Healthy Habits for Bonsall & Fallbrook Folks – french fries history 101

Oh, those delightful golden strips of salty goodness. french fries are the favorite side order... no doubt. Fries may not be the best choice on our fitness journey and they qualify as a "sometimes" food. So hey, let's take a look at where these potato yummies came from.

The general theory is that either the French or Belgians invented the french fry; however, the potato was first introduced to Europe from the Spanish. The idea of frying potatoes came from Belgium where they liked to fry fish. So essentially, the Spanish brought the potatoes, but the Belgians introduced how to prepare them.

The popularity of the french fry is credited to a French army medical office named Antoine-Augstine Parmentier. During the Seven Years War he was captured and given rations of potatoes. The French had only given potatoes to pigs and farm animals because they were thought to carry diseases.

When he was released, he helped to convince Parliament that potatoes were in fact "edible." When he hosted dinners for high-profile figures such as Benjamin Franklin, Antione Lavoisier, King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antionette, he served his french fry dish.

McDonalds is the dominant potato buyer in the U.S. with headlines such as, "The company purchases about 3.4 billion pounds of potatoes in American each year" and "McDonalds sells about 9 million pounds of french fries across the globe daily."

So isn't a potato a vegetable, which means french fries are good for us? Wrong.

Dr. Jonathan Bonnet from Duke University said, "They involve frying, salting and removing one of the healthiest parts of the potato: the skin, where many of the nutrients are found."

And then, let's face the facts: "A medium order of fries has 365 calories along with 17 grams of fat, a full 26% of your daily value. Sodium clocks in at 246 mg, or 10% of the upper limit you should eat in a day"

Sorry to rain on that healthy parade.

We certainly can opt for better side choices on our fitness journeys. A fry here and there won't hurt us but remember those drive-thru days led to some folk's current conditions. A momentary taste bud satisfaction takes much longer to leave the gut then we want. I'm not telling you to eat broccoli every night, but you get my drift. And now we are more informed about those darn good tasting stripes of yummy saltiness.

Megan Johnson McCullough holds a master's degree in physical education and health science, is a candidate for her doctorate, is a professional natural bodybuilder and is a National Academy of Sports Medicine master trainer.