While low-carbohydrate (or no-carbohydrate) diets have become popular over recent years, with many shunning the humble spud in favour of other vegetables, research from Edith Cowan University (ECU) shows that health issues associated with potatoes may actually be due to how they’re prepared and what they’re eaten with, rather than the potatoes themselves.
Recent literature indicates potatoes may have a detrimental effect on health, such as possibly increasing the risk of developing type 2 diabetes (T2DM), however, a recent analysis of the long-term Danish Diet, Cancer and Health study by researchers at ECU reveals there’s more to the story here.
Published in Diabetes Care, the study led by Nicola Bondonno from ECU’s Nutrition and Health Innovation Research Institute reveals that study participants who consumed the most vegetables were 21% less likely to develop T2DM than those who consumed the least amount of vegetables.
PhD candidate Pratik Pokharel carried out work on the analysis and said while potatoes didn’t have the same impact on T2DM, they also didn’t have any negative effect.
“In previous studies, potatoes have been positively linked to the incidence of diabetes, regardless of how they’re prepared — but we found that’s not true,” Mr Pokharel said.
“In Denmark, people consume potatoes prepared in many different ways; in our study, we could distinguish between the different preparation methods.
“When we separated boiled potatoes from mashed potatoes, fries or crisps, boiled potatoes were no longer associated with a higher risk of diabetes: they had a null effect,” he said.
Mr Pokharel said underlying dietary patterns were the key.
“In our study, people who ate the most potatoes also consumed more butter, red meat and soft drink — foods known to increase your risk of T2DM,” he said.
“When you account for that, boiled potatoes are no longer associated with diabetes. It’s only fries and mashed potatoes, the latter likely because it is usually made with butter, cream and the like.”
Eat your veggies
Mr Pokharel said findings from the study indicate vegetables could play a key role in reducing T2DM, as people who ate a lot of leafy greens and cruciferous veggies such as spinach, lettuce, broccoli and cauliflower had a significantly lower risk of developing the condition.
He said the relationship between vegetables and diabetes should be incorporated into public dietary guidelines — as should the benefits of eating potatoes.
“The finding that vegetables lower diabetes risk is crucial for public health recommendations, and we shouldn’t ignore it,” he said.
“Regarding potatoes, we can’t say they have a benefit in terms of T2DM, but they also aren’t bad if prepared in a healthy way.
“We should separate potatoes and other vegetables in regard to messaging about disease prevention but replacing refined grains such as white rice and pasta with potatoes can improve your diet quality because of fibre and other nutrients found in potatoes.”
Putting it into practice in the kitchen
Mr Pokharel said people should be advised to increase their vegetable intake — and they could include potatoes, so long as they left out some of the unhealthy extras such as butter, cream and oil.
“Potatoes have fibre and nutrients, which are good for you,” he said.
“People talk about carbs being bad, but it’s more about the type of carbs you’re having; compared to something like white rice, boiled potatoes are a good quality of carbohydrate.
“But just take care how you prepare them: don’t eat fries or mash with extras in it all the time.
“Just boil them and eat them like other greens or other foods — and you don’t need to have it with red meat all the time.”
To read the study, visit: diabetesjournals.org/care/article/doi/10.2337/dc22-0974/147965/Vegetable-But-Not-Potato-Intake-is-Associated-With
