Food & life · 2026
How does replacing some rice with firm or soft potatoes affect blood sugar after a meal?
Firm-cooked potatoes produced a steadier post-meal blood sugar response, while soft-cooked potatoes reduced the overall rise but increased fluctuations. The potatoes replaced one-third of the rice carbohydrates in test meals. These were short-term findings in participants whose age and health status are not reported, and the blood sugar-lowering effect did not carry over to the next meal.
Details
The study measured blood sugar and insulin after meals in which firm- or soft-cooked potatoes replaced one-third of the carbohydrates from rice. Laboratory experiments also examined the potatoes’ properties.
The firm-potato meal significantly reduced the overall blood sugar rise above the starting level, the peak and the size of the blood sugar excursion. It also lowered the overall insulin response and peak insulin. The soft-potato meal reduced the overall blood sugar rise but increased blood sugar variability, so a lower overall response did not necessarily mean steadier levels.
Firm potatoes retained more resistant starch—starch that resists digestion—than soft potatoes. Participants also chewed more and ate more slowly with the firm-potato meal. The authors attributed much of the blood sugar effect to retained resistant starch, but the abstract does not establish how much starch retention or chewing contributed separately.
The blood sugar-lowering effect did not extend to the next meal, although the combined blood sugar response over 540 minutes was lower. The abstract does not report the sample size, participant health status or effect sizes, limiting conclusions about how large or broadly applicable the benefit might be.
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