French Fries, as part of Mixed Meals, Produced Lower Blood Glucose and Insulin Levels in Children

With the potato industry in meetings this week, we will not have our regularly scheduled programing. Today instead I will share some very interesting research.
In a new study the University of Toronto researchers found that focusing on glycemic index ignores total nutrition value of potatoes in mixed meals. The Alliance for Potato Research and Education — or APRE — President and CEO Dr. Maureen Storey says that the children actually ate fewer calories when eating boiled mash potatoes in comparison to rice or pasta. She continues
Storey: “Fried french fries produced the lowest blood glucose and insulin response after they ate them. This is probably contrary to what people actually think because it is also relatives to the glycemic index. While the glycemic index says that potatoes are high — well not necessarily — and it didn’t translate into how the hormone levels and blood glucose levels responded after the children ate the fried french fries. There was no difference in the blood glucose or insulin response after consuming the rice, pasta or the boiled, mash potatoes or baked french fries. So I think that this is all really good news for potatoes particularly when they get bashed for having a high glycemic index in that it illustrates that the glycemic index does not necessarily predict how the body is going to respond when those carbohydrate-containing foods are eaten as part of a meal.”