Potato lovers may have higher diabetes risk

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=healthNews&storyID=2006-02-23T173345Z_01_HAR363207_RTRUKOC_0_US-POTATO-RISK.xml

Potato lovers may have higher diabetes risk
Thu Feb 23, 2006 12:33 PM ET



By Amy Norton

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Holding that side of fries might help
thwart type 2 diabetes, new research suggests.

In a long-term study of nearly 85,000 U.S. women, researchers at
Harvard University found that those with the highest potato intake had
a modestly elevated risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

The link was strongest among obese women, who are already at increased
risk of the disease, suggesting that heavy potato consumption may pose
a particular problem for them, the researchers point out.

The findings are published in the American Journal of Clinical
Nutrition.

Though potatoes have healthful attributes, they also have a high
glycemic index (GI) -- meaning they cause a rapid, strong rise in blood
sugar. Over time, these surges may damage the pancreatic cells that
produce the hormone insulin, which is needed to metabolize blood sugar.

Overweight or sedentary adults may be particularly vulnerable to the
effects of high-GI foods because they often have underlying insulin
resistance -- a precursor to diabetes in which body cells lose their
sensitivity to insulin.

So it would make sense for these individuals to lay off the french
fries, Thomas L. Halton, the lead author of the new study, told Reuters
Health.

He and his colleagues found that women with the highest potato intake
were 14 percent more likely than those with the lowest intake to
develop diabetes over 20 years. And women who ate the most french
fries, specifically, had a 21 percent greater risk of diabetes than
those who ate the fewest.

Overall diet and other lifestyle habits did not explain the link, and
potatoes seemed to be more problematic when a woman ate them instead of
whole grains.

Whole grains -- as well as many high-fiber vegetables, fruits and
legumes -- have a lower GI than potatoes and white-flour products. So
eating those foods in place of potatoes, Halton's team concludes, could
potentially cut diabetes risk.

SOURCE: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, February 2006.

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HFCS and now poatoes.

Hmmmm. Maybe the term "Sugar Diabetes" ought to be changed to "Carb
Diabetes".

TC

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