In an interview with Madame Figaro, Valérie Lemercier revealed her secrets for staying in shape. Result ? Eggs, fruit and a certain penchant for steam cooking… not forgetting some surprising road trips, like these potatoes transformed into a snack.
“I always have boiled potatoes with the skin in my bag”
If Valérie Lemercier likes to eat, she also gives of herself to maintain a healthy weight. The actress reveals that she loves eggs and consumes at least three per day. “Three eggs, three kiwis, three rusks, that suits me very well“, she explains.
In the kitchen, she also admits to not being able to part with a favorite accessory: Marion’s Vitaliseur, which cooks food at less than 95 degrees.
“I cook everything in it (…). My ideal meal: fish cooked in Vitaliseur, salad with lots of olive oil and lemon and raspberries with Chantilly. Or a club sandwich with fries.”
The actress also admits that she only swears by one meal on tour: chicken and vegetables. “I hate buffets“, she continues. As for her “flagship” snack – which helps curb hunger – it is quite simply… cooked potatoes, which she slips into her bag.
“If I want to lose weight, I don’t eat dinner. The secret is not to be hungry, so you need ready-made food. I always have cooked potatoes with the skin in my bag, just in case.”
Potatoes are not a food that makes you gain weight…
From a nutritional point of view, the potato cooked with the skin has real advantages.
“It is natural, rich in fiber if consumed with the skin, an interesting source of potassium (mineral essential for the proper functioning of the heart and blood pressure), vitamin C, vitamin B6 and antioxidants”, recognizes Julie Boët, dietitian-nutritionist.
And contrary to popular belief, the potato is not a “fattening” food: it is the way in which it is prepared (fried, fried, in a very buttered mash) that poses a problem.
“Cooking a potato in water or steam, whole, with the skin, also helps preserve its resistant starch (a form of starch that partially escapes digestion and nourishes our intestinal microbiota, contributing to better digestion and a prolonged feeling of satiety)”, specifies the expert.
…but it’s not a balanced snack either
But a potato alone does not constitute a balanced snack or meal.
“It is a food almost exclusively composed of carbohydrates. It provides little protein, very little lipids and its glycemic index can be high depending on the cooking and the temperature at which it is consumed. This means that it can quickly raise blood sugar levels, especially if it is hot and well cooked, with a risk of reactive hypoglycemia: a bout of fatigue, a desire for sugar or to eat again. Its richness in fiber limits a little this effect, but not enough to make it an ideal snack on its own”, underlines the specialist.
Besides, let’s be honest: carrying potatoes in a bag is not very practical. “The image is amusing, but it is not a sustainable solution for eating well,” warns Julie Boët.
Which snack should you turn to?
The objective of a snack is not only to “curb hunger”, recalls the specialist, but to maintain stable blood sugar levels, to provide useful nutrients (fiber, proteins, good fatty acids), and to last until the next meal.
“The potato can be one of the ingredients of a meal, but alone it does not provide this balance. A quality snack indeed contains carbohydrates (rich in fiber), proteins and a little good lipids”, she continues.
For example :
- A fresh fruit accompanied by a handful of oilseeds (almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts);
- A natural yogurt or skyr, some oatmeal and chia seeds;
- Two buckwheat pancakes, cream cheese and cucumber slices;
- Vegetable sticks and hummus;
- A small homemade sandwich with wholemeal bread, a source of protein (egg, chicken, tuna, hummus), some raw vegetables.
These are easy to transport options, low in added sugars, rich in fiber, protein, good lipids and which avoid blood sugar peaks.
“And if hunger is real, persistent and it returns every day at the same time, the question is perhaps not “Which snack to eat?”, but “Are my main meals sufficiently complete, rich in fiber, protein, vegetables, well distributed throughout the day?” Because replacing a real meal with cold potatoes in a bag does not solve the root of the problem. Sometimes it is better to treat yourself to a real lunch or a real balanced snack than to snack starchy foods in a hurry”, concludes the dietician.