You want fries with that? If you're looking to keep your blood-sugar levels steady, the answer is a great big "No."

Be they fried, baked, or mashed and whipped, too many spuds in your diet -- especially if they crowd out whole grains -- may set you up for a blood-sugar roller-coaster ride. And that could mean diabetes down the road.

Steady as She Goes
Potatoes can have their place in a healthful diet. They're low in fat if cooked right, and if you eat the skin, you get a fiber boost as well. But keep in mind that potatoes are considered a high-glycemic-index carb -- the kind of carb that can cause blood sugar to spike, then drop suddenly. And too much of that may set the stage for diabetes. (Check your diabetes risk here.) Case in point: Women in a study who ate one daily serving of starchy potatoes or two weekly servings of french fries had a slightly higher diabetes risk compared with the non-spud-loving lasses. The effect was even worse when the women ate potatoes in place of whole grains. (Here are other foods that may boost diabetes risk.)

Better Blood-Sugar Choices
Better side dishes for blood-sugar control? High-fiber whole grains (think brown rice or whole-wheat pasta), fiber-rich veggies (peas, artichokes, and broccoli top the list), or a salad (made with spinach, not iceberg). Tally the fiber in your diet with this nutrition assessment.

Potato and french fry consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes in women. Halton, T. L., Willett, W. C., Liu, S., Manson, J. E., Stampfer, M. J., Hu, F. B., American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2006 Feb;83(2):284-290.