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 Eating potatoes or chips on most days of the week may increase a woman's risk of diabetes during pregnancy, say US researchers.

 This is probably because starch in spuds can trigger a sharp rise in blood sugar levels, they say.

 Their study in the BMJ tracked more than 21,000 pregnancies.

 But UK experts say proof is lacking and lots of people need to eat more starchy foods for fibre, as well as fresh fruit and veg.

 The BMJ study linked high potato consumption to a higher diabetes risk.

 Swapping a couple of servings a week for other vegetables should counter this, say the authors.

 UK dietary advice says starchy foods (carbohydrates) such as potatoes should make up about a third of the food people eat.

 There is no official limit on how much carbohydrate people should consume each week.

 Starchy carbs

 Foods that contain carbohydrates affect blood sugar.

 Some - high Glycaemic Index (GI) foods - release the sugar quickly into the bloodstream.

 Others - low GI foods - release them more steadily.

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 Research suggests eating a low GI diet can help manage diabetes.

 Pregnancy puts extra demands on the body, and some women develop diabetes at this time.

 Gestational diabetes, as it is called, usually goes away after the birth but can pose long-term health risks for the mother and baby.

 The BMJ study set out investigate what might make some women more prone to pregnancy diabetes.

 The study followed nurses who became pregnant between 1991 and 2001. None of them had any chronic diseases before pregnancy.

 What is gestational diabetes mellitus?

 Image copyright SPL

 It is a condition where there is too much glucose (sugar) in the blood

 About three in every 100 pregnancies are affected in the UK

 Symptoms include a dry mouth, tiredness and urinating frequently

 Gestational diabetes can be controlled with diet and exercise, but some women will need medication to keep their blood glucose levels under control

 If not managed properly, it could lead to premature birth or miscarriage

 Every four years, the women were asked to provide information on how often potatoes featured in their diets, and any cases of gestational diabetes were noted.

 Over the 10-year period, there were 21,693 pregnancies and 854 of these were affected by gestational diabetes.

 The study took into account other risk factors, such as:

 age

 a family history of diabetes

 overall diet

 physical activity

 obesity

 It found a 27% increased risk of diabetes during pregnancy in the nurses who typically ate two to four 100g (3.5oz) servings of boiled, mashed, baked potatoes or chips a week.

 In those who ate more than five portions of potatoes or chips a week, the risk went up by 50%.

 The researchers estimate that if women swap their potatoes for vegetables or whole grains at least twice a week, they would lower their diabetes risk by 9-12%.

 Cuilin Zhang, lead study author, from the National Institutes of Health in Maryland, US, said the findings were important.

 "Gestational diabetes can mean women develop pre-eclampsia during pregnancy and hypertension," she said.

 "This can adversely affect the foetus, and in the long term the mother may be at high risk of type-2 diabetes."

 But UK experts stressed there was not enough evidence to warn women off eating lots of potatoes.

 Simple swaps that can lower GI

 Image copyright SPL

 Switch baked or mashed potato for sweet potato or boiled new potatoes

 Instead of white and wholemeal bread, choose granary, pumpernickel or rye bread

 Swap frozen microwaveable French fries for pasta or noodles

 Try porridge, natural muesli or wholegrain breakfast cereals

 Dr Emily Burns, of Diabetes UK, said: "This study does not prove that eating potatoes before pregnancy will increase a woman's risk developing gestational diabetes, but it does highlight a potential association between the two.

 "However, as the researchers acknowledge, these results need to be investigated in a controlled trial setting before we can know more.

 "What we do know is that women can significantly reduce their risk of developing gestational diabetes by managing their weight through eating a healthy, balanced diet and keeping active."

 Dr Louis Levy, head of nutrition science at Public Health England, said: "As the authors acknowledge, it is not possible to show cause and effect from this study.

 "The evidence tells us that we need to eat more starchy foods, such as potatoes, bread, pasta and rice, as well as fruit and vegetables to increase fibre consumption and protect bowel health.

 "Our advice remains the same: base meals around a variety of starchy foods, including potatoes with the skin on, and choose wholegrain varieties where possible." ||||| Women who eat more potatoes before pregnancy may have higher rates of gestational diabetes--the form that occurs during pregnancy--compared to women who consume fewer potatoes, suggests a National Institutes of Health (NIH) study. The researchers propose that substituting potatoes with other vegetables, legumes or whole grains may help lower gestational diabetes risk. The findings appear in The BMJ (formerly the British Medical Journal).

 Gestational diabetes is a common pregnancy complication that causes high blood sugar levels in the mother. The disorder can lead to future health problems for mother and child. Previous studies have linked foods with a high glycemic index, a measure of the ability to raise blood sugar levels, to a higher risk of gestational or type 2 diabetes. However, until the current study, the effect of potatoes, a common, high-glycemic food, on the development of gestational diabetes was unknown.

 Researchers from NIH's Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and Harvard University evaluated more than 15,000 women in the Nurses' Health Study II. They analyzed records from 1991 to 2001 of women who had no history of illness before pregnancy and had not had gestational diabetes before. Every four years, the women filled out a questionnaire on the kinds of foods they had eaten during the previous year. For potatoes, the women were asked if they had consumed baked, boiled, or mashed potatoes, fries or potato chips, with possible responses ranging from "never" to "six or more times a day."

 The researchers found that women who ate more potatoes had a higher risk of gestational diabetes. They estimated reductions in gestational diabetes risk by substituting the following foods for two servings of potatoes per week:

 9 percent for other vegetables

 10 percent for legumes

 12 percent for whole grain foods

 The authors cautioned, however, that because their study was not designed to prove cause and effect, their results do not prove conclusively that potato consumption directly leads to gestational diabetes. They added that their results need to be confirmed by other studies.

 ###

 WHO:

 Cuilin Zhang, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., NICHD Senior Investigator and study senior author, is available to discuss the findings.

 ARTICLE:

 Bao W, Tobias DK, Hu FB, Chavarro JE, and Zhang C. Pre-pregnancy potato consumption and risk of gestational diabetes mellitus: prospective cohort study. BMJ (2016) ||||| Wei Bao , postdoctoral fellow 1, Deirdre K Tobias , instructor 2 3, Frank B Hu , professor 3 4 5, Jorge E Chavarro , associate professor 3 4 5, Cuilin Zhang , senior investigator 1 1Epidemiology Branch, Division of Intramural Population Health Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD 20852, USA 2Division of Preventive Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA 3Department of Nutrition, Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA 4Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA 5Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA Correspondence to: C Zhang zhangcu{at}mail.nih.gov Accepted 3 December 2015

 Abstract Study question What is the association between potato consumption before pregnancy and the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM)? Methods This prospective cohort study included 15 632 women from the Nurses’ Health Study II (1991-2001). They had no previous GDM or chronic diseases before pregnancy. Consumption of potatoes and other foods was assessed every four years. Incident first time GDM was ascertained from self reports of a physician diagnosis of GDM, which was previously validated by medical records. Study answer and limitations Over the 10 year follow-up there were 854 incident cases of GDM among 21 693 singleton pregnancies. After adjustment for age, parity, and dietary and non-dietary factors, women who consumed more potatoes before pregnancy had higher rates of developing GDM. Substitution of two servings a week of total potatoes with other vegetables, legumes, and whole grain foods was significantly associated with a 9-12% lower risk of GDM. Consumption and diabetes were self reported, and severity of diabetes was unknown. More than 90% of women were white. A causal association cannot be assumed. What this paper adds Higher levels of potato consumption before pregnancy are associated with greater risk of GDM, and substitution of potatoes with other vegetables, legumes, or whole grain foods might lower the risk. Funding, competing interests, data sharing Funding was received from the Intramural Research Program of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the National Institutes of Health, and the American Diabetes Association (No 7-12-MN-34). The authors have no competing interests or additional data to share.

 Introduction Potatoes are the third most commonly consumed food crop in the world, after rice and wheat.1 In the United States, about 35% of women of reproductive age (that is, aged 19-50) consume potatoes daily, accounting for 8% of daily total energy intake.2 The health effects of potatoes are inconclusive,1 3 and there have been longstanding debates on the appropriate placement of potatoes in dietary guidance.4 5 6 Nonetheless, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans continue to include potatoes in the vegetable food group and encourage consumption.7 Though potatoes are rich in vitamin C, potassium, dietary fiber, and some phytochemicals,6 unlike other vegetables they can have detrimental effects on glucose metabolism because they contain large amounts of rapidly absorbable starch.3 Indeed, several epidemiologic studies have linked higher potato consumption to increased concentrations of fasting plasma glucose,8 insulin resistance,8 and an increased risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus.9 10 Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a common complication of pregnancy characterized by glucose intolerance with onset or first recognition during pregnancy.11 GDM is not only associated with adverse perinatal outcomes,12 it is also related to increased long term cardiometabolic risk in both mothers and their offspring.11 13 It is therefore crucial to identify modifiable risk factors that could contribute to the prevention of GDM. Previous studies have found that a diet with a higher glycemic index is related to higher plasma glucose and HbA1c concentrations during pregnancy14 15 and could increase the risk of GDM.16 The association between consumption of potatoes, a commonly consumed food with a high glycemic index, and GDM risk, remains unknown. Using data from a large prospective cohort study, we examined the association between potato consumption before pregnancy and risk of incident GDM.

