Lysine is a powerful weapon against viruses such as Epstein-Barr and shingles that are behind rheumatoid arthritis, joint pain, autoimmune disease, and more. Potatoes also contain tyrosine, a chemical needed to produce thyroid hormones.

Potatoes are antiviral, antifungal, and antibacterial, with nutritional cofactors and coenzymes plus bioactive compounds to help keep you healthy and assist you with stress. 

Potatoes can help heal digestive conditions. Soothing to the intestinal linings because they are gentle on the nerves inside the lining—they’re nonabrasive—potatoes assimilate and digest easily, even with some of the worst digestive issues.

Potatoes bind onto colonies of bacteria that are causing diverticulitis or prostatitis and carry them out past the colon; they can drive out strep, E. coli, staph, and unproductive funguses from the body. The chemical compounds in potatoes have a sticky, binding nature to them. It’s not just the starch that causes this. As potato moves through the intestinal tract, pathogens cling and bind to the compounds and can’t escape. Potatoes even help drive worms such as pinworms out of the rectum.

Potatoes are good for the brain and the liver, helping us to be grounded and centered. Potatoes are high in glucose that provides substance to the liver, as it’s precisely what the liver relies on to keep strong. It also helps build up glycogen storage, the very resource that protects us against blood sugar problems, weight gain, fatty liver, and dirty blood syndrome. 

Enjoy potatoes steamed (without oil, butter, or cream) for maximum healing benefits.

For more information on how to use foods like potato and many others to heal, along with seven different cleanse plans, the supplements to take for different symptoms and conditions and at what dosages, check out the #1 New York Times bestselling book, Medical Medium Cleanse to Heal: Healing Plans for Sufferers of Anxiety, Depression, Acne, Eczema, Lyme, Gut Problems, Brain Fog, Weight Issues, Migraines, Bloating, Vertigo, Psoriasis, Cysts, Fatigue, PCOS, Fibroids, UTI, Endometriosis & Autoimmune.

When people eat potatoes, they often choose something to have with them. People like to have cheese or sour cream on their baked potatoes; milk and butter on their mashed potatoes; and mayonnaise in a potato salad. It is not commonly known for someone to choose to eat a potato on its own. Even when someone is eating French fries by themselves at a restaurant, it isn’t really potatoes on their own, it is potatoes coated or fried in vegetable oil or lard. 

When we think potatoes, we often think “high in carbs” or “this will put on unwanted pounds,” and choose to stay away from them. Potatoes become the food to blame because of misinformation. We are so worried about carbohydrates, thinking that is the issue, and overlook something more important as being the problem – what we are adding to our potato. 

We can eat a bag of greasy potato chips, have grease smeared all over our hands and face, on the beverage we’re holding, and on our napkin, and still say “I’ve got to watch my carbs. I’m eating too many fries.” Instead, we should be saying “I’ve got to watch my grease, I’m eating too much fat.” This same concept applies to baked potatoes with sour cream, butter, and cheese. We may say, “I just had a big carb meal” instead of the truth, which is, “I just put a ton of fat on top of my poor potato.” It is the combination of putting fat and carbs together that is troublesome for the body. Our body doesn’t have a hard time breaking down, assimilating, and digesting glucose from a potato—our bodies thrive on it. Our liver, gallbladder, stomach, and pancreas have a hard time digesting and breaking down fats, especially in the form of dairy products, such as milk, cheese, butter, frying oils and lard. These fats are to blame for weight gain, not potatoes. When we ignore that, it defies common sense.

Diabetes and Insulin Resistance

Potatoes have been picked on for being a harmful food for diabetics because many people believe potatoes drive up A1C levels. The truth is, potatoes are not to blame for rising A1C levels in the body. The fat contained in the oil and dairy products usually consumed on top of potatoes are the reason A1C levels may rise in the body. When fat and sugar are consumed together, insulin resistance can occur. This can happen because the fat in the bloodstream inhibits the sugar and insulin from entering cells, and instead suspends it in the bloodstream causing insulin resistance.

