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Surprising Findings on French Fry Consumption and Energy Balance
White potatoes — especially French fries — are often described in nutrition research literature and dietary guidance statements as having associations with obesogenic diets and as increasing chronic disease risk based on observational research findings. However, there is limited evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) testing cause-and-effect relationships.
Now, an RCT published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition demonstrates that adding a daily 300-calorie serving of French fries to one’s typical diet every day for one month does not result in differential short-term weight gain or other biomarker changes associated with impaired blood sugar regulation compared to adding an isocaloric daily serving of almonds, generally considered a healthy snack option.
Changes in body composition (i.e., body fat mass), body weight, fasting glucose and fasting insulin levels at the end of the one-month trial were comparable across the French fry and almond intervention groups and were not clinically significant.
As expected, given the difference in carbohydrate content between the French fries and almonds, acute peak blood glucose and insulin levels were higher after consuming the French fries. However, these levels were not elevated beyond a normal range, and this difference did not have an apparent impact on any other glucoregulatory biomarkers.