 Methods Study population The Nurses’ Health Study II (NHSII) is an ongoing prospective cohort study of 116 430 female nurses aged 24-44 at study inception in 1989.17 The participants received a biennial questionnaire regarding disease outcomes and lifestyle behaviors, such as smoking status and medication use. Follow-up for each questionnaire cycle was greater than 90%.18 We included participants from NHSII in this analysis if they reported at least one incident singleton pregnancy that lasted more than six months. The 1991 questionnaire was the first time dietary information was captured. We therefore set this year as the baseline for this analysis and included only pregnancies occurring after the return of 1991 questionnaire. The 2001 questionnaire was the last time GDM was ascertained as most participants had passed reproductive age by then; thus, length follow-up of GDM was up to the return of the 2001 questionnaire. Individual pregnancies were eligible if the woman did not report GDM in a previous pregnancy and had no prior diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or cancer. We excluded pregnancies if the woman did not return at least one pre-pregnancy food frequency questionnaire, left more than 70 questionnaire items blank, or reported unrealistic total energy intake (< 2510 or > 14 644 kJ/day, equivalent to <600 or >3500 kcal/day). We excluded women with GDM in a previous pregnancy because they might change their diet and lifestyle during the next pregnancy to prevent recurrence. Assessment of exposure Beginning in 1991 and every four years thereafter, study participants reported their usual food intake during the previous year on a food frequency questionnaire. The validity and reproducibility of the questionnaire are documented elsewhere.19 20 21 For potato consumption, we asked each participant how often, on average, they had consumed baked, boiled, or mashed potatoes (serving size: one baked or boiled or 237 mL (equivalent to one cup) mashed) or French fries (serving size 113 g) during the previous year. The possible responses of frequency ranged from never or less than once/month to six or more times a day. In a previous validation study, the corrected correlations between the food frequency questionnaire and the diet records were 0.66 for potatoes and 0.60 for French fries.21 We summed consumptions of baked, boiled, or mashed potatoes and French fries as total potato consumption. In addition, we asked the participants their frequency of consumption of potato chips or corn chips (combined) during the previous year (serving size 28 g or small bag). Ascertainment of outcomes The NHSII participants reported incident GDM on each biennial questionnaire through 2001. For women who reported more than one pregnancy lasting more than six months within a two year questionnaire period, GDM status was attributed to the first pregnancy. In a prior validation study among a subgroup of the NHSII cohort, 94% of GDM self reports were confirmed by medical records.17 In a random sample of parous women without GDM, 83% reported undergoing a glucose screening test during pregnancy and 100% reported frequent prenatal urine screenings, which indicated a high level of GDM surveillance in this cohort.17 During the period that GDM events were reported in the present study (1991-2001), the National Diabetes Data Group criteria22 have been widely adopted for GDM diagnosis. Assessment of covariates Participants reported their height and weight in 1989 and updated their weight on each biennial questionnaire. In a previous validation study, self reported weight was highly correlated with weight measured by a technician (r=0.97).23 Body mass index (BMI) was computed as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared. Total physical activity was ascertained by frequency of engaging in common recreational activities, from which metabolic equivalent hours per week were derived. A prior validation study showed that questionnaire based estimates correlated well with detailed activity diaries (r=0.56).24 To account for potential confounding by the participants’ overall quality of diet, we derived a diet score—the alternate healthy eating index 2010 (AHEI-2010)—for each participant, as previously described.25 In brief, we allotted 0 to 10 points for intake of each of the following components, with adherence to dietary recommendations receiving 10 points: vegetables (servings/day), fruits (servings/day), whole grains (g/day), sugar sweetened beverages and fruit juice (inversely scored, servings/day), nuts and legumes (servings/day), red/processed meat (inversely scored, servings/day), trans fat (inversely scored, % of energy), long chain n-3 fats (mg/day), polyunsaturated fat (% of energy), sodium (inversely scored, mg/day), and alcohol (drinks/day; we assigned the highest score to moderate (0.5-1.5 drinks/day) and the worst score to heavy (≥2.5 drinks/day) alcohol consumers). The overall AHEI-2010 ranged from 0 to 110 points, with a higher score indicating a better quality of diet and associated with a lower risk of incident chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer.25 Statistical analysis We calculated a cumulative average intake of potato consumption before pregnancy for each individual at each time period to reduce variation within individuals and to represent long term habitual pre-pregnancy diet.26 For instance, the 1991 intake was used for the follow-up between 1991 and 1995, the average of the 1991 and 1995 intake was used for the follow-up between 1995 and 1999, and so on. Descriptive statistics at baseline are presented as means (standard deviations) for continuous variables and percentages for categorical variables. To compare categories of pre-pregnancy potato consumption, we used analysis of variance test for continuous variables and χ2 test for categorical variables. We used log-binomials models27 with generalized estimating equations to estimate relative risks and 95% confidence intervals. Generalized estimating equations allowed us to account for correlations among repeated observations (pregnancies) contributed by a single participant.28 In a few instances, the log-binomials models did not converge, and we used log-Poisson models,29 which provide consistent but not fully efficient risk estimates. Pre-pregnancy covariates in the multivariable models included age (continuous), parity (0, 1, 2, and ≥3 pregnancies lasting six or more months), race/ethnicity (white, African-American, Hispanic, Asian, other, and missing/not reported), family history of diabetes (yes, no), cigarette smoking (never, past, current, and missing/not reported), physical activity (fourths), total energy intake (fourths), and overall diet quality as represented by the AHEI-2010 dietary pattern score (fourths). We additionally adjusted for biennially updated measures of BMI (<21, 21-22.9, 23.0-24.9, 25.0-26.9, 27.0-28.9, 29.0-30.9, 31.0-32.9, 33.0-34.9, ≥35.0). BMI was entered into the model separately because it can also be an intermediate on the pathway between potato consumption and GDM risk. We derived covariates from the questionnaire preceding each pregnancy, except race/ethnicity and family history of diabetes, which were reported in 1989. Categorical covariates included an indicator variable for missing data, if necessary. To tests for linear trends across categories of potato consumption we assigned the median intake for each category and fitted this as continuous variable in the models. In a sensitivity analysis for the tests of linear trends, we used the actual continuous amount of total potato consumption in the analysis. We estimated the effect of substituting two servings/week of total potatoes with the same serving amount of alternative foods (that is, other vegetables, legumes, or whole grain foods) by including both as continuous variables in the same multivariable model, which also contained non-dietary covariates and dietary covariates including total energy intake. We estimated relative risks and 95% confidence intervals for the substitution associations by computing the difference in their β coefficients and in their own variances and covariance.30 To evaluate effect modification, we performed stratified analyses according to age (<35 v ≥35), parity (nulliparous v parous), family history of diabetes (yes v no), physical activity before pregnancy (<median v ≥median), overall quality of diet (AHEI-2010 dietary pattern score; <median v ≥median), and overweight status before pregnancy (BMI <25 v ≥25). We tested interactions between these factors and potato consumption by adding multiplicative interaction terms of the binary effect modifiers and continuous linear trend variables in the multivariable models. To assess the robustness of our findings, we performed a series of sensitivity analyses by using different modeling approaches. For instance, in a sensitivity analysis, we adjusted for individual food items related to diabetes (such as red meat, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and sugar sweetened beverages), instead of the AHEI diet quality score that represents a combination of individual food items as a dietary pattern.25 In addition, we performed a sensitivity analysis using the most recent data for potato consumption before pregnancy instead of the cumulative average intake as the exposure variable. We also conducted sensitivity analyses by adjusting for major covariates as more refined categories (such as tenths) or as continuous variables. Among the participants included in this analysis, less than 3% of covariate data were missing for a given variable. Collectively, only 4.5% of the total participants had at least one missing variable in the covariates. To examine the impact of incomplete data in our analysis, we conducted a sensitivity analysis by omitting those participants with incomplete covariate data. All statistical analyses were performed with SAS software (version 9.3; SAS Institute). P<0.05 was considered significant. Patient involvement No patients were involved in setting the research question or the outcome measures, nor were they involved in developing plans for recruitment, design and implementation of the study. No patients were asked to advise on interpretation or writing up of results. There are no plans to disseminate the results of the research to study participants or the relevant patient community.

