A new study says: the potato is not to blame. We are. This tubeandcircle, often associated with calories and diabetes risk, is not itself responsible forYo itself to increase the risk of this condition but, in fact, the way humans cook it.
New research from Edith Cowan University (ECU) has shown that while potatoes may not have the same benefits as other vegetables in lowering the risk of type 2 diabetes, the health problems associated with potatoes may actually be due to to the way they are prepared and with whatand he eats them.
To reach this conclusion, the scientists analyzed more than 54,000 people who reported each component of their diet for the long-term Danish Diet, Cancer and Health study.
In the form of a potato chip, high in bad fats, the potato is one of the main ingredients of junk food. The rise in blood sugar caused by eating potato in this way causes a feeling of hunger, which can make you want to eat more. The consequent risk is more overweight and obesity.
One of the leaders of the research, Dr. Pratik Pokharel, told Science Daily that “In Denmark, people eat potatoes prepared in many different ways; In our study, we were able to distinguish between the different preparation methods.”
“When we separated boiled potatoes from mashed potatoes, French fries or chips, boiled potatoes were no longer associated with an increased risk of diabetes: they had no effect,” he added.either.
Pokharel said the underlying dietary patterns were the key.
“In our study, people who ate the most potatoes also consumed more butter, red meat and soft drinks, foods known to increase the risk of type 2 diabetes,” he said.
“When you take that into account, boiled potatoes are no longer associated with diabetes. It’s just the fries and the mashed potatoes, the latter probably because it’s usually made with butter, cream and the like.”
Another Harvard University study that looked at the diets of 120,000 men and women for 20 years found that those who ate the most French fries, baked potatoes, or mashed potatoes gained up to 3.4 pounds of extra weight every four years. Other university work links it to higher blood pressure readings.
The Harvard study The Problem with Potatoes does assess the contribution of nutrients and vitamins of the potato, but the scientists say that there are other vegetables that also contain them and in greater quantities: for example, broccoli has nine times more vitamin C than the potato. . And the beans, double the potassium.
Story of an essential ingredient
The potato is a tuber native to the Lake Titicaca area in Bolivia and Peru, which has been used for human consumption for more than 10,000 years. The Incas introduced it to the Spanish in the 14th century. Its consumption helped prevent a common disease among seafarers called scurvy, caused by vitamin C deficiency.
Only in Peru, there are about 4,000 different types of potatoes, which are grown at different altitudes. In the photo, the sweet potato (sweet potato), the sweet potato and the cassava, cousins of the potato.
In the United States, an average of 126 pounds of potatoes are consumed per person each year, according to the study The Problem with Potatoes, from the Harvard School of Public Health, which evaluated the health pros and cons of this popular potato. food, which we detail here:
The potato is a good source of fiber and nutrients, especially if eaten with the skin, which makes it a good preventive agent for digestive disorders and colorectal cancer.
Especially the white potato has vitamins A, C and B6, which protect the eyesight, the immune system and the metabolism and nervous system respectively.
With pros and cons, the image of peeling a potato is sealed in the Latino collective memory, and hardly, like rice, can be put aside. Cubans say that “potatoes help” because it increases the stews and allows more people to be fed. Like everything, eating it sanely, and in the healthiest cooking of it, will be able to get the best for the health of this millenary friend.