Lovers
of fried potato might be having a rethink about the consumption of the
food following the latest discovery made by nutritionists.
File Photo: Fried Potato
How your spuds are cooked is key to your health. People who eat
fried potatoes two or more times a week double their risk of an early
death compared to those who avoid them, a recent study published in the
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found.
Eating potatoes that have not been fried was not linked to a similar early mortality risk, the researchers noted.
"Fried potatoes consumption is increasing worldwide," warned Dr. Nicola Veronese, lead author of the study and a scientist at the National Research Council in Padova, Italy.
In 2014, Americans consumed 112.1 pounds of potatoes per person,
according to the National Potato Council. Of that total, 33.5 pounds
were fresh potatoes, the remaining 78.5 pounds were processed. According
to the US Department of Agriculture, the majority of processed potatoes
Americans eat are French fries.
Trans fats in fried potatoes
Veronese and his colleagues have been tracking 4,440 people aged 45
to 79 over a period of eight years to study osteoarthritis. This
research team decided to momentarily set aside the main issue of
osteoarthritis and look at participants' consumption of potatoes.
Even though most of us may have assumed that fried potatoes could
be unhealthy for us, there is "very limited" scientific data on this
issue, Veronese explained in an email.
So the researchers divided study participants into subgroups based
on how frequently they ate potatoes each week. Over the eight years, a
total of 236 of the participants died. Analyzing the data for each
group, Veronese and his team found that those who ate fried potatoes two
to three times each week doubled their chance of dying early compared
to those who ate no fried potatoes.
French fries, potato chips, hash browns -- and any other
preparation requiring a fryer -- are all included under the umbrella of
"fried potatoes," Veronese explained.
Age or sex of participants did not influence the result, but the
data showed men were more likely than women and younger participants
were more likely than older participants to enjoy the fried food.
The study is observational, meaning the researchers simply tracked
the behavior of a group of people and found an association between one
behavior -- eating fried potatoes -- and another factor -- early death.
Because it is an observational study, Veronese and his co-authors note
it cannot be said that eating fried potatoes directly causes an early
mortality -- it would require more research to draw such a firm
conclusion.
"Even if it is an observational study, we believe that the
cooking oil, rich in trans-fat, is an important factor in explaining
mortality in those eating more potatoes," said Veronese. Trans fat
has been shown to raise the "bad," or LDL, cholesterol in the blood,
which can lead to cardiovascular disease.
Yet, he also added that "other important factors," including
obesity, a sedentary lifestyle and use of high quantities of salt might
also play a role in the early death of those eating two or more portions
of fried potatoes each week.
National Potato Council CEO John Keeling said the "study isn't
relevant to the general population" since the data was collected for an
osteoarthritis study and includes only patients with arthritis.
"Potatoes are inherently a very healthy vegetable," said
Keeling in an email. He said a medium-sized potato is 110 calories, has
no fat, no sodium, no cholesterol, and provides nearly a third of the
daily vitamin C requirement with more potassium than a banana.
"How the potato is prepared will impact the calorie, fat and sodium content," said Keeling, however the basic nutrients remain "no matter how it is prepared."
Based on the data in the study, Keeling said, "it is very much a stretch to brand fried potatoes, or any other form of potato, as unhealthy."
Susanna Larsson, an associate professor at the Institute of
Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden,
noted that the new study provides "no evidence" that potato consumption
in and of itself may increase the risk of an early death. Larsson was
not involved in the new study. Instead, it may be the "other factors"
suggested by Veronese himself.
"Fried potato consumption may be an indicator of a less healthy
(Western) dietary pattern which is associated with increased
mortality," said Larsson, who also conducted a study of potato
consumption. Her study did not find an increased risk of cardiovascular
disease linked to eating potatoes.
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