Feb 20, 2012 | By Suzanne Robin
Photo Caption The nutritional value of potato wedges depends on the way you cook them. Photo Credit ITStock Free/Polka Dot/Getty Images The calories in a salted potato wedge can vary, depending on how it's cooked, the size of the wedge and whether or not you add extra coating to the potato. A potato wedge fried without any additional coating has the same number of calories and nutritional value, ounce for ounce, as french fries. A baked potato wedge with no added ingredients has the same nutritional value as a baked potato; potato wedges made at home with little or no oil are healthier than commercially prepared potato wedges.
Potatoes without the added embellishments of butter, sour cream and cheese are not terribly high in calories. An average medium potato supplies just 160 calories, while a large potato measuring 3 to 4 1/2 inches in diameter contains 278 calories. If you simply cut up a large potato into wedges and bake it without brushing it with oil or adding any extras and eat the entire potato, you consume 278 calories. One large potato weighs around 299 grams, according to the United States Department of Agriculture Nutrient Database Laboratory website. Butter or oil add around 100 to 120 calories per tablespoon, depending on the type. One commercial restaurant lists their potato wedges as containing 290 calories per 108 grams; one frozen brand contains 123 calories per 100-gram serving.
Most of the calories in potatoes come from carbohydrates. A 100-gram portion of frozen potato wedges supplies 25 grams of carbohydrate, mostly from starches. Just 0.3 grams of carbohydrate in potato wedges come from simple sugars.
Unless you fry potato wedges or put cheese, sour cream, butter or other oils on them, they contain no fat. Frozen commercially prepared potato wedges contain 2.2 grams of fat per 100 grams of potato, but one major retailer's potato wedges contain 15 grams of fat per 108-gram serving. Adding oil raises the fat count considerably, since oil contains 13.6 grams of fat per tablespoon.
Salt has no calories, but it does affect the nutritional value of food in other ways. Salt contains sodium, which holds fluid. Excess sodium in your diet can cause you to retain fluid and raise your blood pressure, in some cases. If you already have high blood pressure, sodium could increase the risk of heart problems from high blood pressure. The American Heart Association suggests limiting sodium added to foods and keeping sodium intake to less than 1,500 milligrams per day. One commercial restaurant lists the sodium content in a 100-gram serving of their potato wedges as 780 milligrams, over half your daily sodium allowance.
Potato wedges serve as a source of vitamin C and the B-complex vitamins. Potatoes also supply potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, calcium and iron to your diet.
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