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Session: Food Groups and Items for Disease Prevention (Poster Theater Flash Session 18)

(PTFS18-07-24) Total and Type of Potato Intake and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes: Results From Three US Cohort Studies and Substitution Meta-Analysis

Monday, July 1, 2024

2:16 PM – 2:20 PM CT

Location: Hall F1 (The Hub) - Poster Theater

Presenting Author(s)

Seyed Mohammad Mousavi, PhD

Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Disclosure(s): No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.

Co-Author(s)

Xiao Gu, PhD

Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
FI

Fumiaki Imamura, PhD

University of Cambridge
Cambridge, England, United Kingdom
OD

Orrin Devinsky

New York University, United States
QS

Qi Sun, PhD

Associate Professor
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
NF

Nita G. Forouhi, PhD

MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Cambridge, England, United Kingdom
Frank B. Hu, MD, PhD

Professor
Harvard University
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
WW

Walter c. Willett, DrPH, MPH, MD

Professor
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Objectives: We sought to investigate the relationship between potato intake, including total and different forms, and the risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D). Additionally, we aimed to estimate the impact of replacing potatoes with major carbohydrate sources on T2D risk and to conduct a dose-response and substitution meta-analysis.

Methods: We analyzed data from 72,712 women in the Nurses’ Health Study (1984–2020), 90,232 women in the Nurses’ Health Study II (1991–2021), and 42,816 men in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (1986–2022). Potato intake was assessed every 2-4 years with food frequency questionnaires, modeled with repeated-measures Cox-regression for T2D incidence. The cohort-specific estimates were further meta-analyzed with published estimates.

Results: During almost 5.5 million person-years of follow-up, 22,338 cases of T2D were documented. After adjustment for BMI and other diabetes risk factors, intakes of both total potatoes and French fries were linearly associated with higher T2D risk [Hazard Ratio (HR) _{≥7 vs. < 1 serving/week} = 1.13 (95% CI: 1.03–1.24) for total potato and HR _{≥5 serving/week} _{vs. almost never}= 1.28 (95% CI: 1.09–1.50) for French fries]. However, intake of baked, boiled, or mashed potatoes was not associated with risk of T2D (HR _{≥5 vs. < 1 serving/week} = 1.01 (95% CI: 0.98–1.05). Substituting 3 servings/week of whole grains for those of total potatoes was estimated to lower T2D risk by 12% (HR = 0.88; 95% CI: 0.84, 0.92); for baked, boiled, or mashed potatoes, by 8% (0.92; 0.87, 0.97); and for French fries, by 23% (0.77; 0.72, 0.83). In the meta-analysis of 12 cohorts (582,661 participants, 43,173 T2D cases), the pooled HR of T2D for each 3 servings/week higher intake of total potato was 1.03 (95% CI: 1.02, 1.05) and 1.16 (95% CI: 1.09, 1.23) for fried potato. In substitution meta-analysis, replacing total, non-fried, and fried potatoes with whole grains was estimated to lower T2D risk by 7%, 5%, and 17%, respectively.

Conclusions: Higher intake of total potato, particularly French fries, was associated with a higher risk of T2D, while baked, boiled, or mashed potatoes showed no such association. Substitution analyses support the replacement of all forms of potatoes with whole grains for T2D prevention.

Funding Sources: The NHS, NHS II, and HPFS are supported by National Institutes of Health research grants UM1 CA186107, U01 CA176726, and U01 CA167552.