Oh no! That delicious spud may be bad for blood.
A long-term study of nearly 85,000 women found that those who ate the most potatoes had an elevated risk of developing type 2 diabetes, reports Reuters. Harvard University researchers found that the link was strongest among obese women.
Why potatoes? They are good for you, but they also have a high glycemic index (GI), causing a rapid and strong rise in blood sugar. When this happens frequently over time, such surges can damage the pancreatic cells that produce the hormone insulin, which we need to metabolize blood sugar, notes Reuters. Those who are overweight, obese or sedentary are particularly vulnerable to foods with a high GI index because these people may already have insulin resistance, which is the precursor to type 2 diabetes.
Here are the specific numbers: Women who ate the most potatoes were 14 percent more likely than those with the lowest intake to develop diabetes over 20 years. And fries are the most dangerous of all kinds of potatoes. Those who wolfed down the most french fries had a 21 percent greater risk of diabetes than those who ate the least. The researchers are positive potatoes are to blame, since overall diet and other lifestyle habits did not explain the link.
What can you do? It's pretty obvious. Lay off the french fries, lead study author Thomas L. Halton says.
The study findings were published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
--From the Editors at Netscape
