Why Should We Eat Less Potatoes?

Harvard researchers believe that if we eat more potatoes, we can increase the risk of developing diabetes type 2. That is why we need to replace potatoes with whole grains. Researchers concluded these findings by adjusting the factors derived from the type of lifestyle, BMI, diet, and anything that is connected with the demographic origins. Here are the facts and findings that the researchers procured while they were studying participants.

Harvard’s Study

A team of researchers administrated this study and the MD, ScD, Qi Sun, and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health supervised it. The people who participated in this study were both male and female. They came from the US and didn’t suffer from diabetes or any cardiovascular disease. There were 70,773 women who participated in the Nurses' Health Study (1984-2010); 40,669 men from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (1986-2010); and 87,739 women from the Nurses' Health Study II (1991-2011). After years of researching 3,988,007 people, the researchers decided that there were 15,362  cases of diabetes type 2. Therefore, replacing potatoes with whole grains seemed effective for people who are prone to developing this chronic condition. The goal of this study was to determine what kind of effect potatoes have on increasing the risk of developing the disease. They took the type of diet, BMI, lifestyle, and democratic roots of origin into consideration. As a result, they decided that the people who ate the biggest potato meals had the highest risk of diabetes type 2. However, when they replaced the same amount of servings with whole grains, they saw that in this way the participants were not prone to developing the disease. In addition, whole-grain dark bread, popcorn, cooked oatmeal, brown rice, breakfast cereal, wheat germ, bran, etc replaced all the potatoes. Therefore, they limited daily potato consumption and helped the participants improve their immune systems. Besides, grains are rich in carbohydrates, and they can improve weight loss and control blood glucose. This means that a low-carb diet may be a lot more beneficial for people with this chronic disease. Finally, the goal of this research was to help reduce the need for medication for people who are prone to developing the condition. Source: The Global Diabetes Community | ADA | Everyday Health