People who eat potatoes are more likely to develop gestational diabetes than women who eat them less than once a week.
Whether sautéed, mashed or steamed, potatoes are a staple of the French diet. Each year, an inhabitant consumes between 50 and 55 kg. But better not to overdo it. Particularly important advice for women.
Indeed, too much consumption before pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of gestational diabetes, according to a large study published this Tuesday in the prestigious British Medical Journal.
Many studies have shown that craving potatoes can have deleterious effects on health by increasing the level of sugar in the blood. In fact, the glycemic index of this starch is high. To avoid a blood sugar spike, it is strongly recommended that diabetics eat potatoes with foods rich in fiber.
This is why American researchers (1) are interested in the possible effect of potatoes on gestational diabetes, one of the most frequent complications in pregnant women.
More than 15,000 women followed
To assess this association, scientists followed more than 15,600 women for 10 years. None of them had presented with gestational diabetes in their previous pregnancies or suffered from chronic pathologies. Every 4 years, they were asked about their consumption of potatoes. The questionnaire proposed the answers “never” to “6 times a day” and made it possible to specify in what form they were consumed.
During the study, 21,600 single (non-twin) pregnancies were reported. Among them, 854 cases of gestational diabetes were identified.
After taking into account the various risk factors such as age, family history of diabetes, physical activity, quality of diet and body mass index (BMI), the researchers find a link between potato consumption and the onset of gestational diabetes. Women who consumed this starch between 1 to 5 times a week were at greater risk of developing this disorder than those who consumed it less than once a week.
But the good news is that it is possible to counteract the deleterious effect of potatoes by replacing them with other foods. Researchers show that by replacing 2 servings per week with vegetables, legumes (lentils, peas or beans, etc.) or cereals (bulgur, quinoa, spelled, etc.) the risk of gestational diabetes is reduced by 9 to 12%. .
(1) Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and Harvard University.
.
