Potato Consumption and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease in a Harmonized Analysis of Seven Prospective Cohorts

Background/Objectives: While previous study results have suggested an elevated risk of type 2 diabetes with potato consumption, limited and inconsistent results are available on the association of potato consumption with the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and hypertension (HTN). We assessed the associations of (i) total potato consumption with the risk of CVD and HTN as the primary aim and (ii) fried potatoes and combined baked, boiled, and mashed potatoes with the risk of CVD and HTN as the secondary aim. Methods: We conducted a meta-analysis using data from seven cohorts for CVD (n = 110,063) and five cohorts for HTN (n = 67,146). Cox regression was used to estimate multivariable adjusted hazard ratios separately in each cohort and the cohort-specific results were meta-analyzed using an inverse-variance weighted method. Results: The mean age ranged from 25 to 72 years, 65% of the respondents were women, and the mean consumption of total potatoes ranged from 1.9 to 4.3 times per week. In the primary analysis, total potato intake was not associated with the risk of either CVD or HTN: multivariable adjusted HR (95% CI) comparing 5+ servings/week to no potato intake: 0.96 (0.89-1.04) for CVD and 1.04 (0.99-1.08) for HTN. In secondary analyses, the consumption of combined baked, boiled, and mashed potatoes was not associated with CVD or HTN; while fried potato consumption was not associated with CVD risk, there was a 10% higher risk of HTN (95% CI: 4% to 17%) comparing 1+ servings/week to no fried potato intake. Conclusions: While the consumption of total potato was not associated with the risk of CVD or HTN risk, a modest elevated risk of HTN but not CVD was observed only with fried potato consumption.