 Results During the 10 years of follow-up, we documented 854 incident pregnancies affected by GDM among 21 693 eligible singleton pregnancies from 15 632 women (6061 women with more than one pregnancy). At baseline in 1991, women with higher potato consumption were younger, less likely to be nulliparous, and more likely to be current smokers (table 1⇓). They had a higher BMI, performed less physical activity, consumed greater total energy, and had a lower quality of overall diet as represented by the AHEI-2010 dietary pattern score. Table 1 Age standardized characteristics of study population (n=15 632) from Nurses’ Health Study II in 1991, according to categories of total potato consumption before pregnancy. Figures are numbers (age standardized percentage*) unless stated otherwise. All comparisons were significant across categories except family history of diabetes View this table: Higher total potato consumption was significantly associated with an increased risk of GDM (table 2⇓). After adjustment for age, parity, dietary and non-dietary factors, the relative risks of GDM for total potato consumption of 1, 2-4, and ≥5 servings/week, compared with <1 serving/week, were 1.21 (95% confidence interval 0.98 to 1.50), 1.34 (1.10 to 1.64), and 1.62 (1.24 to 2.13), respectively (P<0.001 for trend). The association was modestly attenuated but remained significant after additional adjustment for BMI, with the corresponding relative risks of 1.20 (0.97 to 1.48), 1.27 (1.04 to 1.55), and 1.50 (1.15 to 1.96), respectively (P=0.006 for trend). Additional adjustment for glycemic index did not alter the association between consumption and risk. In addition, associations did not differ by other risk factors for GDM, such as age, parity, family history of diabetes, physical activity, overall diet quality, or overweight status (data not shown). Substitution of two servings per week of total potatoes with other vegetables, legumes, and whole grain foods was significantly associated with a lower risk of GDM: 9% (0.91, 0.85 to 0.97) lower risk for other vegetables, 10% (0.90, 0.83 to 0.99) for legumes, and 12% (0.88, 0.83 to 0.94) for whole grain foods (fig 1⇓). Table 2 Relative risks (95% confidence intervals) for gestational diabetes mellitus according to total potato consumption before pregnancy View this table: Fig 1 Risk of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) associated with substitution of all vegetables (not including potatoes), legumes, or whole grain foods for potatoes at same serving amount (two servings/week). Adjusted for age (months), parity (0, 1, 2, ≥3), race/ethnicity (white, African-American, Hispanic, Asian, others), family history of diabetes (yes, no), cigarette smoking (never, past, current), physical activity (fourths), total energy intake (fourths), alternate healthy eating index 2010 (fourths), and pre-pregnancy BMI (nine categories: <21, 21-22.9, 23.0-24.9, 25.0-26.9, 27.0-28.9, 29.0-30.9, 31.0-32.9, 33.0-34.9 and ≥35.0) We also examined the association between risk of GDM and different types of potato preparations (tables 3 and 4⇓). The multivariable adjusted relative risks for GDM for baked, boiled, or mashed potato consumption of 1, 2-4, and ≥5 servings/week, compared with <1 serving/week, were 1.16 (95% confidence interval 0.97 to 1.39), 1.30 (1.08 to 1.57), and 1.57 (1.14 to 2.15), respectively (P=0.001 for trend). The association remained significant after additional adjustment for BMI. For French fries, the multivariable adjusted relative risks for GDM for consumption at 1-3 servings/month, 1 serving/week, and ≥2 servings/week, compared with no consumption or consumption <1 serving/month, were 1.07 (0.88 to 1.29), 1.25 (1.00 to 1.55), and 1.31 (1.00 to 1.70), respectively (P=0.03 for trend). The association was attenuated and no longer significant after additional adjustment for BMI. We observed a significant and positive correlation between the consumption of different types of potato preparations (that is, baked, boiled, or mashed potatoes, and French fries); the Pearson correlation coefficient was 0.18 (P<0.001). This indicates that a woman who ate more baked, boiled, or mashed potatoes was more likely to eat more French fries, and vice versa. To examine the independent associations between different types of potato preparations and GDM, we included both types simultaneously in the same multivariable model and observed almost identical magnitude of the associations with risk. The mutually adjusted relative risks for GDM associated with each increment of one serving/week consumption were 1.08 (1.03 to 1.14) for baked, boiled, or mashed potatoes and 1.08 (1.03 to 1.14) for French fries. For potato chips or corn chips combined, we found no significant association with risk; the multivariable adjusted relative risks for GDM for consumption at 1-3 servings/month, 1 serving/week, and ≥2 servings/week, compared with no consumption or consumption <1 serving/month, were 0.97 (0.81 to 1.16), 1.02 (0.83 to 1.25), and 1.00 (0.80 to 1.24), respectively (P=0.87 for trend). Table 3 Relative risks (95% confidence intervals) for gestational diabetes mellitus according to consumption of baked, boiled, or mashed potatoes before pregnancy View this table: Table 4 Relative risks (95% confidence intervals) for gestational diabetes mellitus according to consumption of French fries before pregnancy View this table: The association between potato consumption between pregnancy and risk of GDM was robust in multiple sensitivity analyses. First, we observed similar results when we adjusted for individual food items related to diabetes (such as red meat, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and sugar sweetened beverages), instead of the AHEI diet quality score in the multivariable model (appendix table A). The adjusted relative risks for GDM for total potato consumption of 1, 2-4, and ≥5 servings/week, compared with <1 serving/week, were 1.18 (95% confidence interval 0.95 to 1.45), 1.21 (0.99 to 1.48), and 1.40 (1.08 to 1.83), respectively (P=0.03 for trend). Second, a sensitivity analysis in which we used the actual continuous amount of total potato consumption, instead of the median level of each category of total potato consumption, in the test of linear trend analysis, yielded almost the same results as those in our main analysis (appendix table B). Third, we observed similar results in a sensitivity analysis that omitted participants with incomplete covariate data, which comprised 4.5% of the total participants (appendix table C). The adjusted relative risks for GDM for total potato consumption of 1, 2-4, and ≥5 servings/week, compared with <1 serving/week, were 1.21 (0.97 to 1.50), 1.28 (1.04 to 1.57), and 1.51 (1.14 to 1.98), respectively (P=0.007 for trend). Fourth, we also observed similar results in a sensitivity analysis using the most recent pre-pregnancy potato consumption, rather than the cumulative average intake of potatoes, as the exposure variable (appendix table D). The adjusted relative risks for GDM for total potato consumption of 1, 2-4, and ≥5 servings/week, compared with <1 serving/week, were 1.17 (0.95 to 1.44), 1.27 (1.04 to 1.55), and 1.35 (1.04 to 1.75), respectively (P=0.02 for trend). In addition, we conducted sensitivity analyses by adjusting for major covariates (such as physical activity levels, BMI) as more refined categories (that is, tenths) or as continuous variables (appendix tables E-G). The significant association between total potato consumption and risk of GDM persisted.

 Discussion In this large prospective cohort study, we found that higher pre-pregnancy consumption of potatoes was significantly associated with a greater risk of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), even after adjustment for other major risk factors for GDM such as age, family history of diabetes, physical activity, overall diet quality, and BMI. We estimated that substitution of total potatoes with other vegetables, legumes, or whole grain foods was significantly associated with a lower risk of GDM. Results in relation to other studies and implications of findings Although the association between potato consumption and risk of GDM has not been previously investigated, higher potato consumption has been associated with markers of altered glucose metabolism, including increased fasting plasma glucose concentrations and insulin resistance, in people at high risk.8 In addition, our results were in line with those from several previous studies,9 10 although not all,31 32 on the associations of potato consumption with risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus. For instance, a previous study in women who were not pregnant found that higher consumptions of potatoes and French fries was associated with a moderately increased risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus after adjustment for age and dietary and non-dietary factors; women with the highest fifth of consumptions of potatoes and French fries, compared with those with the lowest fifth, had a 14% and 21% higher risk, respectively.9 Potatoes are widely consumed worldwide. Understanding of the association between consumption and risk of GDM, a common complication of pregnancy that has adverse impacts on the health of women and their children, has important clinical and public health implications. In the US, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans includes potatoes in the vegetable food group,7 whereas the United Kingdom’s national dietary guidelines classifies potatoes in the starchy food group.33 Both guidelines, however, advise people to consume plenty of potatoes as either vegetables or starchy foods. Findings from the present study raise concerns about such guidance. Our findings, together with data from other studies,34 35 36 37 38 further highlight the potential role of pre-pregnancy diet in the development of GDM. Future intervention studies are warranted to confirm these findings. Possible explanations of findings Higher consumption of potatoes, in particular French fries, could be an indicator of a low quality diet. We therefore adjusted for quality of overall diet in our analysis. The associations with risk of GDM were moderately attenuated but remained significant after adjustment for overall diet quality. We observed similar results when we adjusted major food groups related to diabetes (that is, red meat, vegetable and fruit, and whole grain foods) and sugar sweetened beverages in place of overall diet quality score (appendix table A).These data suggest that the association between total potato consumption and risk of GDM could be independent of other dietary risk factors for GDM. Our findings are biologically plausible, though the detailed underlying mechanisms remain to be elucidated. Potatoes are a food with a high glycaemic index because of the large amount of starch that is absorbed rapidly after ingestion.3 High potato consumption can result in a sharp postprandial rise in blood glucose concentrations and induce oxidative stress to pancreatic β cells and subsequently β cell dysfunction or β cell exhaustion.39 40 41 Beyond the high glycemic index, French fries also contain altered fatty acid composition and an increased amount of degradation products from the frying oil and dietary advanced glycation end products that are generated during the frying process.42 43 These changes in fried food have previously been implicated in the development of insulin resistance and diabetes.44 45 In contrast, other vegetables, legumes, and whole grain foods typically have a low glycemic index, in addition to their richness in vitamins, minerals, fiber, and bioactive phytochemicals; therefore, substitution of potatoes with these foods could lower the risk of GDM. The association between French fries and risk of GDM was substantially attenuated after additional adjustment for BMI, indicating that the association might be largely explained by BMI. This is not surprising because frying with oil can increase the energy density of food,46 and studies have found an increased risk of obesity associated with higher consumption of fried food.47 48 A previous study has shown a significant association between potato consumption and long term weight gain in the general population.49 It is possible that eating more potatoes is related to higher gestational weight gain and, subsequently, an increased risk of GDM. Unfortunately, we did not have data on gestational weight gain to further explore the potential mechanism. Strengths and potential limitations The strengths of this study include the prospective design with a long follow-up that establishes the temporal direction of the associations, the large number of cases of GDM that ensures sufficient statistical power, and the repeated and comprehensive assessment of many dietary and lifestyle variables that allows us to assess potential confounding and effect modification. We acknowledge that there were also several potential limitations. First, like other observational studies, measurement error in self reported exposures (potato consumption) is possible. As the pre-pregnancy dietary information was captured prospectively, the random error within an individual would most likely be non-differential, which could have attenuated the observed associations toward null. Furthermore, the use of cumulative averages of dietary intakes for participants who filled in more than one pre-pregnancy food frequency questionnaire reduces random error within an individual.26 Second, cases of GDM were self reported in this study. Our previous validation study indicated a high degree of accuracy of self reported GDM in this cohort compared with medical record review.17 The rate of GDM (5.5%) in this study was in the upper range of the usual reported rates (range 3-6%) in the US based on the NDDG (National Diabetes Data Group) criteria during the same period.50 51 This rate likely reflected the high rate of screening in this cohort, which is composed of health professionals. Third, we do not have data on the severity of GDM in this cohort. Whether higher habitual consumption of potatoes is associated with increasing severity of GDM warrants future investigation. Fourth, our study population consisted mostly of white American women. Thus, the generalizability of the observed associations might be limited to similar populations. The relative homogeneity of the study population, however, reduces potential confounding due to unmeasured socioeconomic variability. Fifth, although we adjusted for many potential confounders, we are unable to fully rule out the possibility of residual confounding by unmeasured factors. Finally, because of the observational nature of our study, we cannot establish a causal relation between potato consumption and risk of GDM. A carefully conducted observational study, however, could provide a reasonable approach to evaluate the association. In addition, we controlled for major risk factors of GDM to minimize confounding. Conclusion In summary, in this large prospective cohort study, pre-pregnancy potato consumption was significantly and positively associated with the risk of incident GDM. Substitution of potatoes with other vegetables, legumes, or whole grain foods was associated with a lower risk of GDM. These findings should be confirmed in intervention studies and randomized controlled trials. What is already known on this topic Gestational diabetes is a common complication of pregnancy and is at the center of a vicious circle of diabetes-begets-diabetes across generations

