Potato-rich diet before pregnancy may increase the chances of gestational diabetes, says study

Are you a fan of potatoes? Do you consume them once every day? If you answered ‘Yes’ to both these questions, then there is a likely chance that you are risking gestational diabetes.

A study conducted by the US researchers has found a significant connection between regular consumption of potato-based diet and gestational diabetes. They found that this could be because the absorbable starch in potato spuds can trigger a sharp rise in blood sugar levels.

Almost 21,693 pregnancies were studied for women’s consumption of one cup of baked or boiled potato, 237ml of mashed potatoes, 113g of fries. This study was conducted over a period of 10 years and found 854 of the women had gestational diabetes.

The significant takeaways from the study included the following:

• A single a week before pregnancy increased the risk of gestational diabetes by 20 percent, as compared to those who consumed less than one serving a week
• Those consuming more than five servings a week has a 50 percent increased chance of gestational diabetes

The study found some more interesting facts when the women were asked to replace potatoes with green vegetables and other nutritional food items like legumes. Here’s what the experts found:

• If they replaced the potato servings with vegetables, beans, lentils and pulses, they had 9 percent to 12 percent lower chances of developing gestational diabetes

The flip side of the study

While the study’s endeavour to find a possible association between consumption of potato before pregnancy and gestational diabetes, it does not prove that eating potatoes will surely increase the possibility of developing gestational diabetes.

The researchers also pointed that since this was a controlled study; it needed to be investigated further.

Ways to reduce the risk of developing gestational diabetes

The experts also mentioned that women could reduce their chances of developing gestational diabetes by maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Make certain changes in your lifestyle like eating healthy and keeping yourself hydrated

So if you planning a baby anytime soon, don’t be baffled by this study. You can do the following activities to keep this problem under control:

• Keep your weight under control and do not literally ‘eat for two,’ keep yourself hydrated
• Keep up regular physical activities
• Consult your OB-GYN and take prescribed medicines if you have been diagnosed with gestational diabetes

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