I had two points in mind when I wrote that potatoes cannot be eaten raw.
One was the danger that they can be toxic if green as stated by Lisa N, the other is that the starch (which I presume is the reason people eat them) is not available if it is still contained within the cell membrane.

I used to eat raw chips (french fries) when I was a child (to my mother's horror) and they didn't harm me either.

I knew folks who were addicted to raw pasta and cookie dough, and are still alive. IMO, raw potatoes and grains are rather not palatable, however, rolled oats soaked overnight, can be make into a tasty breakfast. My DD friend eats all hot cereals half cooked to minimize carb absorbtion, may be eating raw potatoes works the same way.

My vegan co-worker says that the only way to get B12 for her is via injections, this is what she does. She also takes ...27 pills and caps in supplements daily to make up for lost nutrients.

When I was a little girl, whenever my mother peeled potatoes, she and I always ate a little bit of raw potato with a little salt and we never got sick. (I also used to lick the beaters when she made cake batter and never got sick then, either. But I don't do that now, both because I no longer eat cake, but also because of the salmonella concerns about raw eggs.) Eating raw potato is very similar in taste to eating the broccoli or cauliflower stem (you have to pare away the woddy, fibrous outside to get to the "heart" of the stem).

Anyway, hearing about raw potatoes made me think of my late mother and how I miss her. Sorry to carry on so...

Michelle

It's just that tremendous insights into healthy diets can be gleaned from thinking about these sorts of things. Tomatoes and potatoes are part of the same family and lycopene is released from the tomato when cooked. Other foods are more nutritious when in their raw state.