 The Dietary Guidelines for Americans continuously include potatoes within the vegetable food group as a healthy food, though previous studies suggest that potatoes can adversely affect glucose metabolism because they contain large amounts of rapidly absorbable starch

 The association between potato consumption and risk of gestational diabetes mellitus remains unknown What this study adds Pre-pregnancy potato consumption was significantly and positively associated with the risk of GDM

 Substitution of potatoes with other vegetables, legumes, or whole grain foods might lower the risk of GDM

 Footnotes Contributors: WB and CZ contributed to the study design. JEC and FBH were involved in data collection. WB analyzed the data and drafted the manuscript. DKT conducted technical review. All authors contributed to the interpretation of the results and revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content and approved the final version of the manuscript. WB and CZ are guarantors.

 Funding: This study was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health (contract No HHSN275201000020C). The Nurses’ Health Study II was funded by research grants DK58845, CA50385, P30 DK46200, and UM1 CA176726 from the National Institutes of Health. DKT and FBH were supported by a mentored fellowship from the American Diabetes Association (No 7-12-MN-34).

 Competing interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form at www.icmje.org/coi_disclosure.pdf and declare: no support from any organization for the submitted work; no financial relationships with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work in the previous three years; no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.

 Ethical approval: The study protocol was approved by the Partners Human Research Committee (Boston, MA, USA). The completion of the self administered questionnaire was considered to imply informed consent.

 Transparency: The senior author, CZ, affirms that the manuscript is an honest, accurate, and transparent account of the study being reported; that no important aspects of the study have been omitted.

 Data sharing: No additional data available.

 This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 3.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/. ||||| Should women planning a pregnancy lay off the french fries and mashed potatoes? Some researchers suggest that may be a good idea, since a new study finds that women who eat more potatoes before conceiving may face a higher risk of developing gestational diabetes while pregnant.

 Gestational diabetes - a form of diabetes that develops during pregnancy - can affect the health of both an expecting mom and her baby.

 For the study, researchers from the National Institutes of Health's Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and Harvard University analyzed data from more than 15,000 women taking part in the Nurses' Health Study II from 1991 to 2001. The scientists tracked consumption of potatoes and other foods every four years. They also tracked pregnancies. Over the ten-year period, out of 21,693 pregnancies, there were 854 cases of gestational diabetes. The women had not had diabetes or other chronic illnesses before becoming pregnant.

 "We found that a diet with a higher level of potato consumption before pregnancy was related to a greater risk of developing diabetes during pregnancy," said study author Dr. Cuilin Zhang, senior investigator in the Epidemiology Branch of the Division of Intramural Population Health Research at NIH's Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. It's estimated that about four to eight percent of pregnancies are affected by gestational diabetes, said Zhang.

 Previous studies have linked foods with a high glycemic index, a measure of the impact on blood sugar levels, to a higher risk of gestational diabetes and type 2 diabetes.

 "Potatoes elevate blood sugar in people more than just about any other type of food," Dr. Aldo Palmieri of UCLA Santa Monica Hospital told CBS News. "They are carbohydrates, and all carbohydrates have that potential." He said the study reinforces the importance of moderation in what we eat.

 "Our next question was, 'What are we going to recommend women to eat instead?' which is why we did the substitution," Zhang said.

 The authors also found that when two servings per week of potatoes were dropped in favor of other vegetables, legumes, or whole grain foods, women had a nine to 12 percent lower risk of developing diabetes during pregnancy.

 By substituting the following foods for two servings of potatoes per week, they estimated reductions in gestational diabetes risk by:

 9 percent for other vegetables

 10 percent for legumes

 12 percent for whole grain foods

 Zhang recommended swapping in green leafy vegetables for potatoes.

 "They have less starch, less carbohydrate, but are high in fiber and vitamins and minerals. And the same for whole grains. They are lower on the glycemic index and have higher levels of healthful nutrients and minerals and micronutrients," she told CBS News.

 Dr. Minisha Sood, director of inpatient diabetes at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, said the findings did not surprise her. She found the study's approach of looking at one high-glycemic food interesting.

 "And then when they showed the substitutions, that's essentially advocating for the Mediterranean-type diet, which we know has benefits in terms of weight loss and insulin resistance," Sood told CBS News.

 When it comes to finding alternatives for potatoes on your dinner plate, Sood said mashed cauliflower can be a satisfying substitute for mashed potatoes and it's low on the glycemic index.

 "It's a vegetable. It's a great substitution. You can almost handle it and mash it the same way, with a little butter and salt, and get the same idea. It's a little closer to potato than kale would be," Sood said.

 People craving potato chips can look for healthier versions, such as quinoa chips and lentil chips, which may have a little more fiber and be lower on the glycemic index compared to regular chips, said Sood. They tend to be baked, so they will also have less fat.

 Women looking to become pregnant or who are already pregnant don't need to chop potatoes off of the menu altogether, but no more than one serving a week is best, Zhang said.

 "A potato does contain healthful nutrients. Vitamin C and potassium and a small amount of dietary fiber. But it's all about the dose. I think moderate consumption is still fine but not too high," she said. "From our data, we show if they consume one serving per week then they're still okay, but if they consume two or more servings, there's an increased risk for gestational diabetes."

 The study's limitations included lack of diversity - 90 percent of the participants were white and a generally healthy population of nurses, said Zhang. Also, diet details and diabetes diagnosis were self-reported, and the severity of diabetes was unknown.

 The authors also noted that the research was not designed to prove cause and effect, and their results don't prove that potato consumption directly leads to gestational diabetes. More research on the subject is needed.

 Zhang suspects a larger, more general study population would show more risk.

 She said, "Women need to know, not all vegetables are 'healthy.'" |||||
A summary of this is?

– If your short-term plan involves getting pregnant, your immediate plan should potentially be to lay off the potatoes. So suggests a National Institutes of Health study published Tuesday in the BMJ that found women who eat more potatoes before becoming pregnant may be more likely to develop gestational diabetes as compared to their spud-light counterparts. That finding stems from an analysis of 15,632 women who participated in the Nurses' Health Study II over a 10-year period beginning in 1991. A press release explains the women had not previously had gestational diabetes, and at four-year intervals answered questions related to their diet in the year prior. Under the potato category, they were asked to rate their consumption of baked, boiled, or mashed potatoes, fries, or potato chips on a scale of "never" to "six or more times a day." The researchers begin their study by noting just how prevalent potato consumption is, with 35% of American women ages 19-50 eating potatoes daily, and the vegetable accounting for 8% of their caloric intake. Study author Dr. Cuilin Zhang recommends to CBS News that women cap it at one potato portion per week and consider a swap. The researchers estimate that trading two servings of potatoes weekly for a substitute vegetable, legumes, or whole-grain food would reduce the risk of gestational diabetes—which CBS reports affects as many as 8% of pregnancies—by 9% to 12%. As for why women should care, Zhang tells the BBC that women with gestational diabetes can develop pre-eclampsia and hypertension, which "can adversely affect the fetus" and put the mother at higher risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. The team notes, however, that the study shows correlation, not causation, and says more research is needed. (One country has told its women not to get pregnant right now.)


News article:

Mayor Dario Nardella announced the initiative on Wednesday morning, and at lunchtime the first cleanings took place.

 "From today, we'll be experimenting with a very simple measure: pouring water over the church steps to clean the spaces, and hopefully discourage people from eating, drinking and making a mess there," Nardella told reporters.

 "If tourists want to sit there, they'll get wet," he said. "Florence is full of cafes with outdoor seating, tables, and benches. The churches aren't restaurants; they are religious and cultural sites."

 The first places to get the treatment were the areas by the Basilica of Santa Croce and Santo Spirito church. Nardella said that after the initial "experiment", city authorities would evaluate whether the project should be extended to other areas, such as pavements.

 Tourists outside the Santa Croce basilica. Photo: Alberto Pizzoli/AFP

 Some locals took to social media to criticize the move, with some complaining that it would deter tourists from the city or that it could be seen as elitist, in targeting those who choose to eat takeaway food rather than at pricey restaurants.

 Others pointed out that in the current 30C heat, picnickers might not mind being showered with water.

