New Weight Loss Discovery: Potato Extracts

A new research has revealed that potato extracts can help fight obesity and prevent type 2 diabetes.

Scientists from McGill University in Canada said that potatoes are known for their carbohydrate content but also contain polyphenols. The benefits of the extract come from the high concentration of polyphenols, which are a beneficial chemical component also found in fruits and vegetables.

"We thought this can't be right - in fact, we ran the experiment again using a different batch of extract prepared from potatoes grown in another season just to be certain," said Luis Agellon, one of the study's authors.

Principal author of the study Stan Kubow said: "In the famous French diet, considered to be very healthy, potatoes - not red wine - are the primary source of polyphenols. In North America, potatoes come third as a source of polyphenols - before the popular blueberries."

To find out the effect of potato extracts to obesity, researchers fed mice an obesity-inducing diet for 10 weeks. Results revealed that mice weighing an average of 25 grams at the start of the study put on about 16 grams. Meanwhile, mice that consumed the same diet but with a potato extract gained only seven grams.

Kubow said that the daily dose of extract comes from 30 potatoes. However, this diet is not yet recommended for humans since it is first needed to determine the optimal dose for men and women, reported The Daily Times. 

"The daily dose of extract comes from 30 potatoes, but of course we don't advise anyone to eat 30 potatoes a day as that would be an enormous number of calories," Kubow said. 

 Although humans and mice metabolize foods in similar ways, clinical trials are absolutely necessary to validate beneficial effects in humans.

Given the high calorie count that would come from 30 potatoes, the researchers are looking at developing an extract that can be available as a dietary supplement or simply as a cooking ingredient to be added in the kitchen.