A recent study by researchers publishing in the British Medical Journal reports that consuming as few as three servings of French Fries a week could trigger a 20 percent increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes (TTD)…
Why didn’t we hear about this sooner? Maybe it was in the news and I just missed it. But I don’t think so. No matter, the idea that fries are capable of causing widespread, huge increases in TTD is something that demands our attention!
What they did…
The researchers investigated the association between intake of potatoes prepared by different methods (boiled, baked, or mashed versus French fries) and risk of type 2 diabetes (TTD). They also looked at the impact on health of replacing potatoes with other major carbohydrates, such as whole grains and rice.
The group had the unprecedented opportunity to tap a huge data base collected over the past 4 decades.
Based on more than 205,000 health professionals from three large US studies carried out between 1984 and 2021. Participants were free of diabetes, heart disease or cancer and completed detailed food questionnaires every four years starting as far back as 1984.
During almost 40 years of follow up, 22,299 people were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
What they found
The researchers found that for every three weekly servings of total potato, the rate of type 2 diabetes increased by 5 percent and for every three weekly servings of French fries, the rate increased by 20 percent. However, similar intake of baked, boiled, or mashed potatoes was not associated with a significantly increased risk.
At the same time, replacing three weekly servings of total potato with whole grains lowered the type 2 diabetes rate by 8 percent. Substituting baked, boiled, or mashed potatoes with whole grains lowered the rate by 4 percent, and replacing French Fries lowered the rate by 19 percent.
The takeaway
So much for the debate about whether beef tallow is ‘better’ than other frying oils. Or which type of fat is optimum for fries. Those issues seem petty in the shadow of the overarching Fries ‘crisis’.
Clearly, the question we all need to be asking is, ‘Fries or no fries?’
And the answer is equally clear…
My take
I love the whole idea of Fries: Crispy crust, fluffly interior, great ‘fried’ flavour. The way they go with just about anything you might want to put on them, or dip them in.
But the notion that they’re capable of costing me such a huge part of my life as 19 percent, by giving me type 2 diabetes, is a deal buster for me.
So… No more fries for me. I’ll take mine baked, boiled or mashed, from here on in!
~ Maggie J.