This week, I’d like to share with you some new research on type 2 diabetes. Of course, you know what you eat can make a huge difference in your risk of diabetes. There’s a new study published in the British Medical Journal that looked at potatoes. Yes, the lowly white, ordinary potatoes.
The research teams looked at data from three large cohorts: the Nurses’ Health Study, Nurses’ Health Study II, and Health Professional Follow-Up Study. They analyzed the data from over 200,000 people, tracking the diets and health outcomes for almost 40 years. In this analysis, they looked at intake of potatoes and the risk of type 2 diabetes.
Here’s the links for the whole article, and for the press release as well.
Whole article: https://www.bmj.com/content/390/bmj-2024-082121
Layman’s press release: https://bmjgroup.com/three-weekly-servings-of-french-fries-linked-to-higher-diabetes-risk/
Potato Analysis Results
Here’s the main results from this study:
When they adjusted for all the factors like BMI, lifestyle, and other dietary habits, total potato intake was linked to a 5% increase of T2D risk for three weekly servings compared to no servings.
When they teased out subgroups, they found the villain was actually French fries. Eating three servings a week of French fries increased the risk of getting T2D by 20%. But if the potatoes were baked, boiled, or mashed, there was no significant link to higher risk, like zero.
The researchers also looked at 13 other global studies with over 587,000 people in them. When the research team looked at the risk of type 2 diabetes with eating fried potatoes, they found the same thing: about a 16% increased risk of type 2 diabetes for three servings a week.
Then the researchers played around with substitutions in their models.
– When they substituted three servings of French fries for whole grains, it decreased the risk by up to about 19%.
– Or if they replaced them with veggies, legumes, and refined grains, they still saw some benefits.
– But when they put in white rice instead of French fries, the risk actually went up a little bit more.
Main Takeaway
The Big Takeaway: Potatoes—good, French fries—bad.
This probably isn’t real news to you. Actually, you knew French fries weren’t good for you. This study just confirms what you already knew. So, if you’re serious about reversing your type 2 diabetes, treat French fries as an occasional indulgence, like maybe once a month.
Plan to Take (Alternative) Action
If you currently eat French fries pretty regularly, make a plan for how you’re going to substitute something else for your French fries ahead of time.
Knowing the risk of French fries isn’t the same as making a plan to get away from them. So create a plan of action, tell a friend to keep you accountable, and make it work.
Then, when you get to that restaurant and you just have to have something to eat, and the fries smell so good, you already have a substitute in mind, and you can implement your plan in the moment without having to think about it. Commit ahead of time and just stick to the plan.
