The myth about the fattening effect of potatoes is refuted by the latest research by scientists from the USA. Eating a few of them a day, made without fat, lowers your blood pressure almost as well as some antihypertensive drugs without affecting your weight. Information on this subject is provided by the EurekAletrt website.
The authors of the study emphasize, however, that the potatoes served in the studies were not covered with ketchup, mayonnaise or any other sauce, nor were they prepared in the form of french fries, but baked without fat in a microwave oven.
Researchers from the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania analyzed red potatoes due to their high content of health-promoting chemicals, including antioxidants from the group of phenols, anthocyanins and carotenoids. However, they believe that ordinary white potatoes can have a similar effect. 18 overweight or obese people with arterial hypertension participated in the study. For a month, some of them ate 6-8 red potatoes baked in a microwave oven twice a day, and some did not eat these vegetables. The groups then switched diets.
The researchers monitored the patients’ blood pressure, both systolic (higher values) and diastolic (lower values).
It turned out that during the study period, diastolic blood pressure decreased on average by 4,3%. (4 mm Hg) and systolic blood pressure by 3,5 percent. Most of the patients were taking high blood pressure medications in parallel, but potatoes additionally lowered blood pressure. None of the study participants gained weight. The potato diet also had no effect on the level of blood lipids and glucose.
According to the authors of the research, this means that red potatoes are effective in lowering blood pressure, and thus also the risk of heart attack and stroke, in patients with arterial hypertension. Scientists suspect that currently planned studies on plain white potatoes will yield similar results.
Potatoes, probably more than any other vegetable, have an undeservedly bad reputation for which many health-conscious people have excluded them from their diets, comments Dr. Joe Vinson, who led the study. – The word + potatoes + people associate with + fattening, high in carbohydrates and empty calories + food. In fact, if you prepare them without frying and without butter, margarine or cream, one potato has only 110 calories and many healthy plant compounds and vitamins. We hope our research will help change opinions about potatoes.
Dr. Vinson recalls that other studies have successfully identified compounds in potatoes with effects similar to known antihypertensive drugs from the group of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE inhibitors). These vegetables also contain other substances that have a beneficial effect on health.
Unfortunately for fries and crisps lovers, cooking potatoes in fat and very high heat destroys most of these healthy compounds, leaving mostly starch, fat and minerals. (PAP)
Also read: Hypertension, or the heart as a pumping pump too fast