| Scientists from Adelaide's Flinders University have discovered starch contained in cold cooked potatoes can reduce the cancer risk posed by eating red meat.
The starch, which is also found in beans, green bananas and rice, minimises the risk by resisting digestion until it reaches the colon. There it is broken down by bacteria that release favourable molecules reducing the risk of colorectal cancers significantly.
Richard Mulcahy, CEO of AUSVEG, which represents 9,000 Australian vegetable and spud growers, said: "The health benefits of potatoes have always been well known, but it is pleasing to see this new research which confirms what the Australian potato industry has been saying for a number of years now regarding the role that potatoes can play in preventative health."
Scientists tested mice for DNA damage, a forerunner to cancer, after they had been fed a diet of red meat or red meat with resistant starch.
Spuds which had cooled down after cooking were found to contain more beneficial starch.
Mulcahy added: "The merits of eating more vegetable and potato products as a matter of preventative health are impossible to contest."
"On top of the new research we already know that potatoes are high in fibre, cholesterol free and are 99.9 per cent fat free. Eating potatoes can assist in controlling blood pressure and maintaining a healthy body weight and lifestyle." |
