Fried Potatoes: Hazardous to Your Health

The headline said: “Eating fried potatoes linked to higher risk of death.” My philosophy is that we can eat anything as long as we eat them in moderation, and I like French fries once in a while. My scientific curiosity tells me that I need to check this out. Let’s take a look at the study.

Researchers from Italy used data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI) to assess the relationship between potato intake and mortality. This is a multicenter study that recruited over 4,400 subjects from four medical centers in the North America. The eight-year study followed subjects who have osteoarthritis of the knee or are at high risk for developing it.

At the beginning of the study, data were collected on dietary intake using a Food Frequency Questionnaire. The dietary data were used to examine the relationship between potato intake and mortality rate. Non-fried potatoes were not related to increased mortality, but there was an increased risk of death for those subjects who ate fried potatoes. The risk was highest if someone ate fried potatoes more than three days per week.

Those are the results. But I have several questions of my own. I’ll cover that the rest of the week including the big question. Don’t forget: tomorrow night is the Fibromyalgia webinar; there’s still time to register.

What are you prepared to do today?

Dr. Chet

 

Reference: Am J Clin Nutr doi: 10.3945/ajcn.117.154872