Potato Extract Helps Limit Weight Gain

Unlike the popular belief that potatoes cause weight gain, scientists from McGill University have found that a simple potato extract may help limit weight gain. Researchers fed mice an obesity-inducing diet for 10 weeks, after which they put on weight. Mice that consumed the same diet but with a potato extract gained much less weight- only 7 more grams, while mice who had the diet without the potato extract put on about 16 grams. The benefits of the potato extract are due to its high concentration of polyphenols.

This daily dose of extract comes from 30 potatoes and investigators are hoping to make the extract available as a dietary supplement or simply as a cooking ingredient to be added in the kitchen. Clinical trials are absolutely necessary to validate its beneficial effects in humans, and determine the optimal dose for men and women since their metabolisms differ.

The team hopes to patent the potato extract.

Source-Medindia