Eating chips just three times a week raises the chance of developing type-2 diabetes by 20 per cent.
According to a new British Medical Journal paper led by Harvard public health researcher Seyed Mohammad Mousavi.
The team tracked 205,000 U.S. health workers from 1984 to 2021 and compared cooking styles.
People who ate chips or French fries five times weekly faced a 27 per cent greater diabetes risk, while the same frequency of baked, boiled or mashed potatoes added only 5 per cent.
Chips health risk vs. other potato dishes.
Researchers say fried potatoes deliver a “double hit”: their naturally high starch spikes blood sugar, and deep-frying adds fat, salt and calories that drive weight gain. Swapping chips for whole-grain foods lowered diabetes risk by 19 per cent, the study found.
Nutrition lecturer Dr Kawther Hashem notes potatoes themselves are fine when boiled or baked, providing fibre, vitamin C and potassium. “It’s the frying, portion size and salt that turn them into a problem,” she said.
The takeaway: enjoy potatoes, but keep chips to an occasional treat—and reach for whole grains to cut diabetes risk.
