This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Potato consumption before pregnancy increases risk for gestational diabetes
Women who eat more potatoes before pregnancy are at increased risk for gestational diabetes compared with those who eat fewer servings, and replacing potatoes with other vegetables may lower that risk, recent study findings show.
“Potatoes may not be regarded as healthy vegetables, as they are rich in starch, especially when they are consumed at high levels,” Cuilin Zhang, MD, PhD, MPH, of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, told Endocrine Today. “They are related to deteriorated glucose response and a higher risk of diabetes in pregnancy when the consumption levels are high.”
Cuilin Zhang
Zhang and colleagues evaluated data from the Nurses’ Health Study II (1991-2001) on 15,632 women with no history of gestational diabetes or chronic diseases before pregnancy to determine any effects of potato consumption before pregnancy on risk for gestational diabetes. Researchers assessed consumption of potatoes and other foods every 4 years. Follow-up was conducted for 10 years.
During follow-up, 854 of 21,693 singleton pregnancies were affected by gestational diabetes.
A significantly higher risk for gestational diabetes was found with higher potato consumption. Compared with less than one potato serving per week, the RRs for gestational diabetes was 1.21 (95% CI, 0.98-1.5) for one serving, 1.34 (95% CI, 1.1-1.64) for two to four servings and 1.62 (95% CI, 1.24-2.13) for five or more servings, after adjustment for age, parity, dietary and nondietary factors.
Substituting two servings per week of potatoes with other vegetables lowered the risk for gestational diabetes by 9%; legumes lowered the risk by 10%, and whole grain foods lowered the risk by 12%.
“In this large prospective cohort study, we found that higher prepregnancy consumption of potatoes was significantly associated with a greater risk of gestational diabetes mellitus, even after adjustment for other major risk factors for [gestational diabetes], such as age, family history of diabetes, physical activity, overall diet quality and BMI,” the researchers wrote. “We estimated that substitution of total potatoes with other vegetables, legumes or whole grain foods was significantly associated with a lower risk of [gestational diabetes].” – by Amber Cox
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.