How one man lost a THIRD of his body weight eating nothing but potatoes for a year
IF you like variety in your diet, this is not the solution for you.
Last year Andrew Taylor ate nothing but potatoes.
No, we aren't kidding you.
He literally only ate potatoes.
The Australian man revealed in December how he embarked on the extreme diet to combat his addiction to food, and he lost 50kg (7.8 stone) over 12 months.
When he started, he weighed 151.7kg (23 stone), and he spent his days eating deep-fried food, ice cream, cake, chocolate and pizza.
"I had a realisation I was a food addict and it got me thinking about how if you’re an alcoholic you quit alcohol, or a drug addict you quit drugs," he said.
"You can’t quit food, but I wanted to get as close as possible and wondered if there was one particular food I could eat and potatoes came up best.
"You literally get everything you need from potatoes.
"Everybody knows they’ve got lots of carbs but they have enough protein and fat and potatoes are really good for fibre, vitamin C and iron."
No doctor in the world would prescribe such a restricted eating plan — the NHS promotes eating a balanced diet of carbohydrates, vegetables, fruit, dairy and fats — but experts say the plan actually isn’t all bad.
"For the money and your blood pressure, you can’t beat a traditional baked spud," said Joan Salge Blake, a clinical nutrition professor at Boston University.
White potatoes do contain all the essential amino acids you need to build proteins, repair cells, and fight diseases.
Eating five of them a day will cover that base.
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But if you are eating nothing else you are likely missing out on essential vitamins and nutrients found in other foods.
Mr Taylor said he ate three to four kilograms of potatoes each day.
He’d take his own potatoes to friends’ dinner parties, call restaurants in advance to make sure the chef was willing to cook him some spuds, and he even microwaved his own potatoes in his hotel room during a trip to Los Angeles.
According to regular check-ups from his doctor, his health was OK.
"My health just continues to improve," he said.
"I had high cholesterol but now it’s low, my blood pressure has dropped and my sugar level has dropped.
"Every time I get a new blood test, it just gets better."
But the carbs in white potatoes can cause blood sugar levels to spike and then dip suddenly, which puts a strain on how the body produces insulin.
This can leave a person at risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Mr Taylor bucked that trend, which he attributes to the fact his diet wasn’t necessarily about losing weight, but teaching himself to find joy in something other than food.
"I was clinically depressed last year and eating potatoes has really helped me with that," he added.
"I am not taking any antidepressants and I feel like I’m completely over that and I’m sleeping better too.
"Eating only potatoes has improved my life in more ways than I could ever imagine."
This story originally appeared on and has been republished with permission.
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