Dietary potato intake and risks of type 2 diabetes and gestational diabetes mellitus

Perspective: Potatoes, Quality Carbohydrates, and Dietary Patterns

“…Potatoes score well on carbohydrate quality metrics, similar to legumes and even exceeding that of whole grains in some cases [ 2 ]. However, they have developed a reputation as a low-quality carbohydrate [ 9 ], with many reviews citing their GI as the cause [ 3 , 10 , 11 ]. Despite limited published epidemiologic evidence on its potential risk of T2DM until after the 2000s [ [12] , [13] , [14] , [15] , [16] ], the potato was already considered a health concern based on its GI as early as the 1980s [ 17 ].…”

“…Given dietary pattern studies are not designed to assess a single food’s health impact, a more objective point-of-view can be found in indices assessing the overall quality of carbohydrate-rich foods. As discussed, most explanations for why the intake of potatoes may be a health concern include its high GI [ 3 , 10 , 11 ]. Although the GI is a valuable metric for assessing what foods produce lower glycemic responses on average [ 27 ], it should be considered alongside other quality metrics.…”

“…Four recent meta-analyses of prospective cohorts have described how potato intake increases the risk of T2DM [ 3 , 10 , 33 , 34 ]. With such agreement, the hypothesis appears sufficiently answered.…”

“…Guo et al. [ 10 ] includes these cohorts in addition to cohorts in central and northern China [ 36 , 37 ], an Iranian cohort [ 38 ] and cross-sectional study [ 39 ], case-control study in Saudi Arabia [ 40 ], and cross-sectional study in the United Kingdom [ 16 ], representing the most encompassing meta-analysis across geographies and study designs. Their meta-analysis additionally included gestational diabetes as an outcome [ 10 ], but the data discussed here are focused on T2DM.…”

Scientific advice related to nutrient profiling for the development of harmonised mandatory front‐of‐pack nutrition labelling and the setting of nutrient profiles for restricting nutrition and health claims on foods

“…unfavourable) dose–response relationships between the consumption of potatoes and diabetes risk in Western populations, but the strength of the association differs depending on the way potatoes are prepared. Either no or a mostly modest increase in T2DM risk has been reported for high vs. low consumers of boiled/baked/mashed potatoes (Borch et al, 2016; Zhang et al, 2018; Quan et al, 2020; Guo et al, 2021). Conversely, the association between French fries and diabetes risk is consistent across systematic reviews, possibly because of the strong relationship observed also in relation to weight gain (Borch et al, 2016; Zhang et al, 2018; Quan et al, 2020; Guo et al, 2021).…”