The Future Of Health Many people would want to eat French fries every single day without any bad consequences to their health. But in reality, it’s simply impossible. If you want to stay fit, you have to choose healthier options, such as almonds.
But are almonds really so healthy? Is there such a big difference between them and French fries? A Harvard research shows quite unexpected results. Keep on reading to learn about them!
The surprising research
The research demonstrated such results that some people started to jokingly call it “sponsored by potato-growing companies.” It clearly showed that a portion of French fries wasn’t much worse than a handful of almonds with the same amount of calories. The health-related risks they carry are pretty much similar.
But of course, there are other opinions. Dr. Walter Willett, a professor of nutrition and epidemiology from Harvard, is sure that even if there aren’t harmful short-term effects from French fries, almonds are still way more useful. These nuts have a lot of health-related advantages — for instance, they help to decrease harmful cholesterol and prevent such dangerous diseases as diabetes.
According to Dr. Willett, in modern times, weight loss research tends to become rather unreliable. He thinks that you shouldn’t trust any such research that took only a month or less.
The measured factors
So, let’s look at this study in more detail. It was printed in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The participants were 165 grown-up people.
They were divided into three subgroups for one month and asked to consume 300-calorie portions of the next foods:
- Salted, roasted almonds;
- Simple French fries without any additives;
- French fries with a seasoning (spices and herbs).
The researchers gave these people thirty daily portions of any of the aforementioned foods. The participants simply added them to their everyday rations without changing anything else in their lifestyle. At the beginning and the end of the study, all the main health indicators were measured. Among them were, for example, overall weight, levels of blood sugar, hemoglobin A1C, and insulin. Also, five people from every category were subjected to additional blood sugar tests after meals.
Health isn’t only about calories
When the month was over, the weight results in each group stayed practically the same. Post-fasting levels of insulin and blood sugar didn’t change much, either. But there was one huge difference: the people who ate French fries had higher insulin and blood sugar levels immediately after meals.
Many of us can be tempted to think that French fries aren’t more harmful than almonds because they have a similar amount of calories. But calories aren’t the only harmful thing, and if you look at the research results more attentively, you will clearly see that almonds are definitely a much healthier choice. Frequent indulging in French fries can lead to many severe problems, such as type 2 diabetes. So, their reputation as unhealthy food is completely deserved.