 #Nardella vuol bagnare i gradini delle chiese per impedire ai turisti di sedersi a mangiare. Orrore, la plebaglia che non va al ristorante. — FrauFrau (@Stefy_1987) May 31, 2017

 "Nardella wants to soak the steps of churches to stop tourists from sitting down to eat. What horror, the rabble that doesn't go to restaurants."

 In the afternoon, Nardella clarified the nature of the project, saying that the city would not be using "water cannons" on tourists, but simply cleaning church steps and pavements during lunchtime.

 He further emphasized that the city was "in no way against tourists, but against those who do not respect Florence".

 Nardella ruled out the possibility of introducing fines against those who eat in historic areas - as is the case in Rome's recently restored Spanish Steps, for example, where those who flout the ban on picnicking have found themselves hit with hefty fines.

 "We are using a kinder measure, but one we believe is just as effective," he said.

 The battle to protect Italy's ancient heritage from problems caused by mass tourism has become a hot topic over recent years.

 READ MORE:

 In Florence, food has been a key issue, and the city has passed regulations ordering new restaurants in the historic centre to sell only food which is at least 70 percent locally sourced.

 Nardella also blocked an application from McDonald's to open a restaurant in the main square after a social media campaign by locals, a move which prompted the fast food chain to threaten legal action against the city.

 The lagoon city of Venice in April introduced a slew of radical measures aimed at tackling overcrowding, from live people-counters to limits on tourist accommodation and promotion of lesser-explored areas. Two weeks later, the council also banned any new takeaway food shops from opening in the historic centre, in a bid at cutting down on littering. Only artisanal gelaterias were exempt from the ban. ||||| Dario Nardella to discourage people from ‘camping out’ by hosing down steps of Basilica of Santa Croce and other sites

 The mayor of Florence has told tourists they will “get wet” if they settle down for lunch on the steps of some of the city’s prized churches as he is turning to hosepipes to restore “decorum” among visitors to the Renaissance city.

 The steps of the Basilica of Santa Croce, the burial place of Michelangelo, will be the first to be hosed down, taking place at about lunchtime, in order to stop visitors from eating on them, followed by the Chiesa di Santo Spirito.

 McDonald's claims $20m from Florence over piazza restaurant rebuff Read more

 “We have nothing against tourists. We know that they are a great resource for our city,” the mayor, Dario Nardella, told The Guardian.

 “But there is a problem with respecting decorum. The majority of visitors are respectful and elegant. But there has been an increase among those who don’t respect our cultural heritage, who sit down on church steps, eat their food and leave rubbish strewn on them.”

 The streets of the city’s historic centre, a Unesco world heritage site, will also be hosed down as part of what will initially be an experiment to see if tourists can be discouraged from eating lunch on the steps.

 Nardella directed the blame mostly at day-trippers, such as those on cruise itineraries, who “come for just a few hours”. He said: “It’s not that eating a sandwich while walking along the street is banned or that people can’t sit down at other times.

 “We want to put people off from camping out. If they sit down, they’ll get wet. Instead of imposing fines, we thought this measure was more elegant.”

 The measure is one of several implemented by Nardella in a city that attracts about 12 million tourists a year since he became mayor in 2014.

 Concerned about the spread of fast-food outlets catering to backpackers, he introduced regulations in January last year stipulating that restaurants in the centre use products that were typical of the city and the Tuscany region.

 He also blocked an application by McDonald’s to open an outlet in the historic Piazza del Duomo, prompting the US chain to seek €17.8m (£15.5m) in damages.

  ||||| Fed up with hordes of tourists snacking on the steps of Renaissance churches and lounging in the streets, the mayor of Florence has come up with a radical approach — hose down the surfaces so they are too wet to sit on.

 With few public benches in the city centre, visitors sprawl wherever they can find space, munching panini and licking ice creams on street kerbs and the steps of imposing basilicas such as Santo Spirito and Santa Croce.

 The problem will only get worse as the peak tourist season of summer approaches.

 Dario Nardella, the mayor, has had enough and has decided from today to deploy council workers armed with high-pressure hoses around the city centre. |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– The mayor of Florence says some tourists have no "decorum" these days—something he hopes to fix with a water hose. Mayor Dario Nardella says a small number of the Italian city's 12 million annual tourists—particularly day-trippers from cruise ships—have taken to "camping out" on church steps at lunchtime. They "sit down on church steps, eat their food, and leave rubbish strewn on them," with no respect for "our cultural heritage," Nardella tells the Guardian. He says city officials thought about handing out fines to such tourists, but they decided instead to get creative. The plan: Use water hoses to soak church steps. That way, if tourists sit down, "they'll get wet," Nardella said in announcing the strategy Wednesday. Shortly after the announcement, the steps of both the Basilica of Santa Croce and the Chiesa di Santo Spirito were doused. In the future, this will be a daily occurrence, reports the Telegraph. "Instead of imposing fines, we thought this measure was more elegant," Nardella tells the Guardian, adding other areas might eventually get a wash as well. While some social media users joked that a free shower might be nice in the heat of summer, others have accused city officials of being "elitist" in targeting tourists who choose not to eat in Florence's restaurants, per the Local. Nardella counters that the city has plenty of outdoor seating for tourists. Churches, however, are no place for a picnic, he says. (Barcelona has an issue with its tourists, too.)


If the title of this post made perfect sense to you, then you’re way ahead of me. But just in case, we’d best recap. Neal Whitman wrote a good article at Grammar Girl recently on the possible origins of because as a standalone preposition. This helpful passage from Whitman sets out the context:

 In Standard English, the word “because” can be used two ways. One of them is to introduce a clause, as in “Aardvark was late because he was waiting for the repairman to show up.” Used this way, “because” is a subordinating conjunction. The other is to team up with “of” to form what’s called a compound preposition. For example, “Aardvark was late because of heavy traffic.” In the past three or four years, though, a new usage for “because” has been developing.

 The new usage – older than 3–4 years, mind – is what Laura Bailey and Mark Liberman, respectively, have referred to as “because+noun” and “because NOUN”. Liberman says the idiom usually seems to imply “that the referenced line of reasoning is weak”. Sometimes, yes, but it’s also commonly used just for convenience, or effect: No work tomorrow because holidays!; Of course evolution is true, because science.

 Because X is fashionably slangy at the moment, diffusing rapidly across communities. It has a snappy, jocular feel, with a syntactic jolt that allows long explanations to be forgone. Because time-strapped. Maybe the causal factor is so obvious as to need no elaboration, or the speaker is distracted or giddy, or online and eager to save effort and move on, or maybe the construction appeals for undefined aesthetic or social reasons.

 Gretchen McCulloch, at All Things Linguistic, points out that there seem to be restrictions on what kind of noun phrases can occur here. Providing examples of what works and doesn’t work for her (e.g., Yes to: I can’t come out tonight because homework/essays; No to: I can’t come out tonight because lots of homework/this essay), she concludes:

 it seems like the because+noun construction really must consist of a bare noun, not a noun with a determiner or an adjective. However, I think I might be able to be okay with: ? I can never get to bed at a reasonable hour because interesting people on the internet!

 With new usages, as with old ones, what works or doesn’t varies from person to person. Bare nouns certainly seem more common in the X slot, and tend to carry more emphasis, but I’ve seen longer noun phrases, and other classes of words, used too; there are examples below.

 The construction is more versatile than “because+noun” suggests. This because can be yoked to verbs (Can’t talk now because cooking), adjectives (making up examples because lazy), interjections (Because yay!), and maybe adverbs too, though in strings like Because honestly., the adverb is functioning more as an exclamation. The resulting phrases are all similarly succinct and expressive.

 Here are some examples from Twitter, categorised by grammatical class:

 Nouns, noun phrases, proper nouns:

 Dow closes at record high for 35th time this year because Obama pic.twitter.com/XKDwq67K5D — The Daily Edge (@TheDailyEdge) November 11, 2013

 Swear I can't be the only one who really doesn't give a shit about the color of m&m's and just eats them by the mouthful because chocolate. — nate13X (@Nate_Fair) November 12, 2013

 School because studying. Studying because school. — Andre Perrard (@AndreTAMU15) November 12, 2013

 What if Chris is trolling again and actually is going to be the doctor but has to say he isn't because secret reasons? — Aimee (@_planet_kid) March 24, 2013

 rewatching teen wolf because feels — lauren (@krejface) November 11, 2013

 (Feels in the last tweet is a popular slang abbreviation of feelings, especially in the sense of strong or overwhelming emotion.)

 Verbs:

 Bye going to study for English because didn't finish this morning because fell asleep — I LOVE YOU JUSTIN ! (@charminrauhl) November 10, 2013

 stomach ache because laughing lol — styles (@reverd1d) November 12, 2013

 Hot cocoa because need. — Jo West (@JoWesterhof) November 12, 2013

 Would a perfume ban violate the First Amendment? Is that expression? Because want. — Jillian C. York (@jilliancyork) November 7, 2013

 Those moments when you choose to eat a salad not because you want salad… but because want croutons. — Rebekah Loper (@RebekahLoper) November 7, 2013

 Adjectives:

 Going to bed way early because exhausted:/ — Morgan♡ (@_mo_mo37) November 7, 2013

 PREDICTION: Zach Edwards will be ESPN's impact player against Rutgers next week because random. — Cincy on the Prowl (@CincyOnTheProwl) November 9, 2013

 {Falls on her bed and cuddles pillows because tired} — Devanhi Evergrace (@MirkwoodsMuse) November 13, 2013

 A lot of people should really start thinking before they talk because stupid. — Clayton Collins (@ClaytonJCollins) August 16, 2013

 Interjections:

 I need to talk to my cousin too. because oooh ! — kimani . ✌♥ (@CaylaKx3) November 12, 2013

 That feeling you get when you finish an essay and you just want to cry because yay — Alexis Isaacson (@AlexisIsaacson) November 12, 2013

 I might suggest taking @KameronHurley's suggestion and talking about stuff you like today using the hashtag #thingsilike. Because YAY THINGS — Chuck Wendig (@ChuckWendig) September 10, 2013

 Admittedly, not in the UK yet, because aargh. — Richard Cobbett (@richardcobbett) June 10, 2013

 Uhmmm I wish my friend would of told me about windows down sooner because #woohoo — I Love you Connor (@JessupFan) August 26, 2012

 *

 On Language Log I left a comment (before I’d checked) suggesting the usage could’ve come from the “because race car” meme of 2011. But corpus searches show examples from years before that. GloWbE has loads, with many of the noun phrases recurring – science, math, people, art, reasons, comedy, bacon, ineptitude, fun, patriarchy, politics, school, intersectionality, and winner all show up at least twice in the X slot.

