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Thoughts on the potato diet

dynomight.net

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Re: Thoughts on the potato diet

#171
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Potatoes are calorie dense. I think the focus on satiation rather than pure calorie counting is a more recent trend. Also, it sounds like water content is a significant contributor to their capacity to satiate, so things like potato chips probably fail miserably under this lense. Many processed foods made from potatoes have far less water in them than home cooked versions (french fries, hash browns).

> Potatoes are calorie dense. No. https://gurmeet.net/Images/food/calorie_density/CalorieDensi... Boiled potatoes are 870 kcal per kilogram. 1 kilogram of potatoes is a lot.

Having done 28 days of the potato diet, this is true. It is difficult to get over 1kcal of potato. Eating two kilos of potato in a day is heroic. I would eat like 1 kilo per day, and be satisfied-full. It's wild.

Re: Thoughts on the potato diet

#172
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Obesity is not a disease of over-eating, it is a disease of managing hunger. Indeed it is, and the solution to managing hunger (i.e. returning your whole insulin and leptin system to a more optimal baseline) is NOT going for a 90% carbohydrate diet. That's exactly why we have a bloody obesity epidemic. It's a fun thought experiment, but reading the comments in here people actually think this is genius and sustainab…

> Indeed it is, and the solution to managing hunger (i.e. returning your whole insulin and leptin system to a more optimal baseline) is NOT going for a 90% carbohydrate diet. Leptin system returns to a more optimal baseline with weight loss. Insulin returns to a more optimal baseline by increasing insulin sensitivity. Exercise does this most effectively, loosing weight also does this. Low carb diets don't do this dir…

>Exercise does this most effectively

Curious, does it depend on the type of exercise and, if so, do we know what mechanisms cause some types to have a disproportionate impact?

Re: Thoughts on the potato diet

#173
post #21

This is really well written and easily digestible. It’s rare that content about diet is lighthearted and fun! No outlandish claims, very little misconstrued science, but tons of funny fads. Usually you’d have to dig deep to find the root of the authors point in articles like this, but the simplicity is baked in from the start.

Would've agreed if it wasn't for proteins as a macro which have been suddenly forgotten in its entirety. Even if you're not working out, your body still craves proteins. Neglecting this is dangerous

potatoes have protein.

Re: Thoughts on the potato diet

#174
remember vaguely reading in some book (Jared Diamond?) that at one time the poor in Ireland lived almost entirely on potatoes and milk - and that they were much healthier in general than the richer elites. Apparently those two items + some green veggies are enough.

Re: Thoughts on the potato diet

#175
post #136
post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "Losing weight" is a terrible goal. "Changing Body Composition" is a much better goal. Specifically change the proportion of fat to muscle. 400lb of muscles or fat is probably not healthy either way...

I don't think this is a good faith comment. It is very difficult and rare to add that much muscle.

I just don't know how much muscles steroid junkies can add, but either way it's not healthy... but yeah you are probably right that it isn't that much.

Also, that parent comment was saying that you should trade fat for muscles, so my comment still stands.

Re: Thoughts on the potato diet

#176

"You can’t eat potatoes forever." Actually I heard from the local potato lobby organisation in my country, that the potato is the only food in existance which you can eat exclusive forever and you can't get any bad sideeffects, because a potato contains all nutritions needed... Is this not true? :D Is there any real science on that?

I felt fine after a month of nothing but potato and a few cheat days. But... it's not just potato. I ate oil too. And spices and vinegar. And a sweet potato every few days for variety and B-vitamins. But as far as I can tell you can get almost everything you need nutritionally from potatoes (if you eat the peel).

It was boring and awful 3 weeks in, but it totally worked. Happy to share my data if you are curious.

Re: Thoughts on the potato diet

#177
post #158

i've done it three times for 2 weeks. potatoes only, that's it. it works very well in the short term. towards the end of the last 2 attempts I was able to fast for 2-3 days due to sheer boredom of the food. i'm a compulsive eater, and this was kind of eye opening. that being said, this approach didn't work long term for me (hence multiple times doing it). I'd transition back to the way I was eating before and put the…

The third week suuuuucks. I did 4 weeks. The third week was the worst. I was sick of potato and my weight loss plateaued in the third week. It started going back down again in the fourth, which offsets some of the boredom.

I don't think 2 weeks would work though. It has worked for me, I kept the weight off and it reset my appetite/satiety feedback (I get full sooner). That said, the "I want to keep eating even though I am not hungry" has come roaring back after being totally eliminated by the fourth week of potato.

Re: Thoughts on the potato diet

#178

There's actually some science behind this diet. Potatoes are the highest scoring food on the satiety index. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/15-incredibly-filling-f... Basically they're the most filling food per calorie. So if you subscribe to the idea that losing weight is mainly about how many calories you consume, a potato heavy diet should be effective. And an all potato diet, while monomaniacal, even more ef…

A couple years back I tried making colecanon due to a random suggestion from a friend. It's just mashed potatoes mixed with cabbage or kale or such, seasoned as you like. I do a version where I brown the cabbage in butter first. I was surprised just how satisfying a plate of it as a meal, and thought exactly the same thing: I'm pretty sure you could live on that stuff indefinitely and be in great shape.

Same goes for Champ (mashed potatoes with diced spring onions throughout). Seems super basic but really filling.

Re: Thoughts on the potato diet

#179

This sounds like a great way to quickly deplete most of your vitamins and minerals.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought that potatoes gave you every vitamin and mineral you needed (except b12 which you can get from butter).

I did the SMTM study and they prohibited dairy. So I got my B12 from sweet potato.

Re: Thoughts on the potato diet

#180

There's actually some science behind this diet. Potatoes are the highest scoring food on the satiety index. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/15-incredibly-filling-f... Basically they're the most filling food per calorie. So if you subscribe to the idea that losing weight is mainly about how many calories you consume, a potato heavy diet should be effective. And an all potato diet, while monomaniacal, even more ef…

Satiety is a mental construct. I've been underweight, normal weight, and overweight in my life. What your brain tells you to put in your stomach is almost entirely divorced from nutritional requirements for thriving and surviving. The only way to be exceptionally healthy and thin is to ignore the urge to overeat, and this urge is extremely dynamic on a per human basis. As a result, some people out there will eat a ca…

>Satiety is a mental construct.

Are you implying that there aren't physical manifestations that cause hunger? In other words, I could inject you with a suprahuman amount of ghrelin and you wouldn't feel hungry?

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