Potatoes increase diabetes risk

Women who eat a diet high in potatoes are at increased risk of diabetes, according to US researchers.

Harvard University researchers studied nearly 85,000 American women and found that those with the highest potato intake were about 14 per cent more likely than those with the lowest intake to develop type 2 diabetes.

The researchers also found that women who consumed the most french fries had a 21 per cent higher risk of diabetes compared with those who ate the fewest.

Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 21 million people in the US have the disease.

Diabetes remains a leading cause of heart disease, stroke, blindness, kidney disease and amputations.

Since 1987, the death rate due to diabetes has increased by 45 per cent, while the death rates due to heart disease, stroke and cancer have declined.

There are two main types of diabetes, Type 1 diabetes and Type 2.

Type 1 diabetes - also known as insulin-dependent - results from the body’s failure to produce insulin.

Type 2 diabetes develops when the body can still make some insulin, but not enough, or when the insulin that is produced does not work properly.

Taken from : www.999today.com