{"id":124817,"date":"2025-08-06T23:18:25","date_gmt":"2025-08-06T23:18:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/124817\/"},"modified":"2025-08-06T23:18:25","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T23:18:25","slug":"myth-of-the-unhealthy-potato-debunked-but-still-avoid-fries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/124817\/","title":{"rendered":"Myth of the \u2018unhealthy\u2019 potato debunked (but still avoid fries)"},"content":{"rendered":"

For years, the humble potato has been demonised as unhealthy by proponents of low-carb diets such as the Atkins or Keto plans. But new research shows that spuds are not that bad for you \u2014 as long as they are not turned into chips and deep fat fried.<\/p>\n

An international team, led by experts at Harvard and the University of Cambridge, found that eating lots of mashed, boiled and baked potatoes does not increase the risk of type 2 diabetes. But three portions of chips a week increased the risk of being diagnosed with the condition by a fifth.<\/p>\n

The study, published in the BMJ, involved 205,000 people in the US who had their diet and health monitored over four decades, during which time 22,000 of them developed diabetes.<\/p>\n

In the past, nutritionists had warned that potatoes increased the risk of type 2 diabetes and other health problems, as they are almost entirely carbohydrate, which is quickly absorbed by the body and can cause blood sugar spikes. <\/p>\n

The new findings suggest that it is how you prepare the potatoes<\/a> that matters the most. While every three servings of chips a week was associated with a 20 per cent increase in diabetes risk, a similar intake of mashed, baked or boiled potatoes was not.<\/p>\n

But substituting potatoes for whole grains such as quinoa, brown rice or oats was found to decrease diabetes risk slightly, although white rice increased the risk compared with potatoes.<\/p>\n

\"Homemade<\/p>\n

A comforting dollop of mashed potato was judged to be a healthy source of carbohydrate<\/p>\n

GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

The study\u2019s author, Dr Seyed Mohammad Mousavi of Harvard University, wrote: \u201cAlthough potatoes contain various nutrients such as fibre, vitamin C, potassium, polyphenols and magnesium, previous research has raised caution about their effects on health. The high starch content of potatoes, leading to a high glycemic index and load, combined with possible loss of nutrients and possible health risks resulting from various cooking methods, could contribute to adverse health outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 Roasted, mashed or boiled? Hot tips from the potato queen<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

The study concluded that previous links between potatoes and diabetes were \u201cprimarily driven by intake of French fries\u201d and that the health effects of potatoes \u201cdepend on the foods used as a replacement\u201d.<\/p>\n

In a linked editorial, Dr Daniel Ibsen and Dr Yanbo Zhang said: \u201cTwo key considerations are important \u2026 the method of potato preparation [and] the type of carbohydrate rich food to be replaced by minimally processed potatoes.<\/p>\n

\"Hands<\/p>\n

Homemade potato dishes are a minimally processed meal option<\/p>\n

GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

\u201cWith their relatively low environmental impact and their health impact, potatoes can be part of a healthy and sustainable diet, though whole grains should remain a priority.\u201d<\/p>\n

They noted that the findings correspond to other research showing that ultra-processed foods<\/a> heighten diabetes risk. \u201cFrench fries are often ultra-processed, whereas baked, boiled, or mashed potatoes are often minimally processed,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Eating home-cooked food \u2018helps you lose twice as much weight\u2019<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

The potato was introduced to England in the late 16th century, and by the 18th century had become a staple crop, helping to sustain the rapidly growing population during the industrial revolution.<\/p>\n

Since the 1970s, Britons have been buying fewer fresh potatoes, replacing them with processed shop-bought chips. Of the 4.4 million people in the UK with diabetes, 90 per cent have type 2, whose causes include obesity. Diabetes occurs when a person\u2019s blood sugar becomes chronically high because the body stops producing or responding to the hormone insulin.<\/p>\n

Dr Faye Riley, research communications leader at Diabetes UK, said: \u201cThis research shows that the link between potatoes and type 2 diabetes isn\u2019t as clear-cut as it might seem.<\/p>\n

\u201cDiet is just one part of the picture, but this study suggests that how food is prepared can make a difference and reinforces the advice to prioritise whole grains and cut back on fried or heavily processed foods as a way to support a balanced diet and reduce your risk.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For years, the humble potato has been demonised as unhealthy by proponents of low-carb diets such as the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":124818,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[210,1182,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-124817","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-nutrition","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114984380264369260","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124817"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124817\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/124818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}