Eating Potatoes May Increase Risk for Type 2 Diabetes

Limiting the consumption of French fries can have an impact Eating potatoes is associated with an increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes, according to the results of a prospective study.
"The role of potatoes in a diet aimed at reducing the burden of chronic disease has been controversial," write Thomas L. Halton, MD, from Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Mass, and colleagues. "Potatoes, a high glycemic form of carbohydrate, are hypothesized to increase insulin resistance and risk of type 2 diabetes."

The investigators conducted a prospective study of 84,555 women, aged 34 to 59 years with no history of chronic disease, who were enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study. The women completed a validated food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) at baseline, and they were followed up for 20 years with repeated dietary assessments.

During the study, 4496 participants were diagnosed as having type 2 diabetes. After adjustment for age and dietary and nondietary factors, potato and french fry consumption were both positively associated with risk for type 2 diabetes. Comparing the highest and the lowest quintile of potato intake, the multivariate relative risk (RR) for diabetes was 1.14 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.02 – 1.26; P for trend, .009). Comparing the highest and the lowest quintile of french fry intake, the multivariate RR was 1.21 (95% CI, 1.09 – 1.33; P for trend < .0001).

The RR for type 2 diabetes was 1.18 (95% CI, 1.03 – 1.35) for 1 daily serving of potatoes; 1.16 (95% CI, 1.05 – 1.29) for 2 weekly servings of french fries; and 1.30 (95% CI, 1.08 – 1.57) for substituting 1 serving of potatoes per day for 1 serving of whole grains per day.

In obese and sedentary women, the association between potato consumption and risk for type 2 diabetes was more pronounced. These subgroups were thought to be more likely to have underlying insulin resistance, which may exacerbate the adverse metabolic effects of higher glycemic carbohydrates.

"Our findings suggest a modest positive association between the consumption of potatoes and the risk of type 2 diabetes in women," the authors write. "This association was more pronounced when potatoes were substituted for whole grains."
"These data support a potential benefit from limiting the consumption of these foods in reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes," the authors conclude. "Substitution of these sources of carbohydrate with lower glycemic, high-fiber forms of carbohydrates such as whole grains should be encouraged."
Am J Clin Nutr. 2006;83:284-290

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DID YOU KNOW:
Diabetes And Its Awful Toll Quietly Emerge As A Crisis: It is growing quickly while other scourges, like heart disease and cancer, are stable or in decline. An estimated 800,000 adult New Yorkers — more than one in every eight — now have diabetes, and city health officials describe the problem as a bona fide epidemic. But as alarmed as health officials are about the present, they worry more about what is to come. Within a generation or so, doctors fear, a huge wave of new cases could overwhelm the public health system and engulf growing numbers of the young. The prospect is frightening, but it has gone largely unnoticed outside public health circles. Nearly 21 million Americans are believed to be diabetic, according to the Centers For Disease Control And Prevention, and 41 million more are prediabetic; their blood sugar is high, and could reach the diabetic level if they do not alter their living habits.