Healing Properties of Potatoes

When health professionals think about the potato, they think it is void of nutrients, which couldn’t be further from the truth. Potatoes are high in Zinc and L-Lysine which are antiviral compounds and critical in stopping viruses, the very thing behind lupus, multiple sclerosis (MS), rheumatoid arthritis, neurological Lyme disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, Reynaud’s syndrome, vertigo, POTS, endometriosis, PCOS, fibroids, and so much more. Health professionals will tell a patient struggling with endometriosis or PCOS to eat butter, cheese, and eggs, but to stay away from potatoes. Potatoes are an antiviral food and can stop pathogens from growing; whereas dairy products, the food many people put on top of their potatoes, are what feed viruses, grow pathogens, and can accelerate disease.

Central Nervous System

The glucose in potatoes strengthens the central nervous system and is critical for anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, OCD, and anyone going through an emotional struggle or hardship. Potatoes are also important for people who have other neurological conditions such as chronic fatigue syndrome, multiple sclerosis (MS), Parkinson’s, and ALS. 

Intestinal Tract 

Potatoes feed the good bacteria inside the intestinal tract while also starving the bad bacteria, such as Streptococcus, C. diff, and E. coli. Potatoes also soothe the linings of the intestinal tract and can help heal Crohn’s, colitis, IBS, celiac, ulcers, gastroparesis, esophageal spasms, cramping, bloating, and other digestive disorders.

Food Poisoning

Many people who get food poisoning struggle from the aftereffects long after they have recovered from the food poisoning episode. They can continue to have mild bouts of nausea, cramping, bloating, discomfort, intermittent pain, and even constipation. Potatoes are a soothing food that is gentle on the linings of the intestinal tract and helpful for a full recovery. Eating potatoes steamed and by themselves, is a helpful way to jump your healing forward.

Moving Forward

The potato is the ultimate underdog—full of potential, yet perpetually overlooked and trampled on. They have gotten a bad rap for far too long. Potatoes are valuable and beneficial for your health and can help heal many health symptoms and conditions.

Arugula, Potato & Asparagus Salad

Warm, comforting, and satisfying, this salad brings together some of the most healing cooked vegetables—asparagus, brussels sprouts, and potatoes—with fresh leafy greens, herbs, onion, and a simple dressing. The result is a simple and delicious meal. This recipe comes from the Revised and Expanded Edition of Medical Medium.

Some of the phytochemicals found in asparagus are toxin inhibitors (a fact as yet unknown to science). This means that once toxins such as DDT, other pesticides, and heavy metals have been driven out of the organs, these specialized phytochemicals stay behind and repel new toxins from taking up residence there.

Brussels sprouts are wonderful for the joints, plus they help lower bad cholesterol, increase good cholesterol, purify the liver and other dense sponge organs such as the spleen, and purify the blood.

Potatoes help build up glycogen storage, the very resource that protects us against blood sugar problems, weight gain, fatty liver, and dirty blood syndrome.

Arugula causes a gentle purging effect inside the liver, with undiscovered phytochemical compounds that allow the liver to decide the severity of the cleanse and what toxins it safely wants to release.

Arugula, Potato, & Asparagus Salad

Ingredients:

• 4-5 potatoes (about 3 cups roughly chopped)
• 1 cup chopped brussels sprouts
• 1 cup chopped asparagus
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced sweet onion
• 1/4 cup loosely packed fresh parsley, roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh basil leaves
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp pure maple syrup
• 4 cups arugula
• 2 cups chopped butter leaf, romaine, and/or green leaf lettuce

Directions:

To prepare the potatoes, add 3 inches of water to a medium-sized pot, bring it to a boil, and add a steaming basket. Place the potatoes in the basket, cover, and steam for 15-20 minutes, until the potatoes are very tender.

To prepare the brussels sprouts, steam for 10 minutes, until tender.

To prepare the asparagus, steam for 5 minutes, until tender.

To streamline the above process, feel free to steam the potatoes, brussels sprouts, and asparagus together in one large basket. So that nothing gets overcooked, start by steaming the potatoes, then 5-10 minutes later, add the brussels sprouts. After another 5 minutes, add the asparagus. Steam for an additional 5 minutes, or until all contents of the steamer basket are tender.

Remove the potatoes, brussels sprouts, and asparagus and place them in a large bowl. Let them cool for 10 minutes, and then add the onion, parsley, basil, dried thyme, lemon juice, maple syrup, arugula, and lettuce. Toss until evenly mixed. Serve immediately. Fore more Recipes click here!

Serves 2