will have potatoes as a side with one of your meals. This isn’t to say that mashed potatoes can’t be eaten as the main meal, but it’s not something that is often done.
Assuming you are using potatoes as a side dish, you should consider getting about ½ pounds of potatoes per person.
So, if you are going to have four people over, then you should get 2 pounds. This will be enough for the entire table, with some leftovers for you to eat in the future.
You can get mashed potatoes in box form or create them from scratch. If you get it in box form, it’s going to have the number of servings you need on it. For those that are making it from scratch, use the ½ pound per person measurement.
Can You Eat Too Many Mashed Potatoes?
Sadly, there is too much of a good thing, and no matter how tasty mashed potatoes are, you need to stop at some point. If you don’t, you can be at risk of:
- Eating too many mashed potatoes can lead to overeating. The reason for this is that they are carbs, which causes your blood sugar to spike. This might potentially lead to you being overweight and developing diabetes. It is a treatable illness that doesn’t always need to be treated with insulin, but if you can avoid it, then it’s best to do so.
- If you eat too many potatoes, it could lead to heart disease or stroke. Both of these things can have bad effects on your body. Heart disease affects the heart, which is not a good thing. It’s one of the most important organs in the body! You want to try your best to keep it in tip-top shape. The same goes for having a stroke. This can lead to you not being able to use certain parts of your body and/or having to relearn how to do things. Avoid it if you can!
- Finally, one of the biggest issues that can come along with eating a lot of potatoes is GI issues such as bloating, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. Depending on how you are making them, potatoes can have a lot of salt and fat. Having too much of that can cause you to have digestive issues. Is this fatal? Of course, it isn’t, but it also isn’t pleasant. Who wants to be stuck running to the bathroom after enjoying a nice meal?
These three things are the biggest issues with eating too many potatoes. However, there are also benefits to eating them, which we are going to cover in the next section.
What Are the Benefits of Eating Mashed Potatoes?
Despite the issues that can come with eating a lot of potatoes, there are benefits to be had from eating them. This includes:
- Potatoes have a lot of vitamins, fiber, and minerals. One of the vitamins they are full of is vitamin C. This is important because vitamin C is an antioxidant. It’s especially important for your body and can prevent scurvy. Okay, the chances of you ending up with scurvy are slim because it’s not like you are going to go out into the open sea and become a pirate. Still, it’s useful!
- Even though potatoes can cause GI issues if you eat too much, they still are good for your digestive health in the long run. The reason for this is that it is chock full of fiber. Specifically, the potato skin has a lot of fiber, so consider keeping that when you peel your potatoes, mash, and finally cook them.
- Another nutrient in potatoes is called potassium. This is an electrolyte that your body absolutely can use to function properly. By getting potassium into your body, you are helping keep your muscles, heart, and nervous system working properly. Do they already work properly on their own? Of course, they do, but a little extra help never hurt anyone, now did it?
Now you can see that even mashed potatoes can have benefits. This is a benefit of potatoes in general, but no matter what form you eat them in, you are going to get some of the ones we listed above.
As always, make sure you look out and see if your potatoes are bad if you are making the mashed potatoes from scratch.
It isn’t going to seriously harm you, but it could lead to some food poisoning, which is something all of us want to avoid.
Final Thoughts
And there you go, all you mashed potato lovers out there! We discussed the exact portion size you should use for meals that include mashed potatoes before going into what can happen if you do eat too much. However, there are still some benefits that you can get from eating mashed potatoes.
Please keep in mind that there are too many good things. There is nothing wrong with doing things in moderation. By doing it this way you can savor the times you do decide to indulge!
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I have been smoking and grilling meat from an early age and enjoy sharing my knowledge and expertise through the hundreds of articles I have written about BBQ. I hope to make everyone’s BBQ journey that little bit easier.