 Scanning COHA and COCA for similar constructions, I found examples from ABC’s This Week, 2012: “I’m supporting the Patriots because Patriots.”; CNN’s Larry King Show, 2001: “And of course, that was last thing in the world she would do because publicity.” (though the omission of a definite article makes me wonder if it was poorly transcribed); and NBC’s Dateline, 2005:

 I definitely kind of viewed him as a suspect. Why? Well, because motive.

 Fox News Sunday, 15 years ago, has: “And Primary Colors I think has hit the country like a dud, because behavior. It’s not inspiring.” But I’m not sure: it may be more like “because behaviour, it’s not inspiring”, where the noun is fronted and the grammar, though loose, doesn’t use the prepositional because we’re looking at. Ditto this from Ebony, 2007: “People die of heart attacks and strokes because diabetes. It is one of the more underlisted causes of death…”

 Written examples of prepositional because aren’t rare, but they’re pretty much unheard of in edited text, except where it’s reported speech. COCA offers the following, from the Roeper Review, 1996: “But motivation alone does not assure success: ‘Because circumstances. I was just lucky, really…’”

 There’s also an old and standard construction that’s superficially very similar to prepositional because. The last time I remember seeing it was in Final Cut, Steven Bach’s book on the making of Heaven’s Gate:

 It was pointed out that there seemed to be plenty of time for endless reexamination of footage or for monomaniacal reworking of technical processes, but those all were justified in the name of Art, while seeing how the picture played before an audience was both pointless, because Cimino knew how it would play, and ignoble because a question of mere Commerce.

 It’s different, though, because elliptical. Bach’s “ignoble because a question…” is a grammatical elision of “ignoble because it was a question…”. Our non-standard idiom, by contrast, isn’t eliding particular words – it’s substituting for a whole, possibly vague, train of thought, and could take the form “because Commerce(!)”. Bach’s couldn’t.

 [Analogous examples: “Professor Einstein holds that perception is generally false because relative.” (Time magazine, 1929). “The will to avoid industrial evils was effective, because sincere.” (Olaf Stapledon, Last and First Men). “Words that were admitted sparingly because unlimited in number or very numerous.” (Robert Burchfield, Unlocking the English Language).]

 But back to novel because X. Where did it come from? No one is quite sure. Neal Whitman agrees with Language Log commenters who think it could be from “Because hey”–type sentences (If life gives you lemons, keep them, because, hey, free lemons), where hey functions “like an adaptor, letting you shift from the ordinary speech register to this casual and condensed register”. And then people started dropping the hey.

 It’s not always hey, either: take this line from the linguistically trend-setting Buffy, season 5 (January 2001): “I don’t even get how we made that guy, because, wow, advanced!” There may also be forerunners in child–parent exchanges like “Why? That’s the why” and “Why? Because.”; and in the popular insults “Because shut up” and “Because fuck you, that’s why.”

 However it arose, it seems to be spreading. Language loves economy, and the sheer efficiency of this use of because is likely boosting its popularity. Similar constructions are occurring with but, also, so, thus and similar words – see the frame from xkcd, above. And in the Language Log thread (which is worth reading in full), Rod Johnson says a friend “ended a litany of miscellaneous complaints with ‘In conclusion, STUFF.’” All these syntactic compressions may be reinforcing each other.

 I’ve used the construction myself, though not often. On Twitter a year ago I was asked if there’s a “male equivalent of feminist”, and because of the medium’s spatial limitations (and because I was impulsively drawn to the unorthodox syntax) I said: “No precise equivalent, because patriarchy, but ‘masculist’/’masculinist’ is closest. Interpretations of it vary a lot.”

 Is prepositional-because grammatical? Sure. Not in Standard English, of course. But lots of people are using it in a systematic and semantically transparent way. It has obvious appeal in a range of informal contexts, though whether it manages ultimately to insinuate itself into more formally acceptable usage remains to be seen.

 You needn’t use or like this usage of because, and you might even find it annoying, but there’s nothing linguistically problematic about it. Because grammar weirds, because language.

 *

 Updates:

 Following up on this post, Megan Garber at the Atlantic (“English Has a New Preposition, Because Internet”) describes the construction as “exceptionally bloggy and aggressively casual and implicitly ironic. And also highly adaptable.” She notes the significant role of the internet in its development and dissemination, and speculates on its origins.

 Gretchen McCulloch has also returned to it at All Things Linguistic (“Where ‘because noun’ probably came from”), delving further into the grammaticality of different forms of because X and suggesting a different origin story from the because-hey hypothesis.

 There’s more coverage at Neatorama, Daily Dot, CBS News, Boing Boing, and the Russian site Lenta.ru. Coverage elsewhere (Business Insider, Mashable et al.) mostly repeats the Atlantic story, but I’ll add useful links here as they happen.)

 My post’s title may be a bit misleading, and I regret that. I wanted it to include the because X construction, but I ended up sounding too emphatic: because‘s prepositional nature here is not certain. CGEL apparently considers it one even in its traditional roles, but other language commentators disagree. See the comments for discussion.

 On Twitter, Jonathan Lipps offers the example “Unfortunately, [noun phrase]”, and suggests that it’s not so much about because changing as it is the generalisation of “[noun-phrase]-as-elided-clause”.

 Joining the preposition camp is Joe at Mr. Verb, who notes that because originates as a prepositional phrase (by cause), and finds the new usage “has a pretty classic distribution of a preposition […] and the semantics are not weird for a preposition”. He also raises interesting questions from the point of view of historical linguistics.

 Cognitive psychologist Jessica Love has a fascinating post at the American Scholar on the appeal of ungrammatical trends and memes, including “because X”, lolspeak, doge, etc. She writes:

 Many of us—especially younger generations—seem to take special pleasure in wordplay that upends standard grammatical conventions. But why? According to one psychological theory, humor is fundamentally about detecting something that violates our expectations, but in a nonthreatening way. . . . Given grammar’s relatively low stakes, then, it is fodder for immediate humor.

 I left a comment on Jessica’s post, and hope to revisit the subject here before long.

 Meanwhile, Andrew Sullivan briefly covers the discussion at The Dish: Because Linguistics.

 Update season 2:

 The American Dialect Society has named because its 2013 Word of the Year (I called it in December) prompting renewed discussion of the word’s precise grammatical role in the because X construction. A very helpful post at All Things Linguistic makes a persuasive case that this novel because “isn’t a preposition (but is actually cooler)“.

 At Language Log, Geoffrey Pullum takes polite but firm issue with McCulloch’s interpretation, in a post on the promiscuity of prepositions: “the mistake of trusting a standard dictionary definition of ‘preposition’ has misled All Things Linguistic (and even Stan Carey to some extent), just like it misleads everyone else.”

 Linguist Neal Whitman revisits the grammar of because in both its new and traditional uses, at Visual Thesaurus: “So yes, because is a preposition, but not on account of this new usage. But there’s still the question of exactly what kind of complement this particular prepositional flavor of because takes.”

 Tyler Schnoebelen at the Idibon blog has done some serious number-crunching on this, analysing twenty-something thousand tweets for patterns of because X (the top X? Yolo). For stats, laughs, and useful academic links, read his post ‘Innovating because innovation.’

 The blog materfamilias reads has drawn my attention to a use of because X from way back in 1949, in Nancy Mitford’s book Love in a Cold Climate: ‘I hadn’t a bit expected that he would come to London for it because for one thing, knee-breeches.’

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 In Standard English, the word “because” can be used two ways. One of them is to introduce a clause, as in “Aardvark was late because he was waiting for the repairman to show up.” Used this way, “because” is a subordinating conjunction. The other is to team up with “of” to form what’s called a compound preposition. For example, “Aardvark was late because of heavy traffic.” In the past three or four years, though, a new usage for “because” has been developing.

 “Because Evil Emperor Zurg!”

 So what is this new way of using the word “because”? Listen to these quotations from an article in Slate this past summer, in which young children were asked to choose their favorite Pixar movie. A five-year-old chose Toy Story 2, quote, “Because Evil Emperor Zurg!” A four-year-old liked Monster Inc. “Because the day care.” A six-year-old chose Monsters University, “because the part where Sully has the big roar and scares all the policemen.”

 "Because" as a Preposition

 The new usage of “because” treats it as an ordinary preposition, by having it introduce noun phrases instead of clauses or the word “of.” I’ve also heard teenagers say things like, “I’ll do that when school’s out, because more time.”

 This construction got a name just last year. In July 2012, two linguists independently decided to call it “because NOUN.” On July 2, Laura Bailey called it this in a post on her linguistlaura blog, and on July 12, Mark Liberman independently did the same in a Language Log post.

