Study Links Potato Consumption to Hypertension Risk

Higher intake of potatoes—mashed, boiled, baked, or fried—is associated with an increased risk of developing hypertension, according to the results of a recent study.

While US government food programs originally restricted starchy vegetables, in recent years many of the restrictions have been lifted, due in part to the high potassium content of potatoes and a lack of evidence of adverse health effects.
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For their study, researchers followed 62,175 women from the Nurses’ Health Study, 88,475 women from the Nurses’ Health Study II, and 36,803 men from the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. All participants were nonhypertensive at baseline.

During 2,938,961 person years of follow-up, 77,726 cases of hypertension were reported.

After controlling for weight, smoking status, physical activity levels, and dietary habits, the researchers found that consuming 4 or more servings of mashed, baked, or boiled potatoes per week was associated with an increased risk of developing hypertension compared with consuming less than 1 serving a month (hazard ratio, 1.11). French fries and potato chips were associated with even higher risk (hazard ratio, 1.17).

“We found independent prospective associations of higher intake of baked, boiled, or mashed potatoes and French fries with an increased risk of hypertension,” the researchers concluded. “These findings have potentially important public health ramifications, as they do not support a potential benefit from the inclusion of potatoes as vegetables in government food programs but instead support a harmful effect that is consistent with adverse effects of high carbohydrate intakes seen in controlled feeding studies.”

—Michael Potts

Reference:
Borgi L, Rimm EB, Willett WC, Forman JP. Potato intake and incidence of hypertension: results from three prospective US cohort studies [published online May 17, 2016]. BMJ. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.i2351.