Five Uses For Potatoes (That Aren’t Making French Fries)

A recent study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that eating french fries, or other fried potato products, can increase your risk of death. For the study, researchers looked at a group of 4400 people between the ages of 45 and 79 that were eating their spuds over the course of eight years. By the end of the study, 236 people had passed away, and they were mostly the french fry eaters.

Image credit: Pixel Bay

While one could argue that the people chowing down on fries twice a week were probably making some other unhealthy choices in their life (and I’m in no way about to walk away from one of my favourite foods), if you’ve stocked up on potatoes to make fries for dinner every night, you might be better served dialling things back to just once a week and using the surplus one of these ways:

Make Your Eyes Less Puffy

Yeah, cucumbers are what they pass out at the spa, but potatoes can help soothe tired eyes as well. Cut up a cold potato and then place the slices over your eyes. After 15 minutes, your eyes will be much less puffy.

Ease Pain From a Burn

Potatoes can also work to soothe minor burns. If you accidentally burn yourself making those fries, apply as thin slice of potato to the burn for a little relief.

Say Goodbye to Rust

My mum used to swear by using a potato on rust. Cut the potato open and then use the flesh to rub down your pots, pans and tools just like you might use a sponge. The acid from the potato will help cut through the build up. The trick also works for tarnished silver.

Remove a Broken Light Bulb

When a light bulb breaks while it’s still screwed in, removing it can be troublesome. Turn off the power to the light, and then gently push a cut potato into the stuck bottom (be super careful about leftover glass, it will break!). Once you have a firm grip on the bulb you can turn the potato to safely remove it.

Make Soup Less Salty

Potatoes are experts at absorbing salt (part of what makes those fries so delicious). If you have made some soup and gone a little overboard with the salt, pop a few pieces of cut up potato in. Give it 10 minutes, and then fish the potato out. It will have absorbed a good bit of that salt, and your soup will be back to being delicious.