All potatoes are not equal: new research reveals that fries increase the risk of diabetes, while whole grains can help protect against this.
Study: Total and specific contribution of potatoes and risk of type 2 diabetes: results of three American cohort studies and a substitution meta-analysis of prospective cohorts. Image credit: Larysapol / Shutterstock
The fries were associated with an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes (T2D), while other forms of potatoes, including cooked, boiled and puree, were not, according to a new study by the Harvard Th Chan School of Public Health.
The study published in the British medical journal have also found that the exchange of any form of potatoes for whole grains can reduce the risk of T2D, although substituting them with white rice has increased the risk. The replacement of all potatoes with whole grains was associated with a lower T2D risk by 8%, and this risk reduction was statistically significant and coherent between analyzes.
The study also revealed that the lack of association for potatoes baked, boiled or puree was robust in several sensitivity analyzes.
Clarify the connection of the Darkeeper Apple
According to the researchers, while the previous studies alluded to a link between potatoes and T2D, evidence was incoherent and often lacked details on cooking methods and the potential effects of the substitution of other foods for potatoes.
“Our study offers deeper and more complete information by examining different types of potatoes, following the diet over the decades, taking into account long -term weight changes and exploring the effects of potato exchange for other foods,” said the main author Seyed Mohammad Mousava, a postdoctoral researcher in the nutrition department. “We change the conversation of:” Are the potatoes good or bad? »To a more nuanced and useful question: how are they prepared and what could we instead? “”
Decades of food data from large American cohorts
Researchers have examined the results of the diets and diabetics of 205,107 men and women registered in the study on the health of nurses, the study on the health of nurses and health professionals.
For more than 30 years, participants have regularly answered food questionnaires, detailing the frequency with which they consumed certain foods, including fries; Cooked potatoes, porridge or puree; potato or corn pisses; and whole grains. They also reported on new health diagnoses, including T2D and various other health, lifestyle and demographic factors, for which researchers have checked.
During the study period, 22,299 participants said they had developed a T2D. In particular, the association between fries and the risk of diabetes was the strongest when consumption occurred 12 to 20 years before the diagnosis, which suggests that long -term food models count.
The increased risk of fries was the most pronounced in individuals with a higher body mass index (BMI) and in white participants, and this modification of the effect was statistically significant.
Fries lead the risk of diabetes, but other potatoes do not
The study revealed that three portions each week of fries increased the risk of developing a T2D by 20%, with about half of this risk explained by weight gain over time. The risk ratio for three portions per week of fries was 1.20 (95% CI from 1.12 to 1.28). The potatoes, boiled and puree and potato / corn puppets were not significantly associated with the T2D risk.
For cooked, boiled or puree potatoes, the risk ratio for three portions per week was 1.01 (95% CI 0.98 to 1.05), indicating no significant association. Researchers, however, calculated that the consumption of whole grains, such as whole grain pasta, bread or farro, instead of potatoes baked, boiled or puree could reduce the risk of T2D by 4%. The replacement of fries with whole grains could lower the T2D risk by 19%.
Even the exchange of refined grains for fries has been estimated as lowering the T2D risk. Conversely, replacing potatoes, especially baked, boiled or puree, with white rice was associated with a higher T2D risk. No significant association has been found between potato or corn crust and T2D risk.
The absence of association for fleas was consistent in all analytical models.
Meta-analysis confirms the results between populations
Researchers have completed their study with a new meta-analytical approach to estimate how potatoes exchange on whole grains could affect the risk of T2D, using cohort studies data previously published. This involved two distinct meta-analyzes: one based on data of 13 cohorts examining the contribution of potatoes and the other of 11 cohorts on the intake of whole grains, each encompassing more than 500,000 participants and 43,000 T2D diagnoses on four continents.
The results were closely consistent with those of the new study.
Implications for food orientations and the prevention of diabetes
“The public health message here is simple and powerful: small changes in our daily diet can have a significant impact on the risk of diabetes type 2.. Limiting potatoes, in particular the limitation of fries, and the choice of healthy sources and whole grains of carbohydrates could help reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes through the population,” said the corresponding author Wilter Wilter nutrition. “For political decision -makers, our results highlight the need to go beyond the main categories of food and pay particular attention to the way food is prepared and what they replace. All carbohydrates, nor even all potatoes are not created equal, and this distinction is crucial when it comes to shaping effective food directives. »»
The other co-authors of Harvard Chan included Xiao Gu, Hala Alessa, Qi Sun, Frank Hu, Joann Manson and Eric Rimm.
Study of limitations and sources of financing
The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health (UM1 CA186107 subsidies, U01 CA176726 and U01 CA167552); Friends of faces / children connect; the epidemiology unit of the medical research council (Grant MC_UU_00006 / 3); The Biomedical Research Center of the National Institute of the United Kingdom for Cambridge Health and Care Research on Nutrition, Obesity, Metabolism and Endocrinology (NIHR203312, NIHR202397 subsidies); And the Kuwait Heart Foundation. As an observation study, the authors note that the results cannot prove causality and substitution analyzes are modeled rather than randomized. The robustness of the results was confirmed through the sensitivity and analysis of sub-groups.