Forget "couch potato" - spuds could actually keep you thin

As 2015 begins, a lot of people will be sticking to new diets and hitting the gym (at least at the beginning). With healthy resolutions in mind, I highly doubt very many people are saying, “This year, I will eat more potatoes.” But maybe they should.

A team of McGill University researchers published a paper in December that reveals some surprising information about the humble, starchy vegetable: In an experiment, potato consumption was shown to decrease body weight gain.

Mice were actually the subject of this study, and the potatoes were ingested in the form of an extract. It was actually a complex polyphenol-rich extract made from a tone of tubers — about 30 per daily dose.

New York Magazine explored the new study:

The specifics of how a bunch of mice weighing an average of 25 grams were fed an “obesity-inducing diet” and some stayed thin while the others got fat are interesting. The ones who didn’t get the magic potato serum gained “about 16” grams, while the ones who did gained seven. Researchers were baffled and repeated the experiment with “potatoes grown in another season.”

So while they were trying to get the mice fat, potatoes made an unlikely appearance as what could be considered some kind of weight stabilizer. Lead author Stan Kubow warns that this doesn’t mean people should chow down on way more potatoes, but it does challenge some of the stereotypes potatoes have faced for years. Even the Obama administration had to fight to keep them on school menus, and they’ve been a focus of debates about what people can buy with food stamps.

Researchers say the potato compound may be used to help prevent obesity and type 2 diabetes. It may also even shed some light on the so-called “French paradox,” the concept at the heart of French Women Don’t Get Fat, which has been used to promote everything from Bordeaux wine to brie. It turns out that potatoes are the primary source of polyphenols in the typical French diet.