Do You Like Eating Fries? Pay Attention To How To Process It So It Doesn't Trigger Diabetes

JAKARTA - Recent research raises warnings for potato lovers. Apparently, how to treat potatoes can affect the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The results of this study reveal that French fries have a bigger impact than other types of potato processing.

The study involved 205,107 adults who were registered in three major studies at health workers in the United States. Monitoring was carried out for nearly 40 years, and recorded 22,299 cases of type 2 diabetes.

For the record, type 2 diabetes occurs when the body no longer responds well to the insulin hormone or the pancreas does not produce enough insulin. This disease is generally diagnosed in middle age.

After adjusting the data to lifestyle factors and other diets, researchers found a positive relationship between potato consumption and the risk of type 2 diabetes.

"This relationship was mainly triggered by the consumption of French fries, while fries or boiled were not related to the risk of type 2 diabetes," the author wrote in the study, quoted from the IFL Science page.

Data shows the consumption of three servings of French fries in a week increases the risk of type 2 diabetes by 20%. On the other hand, replacing three servings of French fries with whole grains per week lowers the risk by 19%.

However, researchers also noted that replacing grilled or boiled potatoes with white rice actually increases the risk of type 2 diabetes.

"The public health message here is simple and strong. Small changes in everyday diets can have an important impact on the risk of type 2 diabetes," said professor Walter Willett, lead author of studies as well as epidemiologist and nutritionist.

"Not all carbohydrates, not even all potatoes are the same, and this difference is very important in making effective diet guides."

For fans of French fries, this news may be disappointing, although it's not too surprising. Most people already realize that French fries are not the healthiest choice. The good news is, not all methods of cooking potatoes have the same impact.

"Kentang is an environmentally sustainable plant, so there is still value in putting it on a diet, although whole grains should remain a priority," said Daniel B. Ibsen and Yanbo Zhang in the study.

Even so, researchers warn that this study is observational. This means that it is not certain that French fries directly cause type 2 diabetes. There could be other factors that are not counted.

"The method of data collection in this study makes it difficult to accurately assess the effect of the number of carbohydrate foods on the risk of type 2 diabetes," added nutritionist Dr. Ruth Boocock of Teeside University, who was not involved in the study.

Another factor that needs to be noted is that the majority of research participants come from the background of health workers with European descendants, so the results may not represent the global population. However, Cristbal Morales, an endocrinological and nutritional specialist at the Vithas Sevilla Hospital, assesses this research as important.

"This study is tight and well-designed. Although it cannot prove a causal relationship, the results support existing recommendations to prioritize whole grains and limit fried foods." said Morales.