Eating more potatoes may reduce risk for mortality, researchers find

Key takeaways:

• A weekly intake of 14 or more potatoes was tied to a lower risk for death vs. an intake of six or fewer potatoes.
• Each 100 g per day increment of potatoes was associated with a 4% lower risk for death.

A greater weekly intake of potatoes reduced the risk for all-cause mortality as well as mortality from CVD, ischemic heart disease and acute myocardial infarction, a Norwegian-based cohort study showed.

Potatoes have previously been tied to lower mortality in people with diabetes, particularly when consumed in the morning.

However, most data on potatoes and mortality are limited, according to Erik Kristoffer Arnesen, a PhD student at the University of Oslo in Norway, and colleagues.

“Moreover, the specific methods of preparation are often not detailed, yet they can significantly influence the nutritional profile of potatoes, for instance through added fats and sodium,” they wrote in the Journal of Nutrition.

The researchers assessed the effect of mostly boiled potatoes on death from all-causes, CVD, ischemic heart disease (IHD) and acute myocardial infarction (AMI) among 77,297 adults (50.5% men) who had attended three health screenings between 1974 to 1988. The participants’ mean age at baseline was 41 years. At each screening, they reported information on dietary intake through food frequency questionnaires.

On average, Arnesen and colleagues found that men consumed more potatoes than women, and the prevalence of diabetes was highest in those with low potato intake.

During a median follow-up of 33.5 years, there were 27,848 total deaths, including 9,072 deaths from CVD, 4,620 deaths from IHD and 3,207 deaths from AMI.

The researchers reported that participants who consumed 14 or more potatoes a week had a lower risk for all-cause mortality vs. those who consumed six or fewer potatoes (HR= 0.88; 95% CI, 0.84-0.93).

In addition, those who consumed 14 or more potatoes a week also had a marginally lower risk for death from CVD (HR = 0.96; 95% CI, 0.88-1.04), IHD (HR = 0.97; 95% CI, 0.85-1.1) and AMI (HR = 0.99; 95% CI, 0.85-1.15) compared with those who consumed six potatoes or fewer.

In analyses of cumulative intakes, each 100 g per day increment of potatoes was associated with a 4% lower risk for death from:

• all-causes (HR = 0.96; 95% CI, 0.94-0.98);
• CVD (HR = 0.96; 95% CI, 0.93-0.99);
• IHD (HR = 0.96; 95% CI, 0.91-1); and
• AMI (HR = 0.96; 95% CI, 0.91-1.01).

The findings remained similar after the researchers adjusted for BMI, smoking status and physical activity, although the associations between potato intake and mortality from CVD, AMI and IHD were only significant in men, Arnesen and colleagues reported.

Regarding possible mechanisms behind the results, the researchers noted that potatoes accounted for 20% and 26% of dietary fiber and vitamin C intake in men, respectively, which have been associated with lower all-cause and CVD mortality.

The researchers pointed out that because the cohort was made up of a Norwegian population and based on diets from the 1970s and 1980s, the study’s generalizability to other populations with different dietary patterns may be limited.

Still, the findings add to literature that potato consumption “does not adversely affect health outcomes and may be a significant part of a healthy diet,” they concluded.