Researchers recently found some suckers to eat potato chips.  They fed 160 grams of chips to 14 healthy volunteers for 4 weeks.  At the end of 4 weeks every marker of inflammation was significantly increased.  These included oxidized LDL cholesterol (remember from my Cholesterol Article that the oxidized LDL is the problem), IL-6 (a marker of inflammation and immune system dysregulation), and C-reactive protein (a marker of inflammation linked to cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and dementia).  After 28 days of not eating chips these levels dropped, but not back to normal!

You may recall a previous blog (read it here) where every serving of french fries that preschool girls eat per week increased the risk of breast cancer by 27%.  The mechanism is probably the same: when starches are browned a carcinogen called acrylamide is formed.  Additionally, most french frie and potato chip products are laden with omega-6 oils and trans fats--oils known to increase cancer risk and inflammation.

Read the study here.