Swap chips for mashed or baked, potato lovers urged

Love potatoes? Well, there is good news and there is bad news. Eating them as chips has been found to raise the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, but baking, boiling or mashing potatoes is much healthier.

- Denis Campbell

Consuming French fries three times a week increases the chances of someone getting the disease by 20%, and doing so five times causes that risk to rise to 27%, compared with those who shun chips. That is according to a new study published today in the British Medical Journal.

Nine out of 10 of the estimated 5.8 million people in the UK with diabetes have type 2, which is closely associated with people's lifestyles, especially their diet.

The findings confirm that frying potatoes and eating them regularly does make a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes more likely.