[thanksforcoming]

Potatoes on their own aren't empty calories. [1] One medium potato is ~150 calories but full of potassium, vit c, and other nutrients. It's when you fry them or drench them in cheese and bacon bits and sour cream or mash them with loads of butter that they become unhealthful.

An empty calorie is one that provides little to no nutritional value other than the calorie itself. In my mind the most common empty calories come from sugars, some flours, and some oils.

[1]http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=48

[simonsarris]

Completely disagree: I eat a high-fat (~70% of calories from fat) and lots of protein diet (I'm about 12% bodyfat).

Bacon* and cheese and sour cream are the healthy parts of that meal, the potato is the "empty" thing by far, and the thing that will provide the highest glycemic load of those ingredients, spiking insulin.

(note that I have no idea what bacon bits are, or if they're even pork meat)

[thanksforcoming]

That's a good point, it depends on your diet and goals and varies from individual to individual.

What's healthy for one person may not be healthy for another, based on body weight/lifestyle/activity level/etc.