Daily Consumption of Potato Chips Encourages Inflammation, Atherosclerosis
According to the results of a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, chronic consumption of fried foods, such as potato chips, sharply increases inflammation. Foods exposed to high heat during cooking contain acrylamides: toxic chemicals linked to the proinflammatory state. Increased inflammation is a risk factor for atherosclerosis, the root cause of most cardiovascular disease.
Investigators recruited 14 healthy subjects who consumed approximately six ounces of potato chips daily for one month. Potato chips have a relatively high acrylamide content. At the end of study period, various markers of oxidative stress and inflammation, including oxidized, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), high-sensitivity interleukin-6, and plasma high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP), were significantly increased in all subjects. Four weeks after the end of the study, inflammation markers “decreased to some extent,” researchers noted.
“These novel findings seem to indicate that chronic ingestion of acrylamide-containing products induces a proinflammatory state, a risk factor for progression of atherosclerosis,” investigators concluded.
-Dale Kiefer
*Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 Mar; 89(3):773-7.
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