Would you like fries with that?
Perhaps the answer to that question is “no” after a study published Wednesday in The BMJ medical journal found that consuming three french fry servings a week was linked with a 20% greater chance of getting type 2 diabetes.
Researchers noted that the potatoes themselves weren’t the problem: People in the research who consumed similar amounts of mashed, boiled or baked potatoes did not see a considerably elevated chance of developing the disease, researchers said in the peer-reviewed study.
When whole grains like quinoa or brown rice are swapped in for french fries, the risk of getting type 2 diabetes is reduced by roughly 20%, researchers said in a news release. Yet researchers noted that exchanging white rice for baked, boiled and mashed potatoes is linked with higher diabetes risks.
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUNDA study published Wednesday in The BMJ medical journal found that consuming three servings of french fries a week was linked with a 20% greater chance of getting type 2 diabetes.Participants in the research who consumed similar amounts of mashed, boiled or baked potatoes did not see a considerably elevated chance of developing the disease, researchers said in the peer-reviewed study.Roughly 38 million people in America are estimated to have diabetes, with most having the type 2 form, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“So, I guess the conclusion is that the less french fries you have cooked in … oils or fried like that, the better,” said Dr. Barry Schuval, an endocrinologist at Northwell Health. He added that replacing the fries with whole grains could also be a good choice.
The study comes as roughly 38 million people in America have been estimated to have diabetes, with most having the type 2 form of the condition, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Type 2 diabetes can be avoided through diet and exercise, physicians say.
“Eating patterns that have several weekly servings of fried foods, potatoes in this case, may also have other lifestyle and meal choices that could also contribute to a person’s overall health,” Stacey Krawczyk, director of nutrition and wellness with the American Diabetes Association, said in a statement emailed to Newsday.
Krawczyk later added: “We encourage people to use a foundation of whole and less processed forms of foods as they build their balanced plate.”
To get the findings published Wednesday, researchers used three longitudinal studies of more than 200,000 health professionals in the U.S., the paper said. The workers who took part in the study were surveyed about several aspects of their lives, including their diets. Participants who initially had ailments like diabetes or cancer were excluded from the study, published Wednesday.
Over roughly 40 years, about 22,000 of the workers were identified as having type 2 diabetes, the study found.
The group that developed type 2 diabetes was also more likely to have an “overall lower diet quality,” marked by high consumption of red meats, dairy and starchy vegetables like potatoes, the study noted.
Schuval said a possible contributor to the findings that was identified in the study is that potatoes have a high glycemic index, a scale that looks at how quickly foods with carbohydrates raise blood glucose. Over time, high blood glucose stresses the pancreas and increases the risk of diabetes, he said.
He also noted that starch is highly caloric, particularly when it is fried in oils. As someone begins to gain weight, he said, a person can become insulin resistant. If insulin, which controls blood glucose, is not working correctly, it can heighten the risk of diabetes.
French fries, in particular, are also a highly refined carbohydrate, meaning that they are often stripped of their fibrous outer layer, leaving behind starch, physicians say.
The study notes that the causes leading up to the findings are “not fully understood. ” Researchers also noted several limitations in the study, including that most participants were of European descent and that other cultures may have lower potato consumption. It also did not distinguish between different types of potatoes, such as sweet potatoes, researchers said.
Megan Mulcahy, director of communications at Potatoes USA — an organization that does marketing and research on the vegetable — said in an emailed statement to Newsday that the serving size for fries mentioned in the study is significantly higher than what most Americans eat in a week.
“We shouldn’t judge foods in isolation because that’s not how people eat in the real world,” Mulcahy said. “Like many foods, fries can absolutely be part of a healthy eating pattern when enjoyed in moderation.”
Either way, physicians say that findings from the study suggest that maybe it’s best to limit french fry intake.
“I believe that this study shows you that the enemy is not the carbohydrate, per se,” said Dr. Silvana Obici, chief of the division of endocrinology at Stony Brook Medicine.
Obici, who is also medical director for the university’s diabetes center, said that the study shows that there are better carbohydrates than others and that the way that food is prepared plays a significant role in health. She also noted that portion size is another factor.
Despite the study’s results, many people can’t afford to avoid processed foods, Obici said in a phone interview.
“It’s not necessarily, you know, that they want to eat this stuff,” she said. “It’s that french fries are cheap.”
Correction: A prior version of this story incorrectly listed credentials for Stacey Krawczyk, who is director of nutrition and wellness with the American Diabetes Association.
Tiffany Cusaac-Smith is a general assignment reporter for Newsday. She previously worked at USA TODAY and is an alum of Howard University.
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