Potatoes and Pregnancy
By Nicholas Bakalar

A new study suggests that the more potatoes in a woman’s typical diet, the more likely she is to develop gestational diabetes, a serious complication of pregnancy.

In a 10-year study, researchers found 854 cases of gestational diabetes in 21,693 pregnancies among women participating in a larger health study. The women completed food questionnaires every four years, which gave the researchers a picture of their long-term habitual diet.

After adjusting for other diet and health characteristics, they found that compared with those who ate no potatoes, women who ate one serving a week had a 20 percent increased risk, two to four servings a 27 percent increased risk and five or more servings a 50 percent increased risk of developing gestational diabetes. The study is in BMJ.

The reason for the effect is unknown, but the authors suggest that it may be related to the fact that potatoes have a high glycemic index — they rapidly increase blood glucose levels as soon as they are eaten, which may harm pancreatic cells. Still, the study is observational, and does not prove cause and effect.

“We need to be cautious about potato consumption, especially for women who are planning for pregnancy,” said the senior author, Dr. Cuilin Zhang, an epidemiologist with the National Institutes of Health. “If you can replace potatoes with whole grains or other kinds of vegetables, this can help lower the risk.”

吃太多馬鈴薯 妊娠糖尿病機率增

《英國醫學期刊》報導最新研究，女性多吃馬鈴薯，特別是炸薯條或洋芋片，和她們在懷孕期間罹患妊娠糖尿病的機率增加有關連，對母親和胎兒都可能帶來長期的健康影響，包括心臟病及其他類型糖尿病的機率跟著提高。

美國馬里蘭州國家衛生研究的張翠林博士（譯音）率領一支團隊，使用《護士衛生研究II》的資料，探討其中關連。《護士衛生研究II》是知名的大規模婦女慢性疾病研究計畫，1989年以來持續追蹤11萬5000多位女性這方面的資料。

研究人員請志願參加實驗的女性報告她們懷孕前的馬鈴薯攝取情況，包括「從未食用或一個月不到一次」，和「每天六份」。將年齡、家族糖尿病史等因素納入考慮之後，研究小組發現妊娠糖尿病和馬鈴薯有強烈關連，特別是炸、烤馬鈴薯。

在妊娠糖尿病初期，醫師建議改變飲食內容，並配合運動，如果情況嚴重，可能需要胰島素療法。

原文參照：
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/01/15/potatoes-and-pregnancy/

2016-01-13．聯合晚報．A7．健康．編譯彭淮棟