You don’t have to say “no” to potatoes to lose weight

Potatoes aren't necessarily bad for the waistline - and could actually help us lose weight, a study claims. Dieters who included potatoes in their meal plans all lost weight - as long as they reduced their overall calorie intake, researchers found.

The scientists concluded there is no evidence that potatoes lead to weight gain if they are prepared in a healthy manner.

The researchers wanted to understand the role of lowering calories and the glycemic index (GI) affected weight loss, when potatoes are included in the diet. The glycemic index is a scale of zero to 100 representing how quickly glucose is released into the bloodstream after eating carbohydrates.

Eating high GI foods such as white bread and white rice causes a spike in blood sugar levels as glucose is released quickly into the bloodstream, followed by a slump when insulin is released to control it. Low GI foods, such as wholegrain bread, porridge and brown rice, break down slowly during digestion, making dieters feel fuller for longer and stabilising blood sugar levels.

As part of the study, 90 overweight men and women were split into three groups. The first group was told to reduce their calories but eat high GI foods. The second group was told to reduce their calories but eat low GI foods. People in the third group could eat whatever they wanted, with no restrictions on calories or GI foods.

All three groups were given potatoes, healthy recipes and told to eat five to seven servings of potatoes each week. At the end of the 12-week study period, the researchers found all three groups had lost weight and there was no significant difference in weight loss between the groups. Interestingly, even the control group reduced their calories and lost weight - despite not being provided with a specific calorie restriction.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the research was funded by The United States Potato Board, which represents more than 2,500 U.S. potato growers and handlers. However it was published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition.

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