American researchers at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston (United States) pooled the results of three observational studies on the eating habits of more than 187,000 people and examined the link with high blood pressure. Objective: to verify whether the regular consumption of potatoes (baked, fried or boiled) had an impact on this cardiovascular disease.
According to the authors of this published study in the British medical journal, compared to eating potatoes once a month, people who eat them – baked, boiled or mashed – four to six times a week increase their risk of hypertension by 11%. A risk that increases by 17% when French fries are added to this weekly menu. According to the authors, salt intakewould not modify the results but they admit that they were not able to control all the possible variables in the recipes.
An increase in the level of glucose in the blood
Although they do not claim to have conclusively established that potatoes cause high blood pressure, researchers in the United States have found that a “Long-term greater consumption of potatoes was significantly associated with an increased risk of hypertension in women”. Researchers suggest that potatoes cause a rapid rise in glucose levels in the blood, which is associated with blood vessel problems and therefore increased blood pressure. A previous Japanese study had already mentioned this explanation and underlined a link between potato consumption and diabetes type 2.
Read also :
Yogurt Reduces Risk of High Blood Pressure in Women
Infographic: what to know about blood pressure