A study from the University of Otago, published in the October issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, has found that although potato is a high-GI food, a meal containing potato may not be high-GI.
In the study using 30 healthy adults, three meals were tested — all contained chicken, peas, carrots, kumara and gravy, together with a starchy staple: potato, white rice or spaghetti.
The GI for all meals was lower than anticipated. From the GIs of the foods used, the potato meal was expected to have an overall GI of 65, within the medium-GI range. Instead, at 53, the potato meal fell just within the low-GI range.