Carrots vs potato: carbs, fiber and net carbs
Full comparison · Calories · Carbs · Healthier
Per 3.5 oz (100 g), carrots has 8.2 g of carbohydrate (5.2 g net) and potato has 21.1 g (18.9 g net).
Net carbs = total carbohydrate minus fiber.
| Carrots | Potato | |
|---|---|---|
| Total carbohydrate, 100 g | 8.2 g | 21.1 g |
| Fiber, 100 g | 3 g | 2.2 g |
| Net carbs, 100 g | 5.2 g | 18.9 g |
| Total sugars, 100 g | 3.5 g | 1.2 g |
| Carbs per serving | 0.8 g in 1 tbsp (9.7 g) | 31.3 g in 1 serving (5.2 oz, 148 g) |
| Net carbs per serving | 0.51 g | 28 g |
Net carbs is total carbohydrate minus fiber; it is a common counting convention, not an FDA label term. Total sugars include natural and added sugar; USDA does not separate them for these foods.
What the numbers don't tell you
Per 3.5 oz (100 g), boiled carrots have under two fifths of the calories and carbs of a baked potato. The potato brings more than twice the potassium and three times the protein. For potatoes, cooking method matters.
In three large US cohorts, each extra three servings a week of French fries went with a 20% higher rate of type 2 diabetes, while baked, boiled or mashed potatoes showed no significant link. Baked in its skin, a potato keeps all its potassium, and in a crossover trial in healthy adults it was absorbed at better than 94%, as well as from a supplement.
Carrots show how a food and its pill can point opposite ways. Across 50 prospective studies, eating carrots went with about 10% lower cancer risk, an observational link. Beta-carotene supplements at 15 to 30 mg a day, given with other active substances, raised lung cancer risk by 16% in trials, and by 21% in smokers and asbestos workers.
With kidney disease, ACE inhibitors or potassium-sparing diuretics, NIH says even modest potassium can push blood levels too high, so ask your doctor or dietitian about potatoes. EFSA found a health concern from potato's natural toxins for infants and toddlers, and peeling removes 25 to 75% of them. Potato eaten before anesthesia prolonged a muscle relaxant's effect in one trial.
Keep fries occasional.
Evidence behind this note
- Level C People who ate the most carrots had about a tenth lower cancer incidence than those who ate the least, across fifty prospective studies. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr, 2025
- Level A Beta-carotene taken as a supplement raised the risk of lung cancer rather than lowering it, and more so in smokers and asbestos workers. Nutrients, 2022
- Level A The doses that caused that harm were 15 to 30 milligrams a day, far above what food delivers, and every trial gave other substances alongside. Nutrients, 2022
- Level C Three servings of chips a week tracked with a fifth more diabetes, and the same amount of boiled or baked potato tracked with nothing. BMJ, 2025
- Level E The Nordic review written to set guidelines concluded the evidence on potatoes is very limited and that how you cook them is what matters. Food Nutr Res, 2024
- Level B Potassium from potato is absorbed as completely as potassium from a supplement, better than 94 percent either way, and after the potato more of it comes out in the urine. Macdonald-Clarke et al., American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2016
- Level E Boil a potato in its skin and it keeps nine tenths of its folate. Peel it first and pour the water away, and a quarter of the folate goes down the sink. Bake it in the skin and the potassium stays put entirely. USDA Table of Nutrient Retention Factors, Release 6 (2007), Agricultural Research Service
- Level E Europe assessed the natural toxins in potato and found a health concern for babies and toddlers at ordinary intakes, and for adults only at the high end. Peeling removes a quarter to three quarters of them. EFSA, Glycoalkaloids in potatoes: public health risks assessed, 2020
- Level C Potatoes block the enzyme that clears a common anaesthetic muscle relaxant, and a normal portion eaten in the last meal before surgery measurably stretched out both the block and the waking up. Krivoy et al., Journal of Clinical Monitoring and Computing, 2013
- Level E The NIH Office of Dietary Supplements says high dietary potassium is no risk for healthy people with normal kidneys, but in chronic kidney disease or on drugs such as ACE inhibitors or potassium-sparing diuretics even intakes below the adequate intake can cause hyperkalemia. NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, Potassium Health Professional Fact Sheet
Written from the studies and agency guidance we hold for both foods, reviewed by the Bioma editorial system. How we verify.
Keep exploring
Read more about these foods
- Carrots: the food and the pill point opposite ways
- Potato: chilling it, and the enzyme before surgery
Rankings and guides
- Carbohydrates: what it does and how much you need
- Fiber: what it does and how much you need
- Which foods are highest in dietary fiber?
- Which foods are highest in carbohydrate?
- Added sugar: what it does and what the evidence shows
- Potato: full nutrition facts
More comparisons
Where the numbers come from
- Carrots: USDA FoodData Central, Carrots, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt, FDC ID 170394 · all forms of carrots
- Potato: USDA FoodData Central, Potatoes, baked, flesh and skin, without salt, FDC ID 170093 · full profile · all forms of potato
Each food is one USDA entry, chosen as it is usually eaten. Other cuts, brands and preparations differ; the links show them. % DV uses FDA Daily Values for adults. How we verify.