Raw potato juice is a traditional remedy for gastritis that has some animal research behind it. Making it takes about five minutes: you blend a raw potato with a bit of water, strain it, and drink it fresh. Below is exactly how to do it, what the science says, and the safety precautions that matter.
How to Make Potato Juice
You need one medium raw potato, a blender or food processor, a fine strainer or cheesecloth, and about half a cup of water. That’s it.
- Choose the right potato. Pick a firm, smooth potato with no green spots, sprouting eyes, or soft patches. Green areas signal elevated levels of a natural toxin called solanine, which can cause nausea, vomiting, and stomach cramps. If the potato tastes bitter or causes a burning sensation in your mouth, discard it immediately.
- Wash thoroughly. Scrub the skin under running water to remove dirt and any pesticide residue. You can peel it or leave the skin on, but peeling reduces your exposure to solanine, which concentrates near the surface.
- Chop and blend. Cut the potato into rough chunks and place them in a blender or food processor. Add about half a cup of cold water to help it blend smoothly.
- Strain. Pour the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer or cheesecloth into a glass. Press or squeeze out as much liquid as possible. You want a smooth, starchy liquid with no chunks.
- Drink it plain and unsweetened. The taste is mild and earthy. Some people add a small amount of carrot juice or lemon to improve the flavor, but avoid sugar or sweeteners if you’re using it for stomach issues.
People who use potato juice for gastritis typically drink about 100 to 150 ml (roughly half a glass) on an empty stomach, once or twice a day, usually first thing in the morning. There is no standardized clinical dose, so this comes from traditional practice rather than controlled trials.
Drink It Immediately
Raw potato juice oxidizes fast. Within minutes of blending, the liquid starts turning brown as the starch and other compounds react with air. This isn’t just cosmetic. Oxidation degrades the active components and encourages bacterial growth. Juice made with a standard home blender or centrifugal juicer produces a foamy, fast-separating liquid that doesn’t keep well at all.
Make only what you’ll drink right away. Don’t refrigerate a batch for later in the day, and never leave raw potato juice sitting at room temperature. If you want to use it daily, blend a fresh serving each morning.
What the Research Actually Shows
A study published in the journal Nutrients tested a spray-dried preparation of potato juice on rats with chemically induced stomach damage. After five days of pretreatment, the potato juice reduced the incidence of ulcers by 34% and suppressed a key inflammatory marker in the stomach lining by up to 52%. The researchers concluded that potato juice showed gastroprotective activity by inhibiting inflammatory reactions in the stomach wall.
That’s promising, but it comes with major caveats. The study used a concentrated, standardized spray-dried extract at precise doses, not a glass of blended potato. It was conducted on rats, not humans. And no large-scale clinical trial has confirmed that drinking raw potato juice treats or prevents gastritis in people. The folk remedy has a long history in parts of Eastern Europe and South America, but the clinical evidence is still in its early stages.
What we can say is that the mechanism is plausible. Potato juice appears to reduce inflammation in stomach tissue and may help protect the mucosal lining that shields your stomach from its own acid. Whether a homemade glass delivers enough of those protective compounds to make a meaningful difference is an open question.
Solanine: The Safety Risk You Can’t Ignore
Raw potatoes contain glycoalkaloids, primarily solanine and chaconine, which are natural toxins the plant produces as a defense against pests. In small amounts, they’re harmless. At higher concentrations, they cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal cramps. The European Food Safety Authority identifies toxic effects starting at roughly 1 mg of total glycoalkaloids per kilogram of body weight. For a 70 kg (154 lb) person, that’s 70 mg in a single sitting. At 3 to 6 mg per kilogram, glycoalkaloid poisoning can be life-threatening.
A normal, healthy potato contains well below dangerous levels. The problem is that glycoalkaloids spike dramatically in potatoes that have turned green from light exposure, started sprouting, or have been damaged or stored poorly. One well-documented poisoning incident involved baked potatoes containing 494 mg of solanine per kilogram of potato, nearly five times the level considered safe. Of the 61 people affected, almost half noticed a bitter or unusual taste before symptoms started.
To stay safe:
- Never juice a green potato. The green color comes from chlorophyll, which itself is harmless, but it signals that solanine levels have risen alongside it.
- Cut away all eyes and sprouts. These are hotspots for glycoalkaloid concentration.
- Trust your taste. If the juice tastes bitter or causes any burning sensation in your mouth or throat, spit it out and discard the batch.
- Store potatoes in a cool, dark place. Light and warmth both trigger solanine production.
Who Should Avoid Potato Juice
Potatoes are high in potassium. For most people, that’s a nutritional benefit. For anyone with chronic kidney disease, it’s a genuine risk. Impaired kidneys can’t efficiently clear excess potassium from the blood, and elevated levels can cause dangerous heart rhythm problems. If you have kidney disease or are on a potassium-restricted diet, potato juice is not a safe home remedy for you.
People with diabetes should also be cautious. Raw potato juice is starchy, and while it contains less sugar than fruit juice, drinking it on an empty stomach could still affect blood sugar levels. If you’re managing diabetes, monitor your response carefully.
Potato Juice as Part of a Bigger Picture
Gastritis has many causes, including H. pylori infection, long-term use of anti-inflammatory painkillers, excessive alcohol, and autoimmune conditions. Potato juice doesn’t address any of these root causes. If your symptoms are persistent, worsening, or accompanied by vomiting blood or black stools, you need a proper diagnosis, not a home remedy.
Where potato juice fits most reasonably is as a complementary approach alongside dietary changes. Many people with gastritis find relief by eating smaller meals, avoiding spicy and acidic foods, limiting alcohol and caffeine, and reducing stress. A small glass of raw potato juice in the morning is unlikely to cause harm in a healthy person, and the anti-inflammatory properties suggested by animal research make it a reasonable addition to a stomach-friendly routine. Just don’t treat it as a substitute for identifying and addressing whatever is actually inflaming your stomach lining.