Potatoes are not the enemy

As the chief ingredient of fatty french fries and potato chips, potatoes are the enemy of many a parent struggling to get their children to lose weight. However, just like ugly giants in several fairytales, it turns out potatoes aren’t really the villain at all. Potatoes USA, a marketing organization representing 2,500 potato growers in the US, held a talk and potato-themed supper on Nov. 15 in Epicurious in Shangri-La Plaza Mall, to show that potatoes aren’t icky, and are, in fact, the ideal food for athletes. Potatoes USA got help from famed chef Sau del Rosario and nutrition coach Jeaneth Aro. Ms. Aro is a nutrition coach for several individual athletes such as gymnasts, and some basketball teams in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). She sometimes employs potatoes for her clients’ meal plans. “When people think of high-performance diets, we always think of a high-protein diet,” she said in a mixture of English and the vernacular. “What athletes should be eating is a high-carbohydrate diet, because carbohydrates will fuel the muscle cells.” More