 Buy Now

 But where did this “because NOUN” come from? I have the same suspicion as a few of the commenters on the Language Log post: It has its origins in what I’ll call “because hey” sentences. If you’re old enough, you may remember Jack Handey’s Deep Thoughts, a recurring joke on Saturday Night Live. One of them, written in 1987, went like this:

 Pages ||||| Well here is a nice young man, Fred E. Ray Smith, running for Oklahoma state Senate, from jail, where he was taken for warrants and drunk driving and driving without a license or registration, and also he owes so much child support and his ex has a protective order out against him. We assume he is going to win, because “R-Oklahoma.” But let us take a moment to admire what his campaign manager/fiancee, SunShine Fox, has to say about the whole mishegas.

 Fox, who is engaged to Smith, said it was a simple oversight that Smith didn’t pay the fines and that Smith has been making regular payments in child support, but recently became unemployed.

 Fox said all of Smith’s paycheck goes to child support every month.

 “Don’t you wish all men would do that?” Fox said.

 Weeeellll …. sure! Sounds like a swell fella! Good on you, SunShine! (Run, girl. Run like the wind.)

 Anyway, he is running to represent Ada, which has at least one gas station (we have been there!), but is currently actually represented by a Democrat lady, which is weird. But Okie Dems are a different type of Dem anyway, so don’t worry, your brain does not have to essplode.

 [NewsOK] |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– Because politics. Because science. Because money. Remember when you'd need an "of" in these sentences? No longer, because Internet-speak, writes Megan Garber in the Atlantic. In short, the Internet has turned "because" into its own preposition (as language expert Stan Carey has pointed out). For example, the sun's turning upside down, but don't worry, "because science," the UK's Metro notes. Or "skipping lunch today because sleep," says a Twitter user. Or a politician will win "because R-Oklahoma," points out Wonkette. There are a number of theories as to how the "prepositional-because" or "because-noun" began. Memes featured it as far back as 2001 ("because f--- you"). It could be derived from the phrase, "because, hey, (insert noun here)," says linguist Neal Whitman. For instance: The politician will win "because, hey, R-Oklahoma." Or maybe it's tied to parents telling their kids no, just "because." What's clearer is why the "prepositional-because" has taken off: It "maximizes efficiency and irony in equal measure," Garber writes. Click for the full piece.


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“I’m not a steel man; of course I’m personally affected by this case,” Mr. Buch-Jepsen said after the verdict was pronounced. “This case has crept under my skin more than other cases.”

 It was “a case so heinous and repulsive that as a prosecutor, it renders you speechless,” he said in his closing argument on Monday. “Peter Madsen is not normal. He is a danger to society.”

 A court-ordered psychiatric evaluation of Mr. Madsen described him as a narcissistic psychopath, lacking in empathy but not psychotic or delusional.

 Ms. Engmark, the defense lawyer, noted during the trial that investigators had been unable to establish the cause of Ms. Wall’s death. She admitted that Mr. Madsen had mutilated the body and thrown pieces into the sea, and that he had lied to the police. But she argued that there was no clear evidence that Ms. Wall had been murdered.

 Ms. Wall, who was Swedish and lived in Copenhagen, was last seen alive on Aug. 10, when she met Mr. Madsen for what was supposed to be a two-hour trip aboard the submarine. The submarine sank the next day — officials have said Mr. Madsen sank it deliberately — and while he was rescued, Ms. Wall was nowhere to be found.

 He claimed at first that he had put her safely ashore hours earlier — the first of several conflicting stories he gave, according to the police — but her mutilated remains were found in the waters near Copenhagen over the next several weeks. He then claimed that she had died in an accident aboard the submarine, and said that he had cut up the body and discarded the pieces.

 But Mr. Buch-Jepsen presented evidence that Mr. Madsen had planned to assault and kill her, bringing the tools to bind, cut and stab his victim, and heavy objects like pipes to weigh down her remains. The prosecutor showed text messages that Mr. Madsen had deleted, but that investigators were able to recover, telling another woman that she should be tied up and tortured aboard the sub, and telling a friend that he had planned the perfect murder, one that would be a “great pleasure.” ||||| FILE - In this April 30, 2008 file photo, submarine owner Peter Madsen stands inside the vessel. One of the most talked-about and macabre court cases in recent Danish history is set to conclude Wednesday,... (Associated Press)

 FILE - In this April 30, 2008 file photo, submarine owner Peter Madsen stands inside the vessel. One of the most talked-about and macabre court cases in recent Danish history is set to conclude Wednesday, April 25, 2018 when the verdict is handed down on whether Peter Madsen tortured and murdered a... (Associated Press)

 COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The Latest on the murder trial of Danish inventor Peter Madsen (all times local):

 1 p.m.

 Danish inventor Peter Madsen has been sentenced to life in prison for torturing and murdering Swedish journalist Kim Wall on his private submarine.

 Judge Anette Burkoe at the Copenhagen City Court said she and the two jurors agreed Wall's death was a murder, saying Madsen didn't given "a trustworthy" explanation.

 Madsen stood quietly listening as the judge read out the verdict Wednesday.

 Madsen, 47, had denied murder and said Wall died accidentally inside the submarine, but he has confessed to cutting up her body and throwing the body parts into the sea.

 ___

 9:20 a.m.

 A verdict is expected at the Copenhagen City Court Wednesday on whether Danish inventor Peter Madsen tortured and murdered a Swedish journalist during a private submarine trip.

 Madsen, 47, is charged with murder, dismemberment and indecent handling of a corpse over the death of Kim Wall.

 Madsen has denied murder and said Wall died accidentally inside the submarine, but has confessed to throwing her body parts into the sea.

 Prosecutor Jakob Buch-Jepsen has claimed Wall's murder was sexually motivated and premeditated because Madsen brought along tools he normally didn't take when sailing. He has sought a life sentence for Madsen.

 Madsen's defense lawyer has said he should only be sentenced for cutting Wall into pieces.

 The cause of death has never been established. ||||| Swedish journalist’s dismembered remains found at sea after she failed to return from trip on Madsen’s submarine

 A Danish inventor has been sentenced to life in prison for the premeditated murder and sexual assault of the Swedish journalist Kim Wall on his submarine in August last year.

 The judge, Anette Burkø, and two jurors found Peter Madsen, 47, guilty of all three of the main charges of premeditated murder, aggravated sexual assault and desecrating a corpse.

 “This is a cynical and pre-planned sexual assault of a particularly brutal nature on a random woman who, in connection with her journalistic work, accepted an invitation for a sailing trip on the accused’s submarine,” Burkø said, explaining the rare decision to hand down Denmark’s most severe sentence.

 Wall’s parents, Ingrid and Joachim Wall, who had followed much of the trial from the courtroom, were not present for the verdict, although the seven family seats were taken by other friends and relatives.

 Wall was 30 when she died. The journalist had reported from all over the world for Time magazine, the New York Times and the Guardian, among others. Her boyfriend told the court she was “incredibly ambitious” and “amazingly curious”.

 Madsen looked crushed as he heard the verdict, sitting motionless for close to a minute with his eyes closed and his head bowed, in contrast to his behaviour during the trial, when he had looked frequently around the courtroom. He then left to confer with his defence lawyer, Betina Hald Engmark, who announced on their return that he would appeal.

 Facebook Twitter Pinterest Peter Madsen in front of his homemade submarine in Copenhagen, Denmark. Photograph: Mikko Suominen/Getty Images

 The case has gripped Denmark ever since Wall failed to return from a trip on Madsen’s self-built Nautilus submarine on 10 August. Madsen was a semi-celebrity at the time of his arrest, having made a name for himself with three self-built submarines and two crowdfunded manned space projects.

 Burkø said his version of events – that Wall died when an accident filled the vessel with toxic exhaust fumes – was “not credible and not consistent with the following decision to dismember the body”. Madsen had changed his explanation for Wall’s death several times, Burkø noted.

 She said the court instead believed the prosecution’s theory that he had sexually tortured Wall to fulfil a violent sexual fantasy.

 It is very unusual for a life sentence to be handed down for the murder of a single person in Denmark, where prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment serve an average of 16 years.

 Madsen admitted to just one of the four charges, mistreatment of a corpse. He confessed in October to dismembering Wall’s body after divers found her head, legs and clothing in Køge Bay, claiming it had been necessary to cut it up in order to remove it from the submarine.

 Facebook Twitter Pinterest Prosecutor Jakob Buch-Jepsen gives a media briefing after the verdict. Photograph: Scanpix Denmark/Reuters

 Over the course of the 11-day trial, spread over seven weeks, prosecutors presented their case in often horrific detail. But Madsen himself refused to go into detail in court, calling Wall’s death “a very, very traumatic event which I do not want to describe”.

 When he was arrested in August, Madsen initially claimed to have dropped Wall off on land, but he almost immediately admitted that she had died onboard and that he had then “buried her at sea”.

 At first, he said her skull had been crushed by a heavy latch, but after the discovery of Wall’s head, he said she had been asphyxiated, claiming to have come up with his first story to spare Wall’s parents.

 During the trial, the court heard from a woman to whom Madsen had confessed that he was “a psychopath, but a loving one”, a judgment backed up by a forensic psychiatric report that described Madsen as a “perverse polymorph” with “psychopathic traits”.

 Such was the interest in the trial that the Copenhagen district court opened up a special room with a video link on some days to accommodate as many as 115 journalists from 15 countries. Wall’s parents attended the trial most days and quietly took notes from specially reserved seats beside the media section.

