A new study has found that eating a 300-calorie serving of french fries every day for a month doesn’t result in weight gain, a March 7 news release says.
“Based on our RCT findings, there is no statistically significant evidence of differential effects between consuming a typical 300-calorie serving of french fries daily and a 300-calorie serving of almonds daily when it comes to weight gain or markers of type 2 diabetes risk, at least in the short term,” David Allison, the study’s principal investigator, says in the release.
A group of researchers in the School of Public Health at Indiana University-Bloomington conducted randomized controlled trials. 180 adult men and women were randomized to one of three treatment groups for 30 days, with 165 completing the study, the release says.
The three treatment groups ate their regular diet with an additional 300 kilocalories/day from one of the three food items:
- Almonds: approximately a third of a cup of almonds, roasted and salted
- Standard french fries: approximately the size of a medium serving
- French fries with herb/spice mix: approximately the size of a medium serving, prepared with oregano, basil, garlic, onion and rosemary
The release says instructions were provided regarding storage and preparation methods of food items. Participants asked to incorporate the specific food item into their normal daily diet, and were instructed not to compensate for these added calories in any way, the release notes.
At the end of the study body composition (body fat mass), body weight, blood sugar, insulin and hemoglobin A1c were measured. A subset of five participants also completed post-meal evaluations to assess short-term blood sugar response, the release says.
“Nutrition recommendations that focus primarily on single foods in isolation may be missing the mark. A more effective approach to dietary guidance is likely one that takes total diet, lifestyle and individual needs and risk factors into account,” study co-author Daniel Smith says in the release.
The study findings were published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
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