According to a study by The BMJ Today,
higher intakes of boiled, baked, or mashed potatoes, and French fries is
associated with an increased risk of developing high blood pressure or hypertension
in adult women and men.
The US-based researchers suggest that
replacing one serving a day of boiled, baked, or mashed potatoes with one
serving of a non-starchy vegetable is linked with a lower risk of developing
hypertension.
But also, a linked editorial argues
that studying overall dietary patterns and risk of disease is more useful that
a focus on individual foods or nutrients.
Potatoes are one of the world’s most
commonly consumed foods due to their high potassium content. Also, it was
recently included as vegetables in US government healthy meals programs. But the
association of potato intake with hypertension has not been studied.
Researchers based at Brigham and Women’s
Hospital and Harvard Medical School set out to determine on whether higher long
term intake of baked, boiled or mashed potatoes, French fries, and potato chips
was associated with incident hypertension.
Over 187,000 men and
women from three large US studies for more than 20 years. Dietary intake,
including frequency of potato consumption, was assessed using a questionnaire and
hypertension was reported by participants based on diagnosis by a health
professional.
Researchers found out
that four or more servings a week of baked, boiled, or mashed potatoes was
related with an increased risk of hypertension compared with less than one
serving a month in women, but not in men. Meanwhile, higher consumption of
French fries was also associated with an increased risk of hypertension in both
women and men. Consumption of potato chips, however, was associated with no
increased risk.
After further
analyses, researchers found that one serving of non-starchy vegetables as a
replacement for the said potato meals, can help decrease risk of hypertension.
The authors point out
that potatoes have high glycemic index compared with other vegetables, which
can trigger a sharp rise in blood sugar levels and could conclude the result of
hypertension.
Source: Science Daily
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