Potato could promote hypertension

Potatoes

La Hypertension it would affect between 10 and 15% of the population. This figure has a tendency to increase, since it has gone from 8,6 to 10,5 million people treated between 2000 and 2006, posing a public health problem.

The potato it is one of the most consumed foods in Europe, reaching an amount of 15 kilos per person per year. Curiously, in France, consumption has been on a slight increase in recent years, due to its low cost. But it is also the case in the United States, where the potato is considered as a vegetable, under the pretext of its interesting content in vitamin C, potassium, known to limit blood pressure.

Therefore, it is the reverse effect that has just been observed in this study that has included more than 185.000 Americans. Despite the well-documented effect of potassium on blood pressurel, a potato is not only made of potassium, but also starch that digests very well. This is the first study to demonstrate the long-term effect of frequent potato consumption.

Researchers have used data from three large American studies over more than 20 years, which have registered 186.453 men and women. They have taken into account many factors such as the person's body size, their sex, their state in terms of tobacco consumption, their physical activity, the rest of food consumption, their contributions in vitamins and minerals, and so on. But these adjustments have affected the results very little.

The conclusions are as follows: eating 4 or more servings of potato a week is associated with a risk of hypertension increased by 17%. The clearest effect on blood pressure was seen with potato chips. In this study, replacing a portion of potato with a portion of vegetables was associated with a significant reduction in blood pressure. However, the consumption of potato chips was not associated with an increase, but rather with a reduction in blood pressure.


Be the first to comment

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked with *

*

*

  1. Responsible for the data: Miguel Ángel Gatón
  2. Purpose of the data: Control SPAM, comment management.
  3. Legitimation: Your consent
  4. Communication of the data: The data will not be communicated to third parties except by legal obligation.
  5. Data storage: Database hosted by Occentus Networks (EU)
  6. Rights: At any time you can limit, recover and delete your information.