French fries is popular with children and adults alike. In the United States, french fries accompany almost every dish and the fried potato snack is quite popular.
However, a new study indicates that frequent consumption of french fries can lead to increase to early and double death risk.
Fried potatoes are known to propel weight gain and increase cholesterol. Thus the risk of early death associated with french fries is unsurprising.
French Fries Linked With Death Risk?
The new study found that people who are frequently eating french fries have double the death risk vis-à-vis individuals who do not consume the same. Americans on an average consume 30 pounds of french fries every year.
To validate the assertion that consumption of french fries increases death risk, the researchers conducted a cohort study in which the diet of 4,440 individuals aged between 45 to 79 years was monitored over eight years.
During the eight-year study period, researchers specifically monitored the amount of potatoes the participants consumed — unfried and fried. The study's participants were asked to fill out questionnaires documenting food frequency.
The food-frequency questionnaire asked the subject to document if they had consumed unfried or fried potatoes less than once a month, two to three times in a month, twice a week, once a week, or more than three times in a week.
During the course of the study, 236 participants succumbed to death.
Eating French Fries Frequently Elevates Death Risk
Subsequent to careful documentation and evaluation, it was found that the people who consumed fried potato items more than two times a week, had double chances of succumbing to death, compared to individuals who refrained from consuming fried potatoes.
However, french fries were not the only potato-based food items that came under scrutiny. Along with french fries, potato gems, hash browns, or any type of potato-based food product, which was cooked in boiling oil was associated with higher death risk and early death incidents.
"The frequent consumption of fried potatoes appears to be associated with an increased mortality risk. Additional studies in larger sample sizes should be performed to confirm if overall potato consumption is associated with higher mortality risk," the study's authors wrote.
The study's only limitation is that the researchers did not delve into other unhealthy practices that the participants may have indulged in such as being lazy and not having an active lifestyle.
The study's findings were published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