 Madsen expressed his regret when asked to make a closing statement at the end of the trial. “The only thing I want to say is that I’m very, very sorry for what has happened,” he said.

 Madsen was also ordered to pay damages to Wall’s boyfriend.

 • This article was amended on 26 April 2018. An earlier version said Peter Madsen was found guilty of reckless sailing and ordered to pay damages to Wall’s parents. |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– Life sentences are unusual in Denmark, even when the crime is murder, but that's what Danish inventor Peter Madsen was handed on Wednesday. Judge Anette Burkoe at the Copenhagen City Court said she and the two jurors—whose opinions all held equal weight in the case—found Swedish journalist Kim Wall was murdered, telling Madsen he hadn't given "a trustworthy" explanation for her death and that "there is clear evidence that the accused has shown an interest in killing and dismembering people." The 47-year-old stood quietly listening as the verdict was read, reports the AP, with the Guardian describing him as "visibly nervous." The paper notes life sentences in Denmark typically average 16 years; Madsen has two weeks to decide whether he will appeal. Madsen had maintained that he did not murder Wall, but did admit to cutting up her body and disposing of it in the sea after what he said was an accidental death. The New York Times reports prosecutor Jakob Buch-Jepsen had argued Madsen was fixated on murdering a woman after a rocket launch was scrapped on Aug. 8, two days before Wall died. Buch-Jepsen said Madsen texted three women an invitation to meet him on the sub but was turned down. Wall boarded the sub on Aug. 10 for an interview that she had tried to secure for months; Madsen had texted her that day with the invite. "It was random chance that it turned out to be Kim Wall," Buch-Jepsen said. Wall skipped her own going away party to head to the interview. More on that here.


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Amanda fa l'occhiolino a Raffaele durante il processo d'Appello ( foto

 Raffaele Sollecito parla in esclusiva a Oggi: «Certo che andrò a trovare Amanda a Seattle. È stata lei a invitarmi. Io ho accettato con gioia. E non è detto che aspetti Natale. Potrei farlo anche prima. In qualunque momento. Ho voglia di rivederla, di parlare, di guardarla negli occhi».

 PRIME DICHIARAZIONI IN ASSOLUTO – Il settimanale Oggi, in edicola da mercoledì, pubblica alcune confidenze del ragazzo pugliese assolto in secondo grado dall’accusa di avere ucciso, insieme con la fidanzatina americana, la povera Meredith Kercher. Queste sono le sue prime dichiarazioni in assoluto dopo la scarcerazione.

 «ABBIAMO BISOGNO L’UN DELL’ALTRA» – Dice Raffaele : «Ci telefoniamo o ci scriviamo tutti i giorni, abbiamo bisogno l’uno dell’altra sia per tentare di capire cosa è successo sia per guardare avanti, verso un futuro che sembrava spezzato per sempre e che invece possiamo ancora costruire. Abbiamo tante cose da dirci, dopo aver passato quattro anni in un girone infernale che ci ha stritolato, ci ha procurato sofferenze indicibili, ci ha rovinato la vita».

 IL MISTERO DEL CAPPOTTO - Sollecito durante l’intervista a Oggi indossa un cappotto grigio foderato di pelo. Lo stesso che aveva addosso Amanda Knox il 3 novembre 2007, quando la polizia scientifica compiva rilievi nella villetta di via della Pergola, Amanda e Raffaele aspettavano sull’uscio. Lei aveva freddo, lui si sfilò il giaccone, glielo mise, la abbracciò. Raffaele ha voluto indossare lo stesso giaccone durante il suo incontro con il nostro giornalista perché quel capo d’abbigliamento è finito nell’impianto probatorio e “racconta” il pressapochismo con cui sono state condotte le indagini.

 CHE CONFUSIONE! - Marco Quintavalle, proprietario di un minimarket a Perugia, disse che, il giorno dopo l’omicidio di Meredith, Amanda si presentò la mattina presto nel suo negozio, a comprare candeggina (per lavar via le tracce, era il sottinteso). Il Pm Mignini gli chiese com’era vestita la Knox. Quintavalle non esitò: «Con un cappotto grigio», disse. Forse il negoziante, che si presentò a deporre un anno dopo la morte di Mez, aveva visto la foto del 3 novembre, e fece confusione, mischiò ricordi e ritagli di giornale. Perché Amanda in realtà non ha mai avuto cappotti: «Li odia», dice Raffaele. ||||| 'We need each other... I really want to see her': Foxy Knoxy's Italian lover breaks his silence to reveal their 'four years in circle of hell'

 Raffaele Sollecito said the pair speak to each other on the phone every day to 'try and understand what happened'

 He is already planning a trip to Seattle to see his former girlfriend

 He says: 'I really want to see her again and look into her eyes'

 Freed Amanda Knox is in regular contact with her former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, he has revealed in an interview.

 The couple were sensationally cleared of murdering and sexually assaulting student Meredith Kercher, 21, who was found semi-naked and with her throat cut in her bedroom of the house she shared with Knox, 24.

 She and Sollecito, 27, had been seeing each other for a week before the brutal murder and initially they had been sentenced to 26 and 25 years respectively but they were released on appeal earlier this month.

 Contact: Amanda Knox, pictured in Seattle last week, is in regular contact with her former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, left, he has revealed in an interview. He is planning to visit her in Seattle before Christmas

 Breaking his silence for the first time in an interview with glossy Italian weekly Oggi, computer studies graduate Sollecito said: 'We need each other - we speak to each other on the phone and write to each other every day.'

 Then, speaking of his invitation to visit Knox in her hometown of Seattle, Sollecito added: 'I will certainly go and see Amanda. She asked me over and I accepted with pleasure and there is no saying I will wait until Christmas.

 'I could go earlier - I could go at any moment. I really want to see her again, to speak with her and look into her eyes.

 Knox and Sollecito were photographed kissing shortly after the death of Meredith Kercher

 'We need to speak and write to each other to try and understand what happened to us and to look forward to a future that appeared broken forever but instead we can still build on.

 'We have so many things to say to each other. We spent four years in a circle of hell, we suffered unspeakably and it ruined our lives.'

 Knox has kept a low profile since she was freed and is said to be negotiating a money-spinning TV interview deal with an American TV network which could make her $1 million - with the potential of earning up to ten times that amount as well.

 Since returning to Seattle she has been seen out and about with friends but generally keeping a low profile and spending time with her family.

 The couple pictured in 2007. Sollecito said: 'We have so many things to say to each other. We spent four years in a circle of hell, we suffered unspeakably and it ruined our lives.'

 She was pictured out in downtown Seattle earlier this month with best friend Madison Paxton, who stayed close to her while she was in prison, and days earlier taking a drive with her step-father Chris Mellas.

 She wrote in prison of how she longed to see her former boyfriend, David Johnsrud, and he was one of the first to pay her a visit on her return, although her father Curt stressed their relationship was now one simply of ‘friendship’.

 Asked how his daughter had changed since she was jailed, Mr Knox said in an interview earlier this month that she was little different, other than occasionally slipping into speaking Italian and being less trusting of authority after her experience with Italian police. ‘It’s almost like she hasn’t lost a step with the family, which is nice to see,’ he said.

 Freed: Knox addresses supporters and the media at Seattle airport supported by her mother Edda Mellas following her sensational release from prison

 He said his daughter had to remain largely indoors for the moment, describing it as ‘a different version of jail’ but said she had at least been able to lie down in the grass – something she had longed for while in prison.

 Mr Knox also revealed his daughter was being shadowed by a bodyguard and the family has been inundated with hate mail and threatening phone calls.

 Knox and Sollecito, from Bisceglie near Bari, were originally found guilty in 2009 of the murder which had taken two years previously in the Italian hilltop town of Perugia.

 However the appeal heard how the original evidence used to convict them was flawed and contaminated and they were freed after an independent forensic report ordered by the judge condemned the forensic investigation.

 Jailed: Ivory Coast drifter Rudy Guede, 24, (left) was convicted of the murder and sexual assault of Meredith Kercher (right) after a fast-track trial in 2008

 Key to the case was a 30cm kitchen knife found in Sollecito's apartment and on which was said to be DNA from Knox on the handle and that of Meredith on the blade.

 But the report said the amount on the knife was so low is should not be used to convict Knox - although they confirmed it was her DNA on the handle but she argued she had used it to cook with.

 DNA from Sollecito which was found on Meredith's bloodied bra clasp was also dismissed as it emerged it had been left in the murder scene for six weeks before being collected and leaving it open to contamination.

 Prosecutors in Perugia have said they will appeal the decision but they will have to wait until the judge's written ruling on the verdict is published sometime in the New Year.

 Meredith from Coulsdon, Surrey, was a Leeds University student and was in Perugia for her degree course and she had only been in Italy for two months before she was murdered in November 2007.

 Ivory Coast drifter Rudy Guede, 24, was convicted of murder and sexual assault after a fast track trial in 2008 and originally sentenced to 30 years but this was later reduced to 16 on appeal.

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What is a shorter version of the above article?

– Amanda Knox's Italian ex-boyfriend has spoken out for the first time since their murder convictions were overturned, saying "we need each other," and that they talk every day and he cannot wait to see her again, reports the Daily Mail. "We spent four years in a circle of hell, we suffered unspeakably, and it ruined our lives," said Raffaele Sollecito. "I really want to see her again, to speak with her and look into her eyes." Sollecito said that the two write and talk, "to try and understand what happened to us," and that he has been invited to spend Christmas at the Knox home in Seattle. "I will certainly go and see Amanda." They each "look forward to a future that appeared broken forever but instead we can still build on," he says. Italian speakers can check out the original interview in Oggi magazine.