Potatoes are often linked to health concerns like high blood pressure and obesity, but many studies have overlooked key factors such as how they are prepared and what other foods people eat with them.
A study from Imperial College London suggests that cooking methods play a major role in whether potatoes impact blood pressure and body weight.
The researchers analyzed data from 2,696 adults aged 40 to 59 in the US and UK. The data came from the International Study of Macro- and Micro-Nutrients and Blood Pressure (INTERMAP), which examines how diet affects health.
They looked at different ways people consumed potatoes, including boiled, mashed, baked, and fried, as well as the overall nutritional quality of their meals.
The results showed no clear link between total potato intake and blood pressure or body mass index (BMI). Eating boiled, mashed, or baked potatoes did not appear to raise blood pressure or contribute to weight gain. However, when it came to fried potatoes, the results were different—especially for women in the US.
Women who ate more fried potatoes had, on average, a 2.29 mmHg higher systolic blood pressure and a 1.14 mmHg higher diastolic blood pressure.
This increase was found to be independent of their BMI, meaning it wasn’t just due to weight gain. Additionally, eating more fried potatoes was linked to an increase in BMI in US women. These effects were not seen in men.
The study also found that the overall quality of a person’s diet influenced these results. When fried potatoes were consumed as part of meals with poor nutritional quality, they were strongly linked to higher blood pressure in women. However, when fried potatoes were eaten in meals with better nutrition, no such association was found.
These findings suggest that it is not just potatoes themselves but how they are cooked and what they are eaten with that matters for health. While non-fried potatoes do not seem to increase blood pressure or body weight, fried potatoes may contribute to these issues—particularly in women who consume them as part of lower-quality meals.
The study highlights the importance of paying attention to food preparation methods and making healthier choices when it comes to diet. Avoiding fried potatoes or pairing them with nutrient-rich foods may help reduce the risk of high blood pressure and weight gain.
This research was conducted by Ghadeer S. Aljuraiban and colleagues and published in Clinical Nutrition.
If you care about high blood pressure, please read studies that early time-restricted eating could help improve blood pressure, and natural coconut sugar could help reduce blood pressure and artery stiffness.
For more health information, please see recent studies about added sugar in your diet linked to higher blood pressure, and results showing vitamin D could improve blood pressure in people with diabetes.
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