Potatoes and risk of chronic disease: a systematic review and dose–response meta-analysis

PURPOSE: We aimed to synthesize the evidence on the relation between different types of potato consumption with risk of all-cause mortality, coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke, type 2 diabetes (T2D), colorectal cancer (CRC), and hypertension. METHODS: Systematic searches until May 2018 were conducted in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. Random effects meta-analyses comparing extreme categories, linear and non-linear dose–response analyses were conducted. RESULTS: Twenty-eight reports were identified. Only total potato consumption was available for some endpoints which showed no associations with all-cause mortality (RR: 0.88, 95% CI 0.69–1.12), CHD (RR: 1.03, 95% CI 0.96–1.09), stroke (RR: 0.98, 95% CI 0.93–1.03), and CRC (RR: 1.05, 95% CI 0.92–1.20) per one daily/serving (150 g/day) increase. Consumption of one daily serving of boiled/baked/mashed-potatoes was not associated with risk of hypertension (RR: 1.08, 95% CI 0.96–1.21), but slightly with the risk of T2D (RR: 1.09, 95% 1.01–1.18). Positive associations for the risk of T2D (RR: 1.66, 95% CI 1.43–1.94) and hypertension (RR: 1.37, 95% CI 1.15–1.63) were observed for each 150 g/day increase in French-fries consumption. The quality of evidence was rated mostly low (moderate quality of evidence for the risk-associations of French-fries). CONCLUSION: Total potato consumption is not related to risk for many chronic diseases but could pose a small increase in risk for T2D if consumed boiled. A clear risk relation was found between French-fries consumption and risk of T2D and hypertension. For several outcomes, the impact of different preparation procedures could not be assessed. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s00394-018-1774-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.