Potato Diet Thread

[ecstatichamster]

I'm starting to do some playing with the potato diet.

I eat some meals of only potatoes, boiled, with a bit of ketchup or perhaps hot sauce and fish sauce.

The rest of my diet consists of a bit of milk (a glass or two a day), coffee, an egg or two some days, fruit, a cup of OJ, a few Cokes, maybe 1/4 to 1/2 cup of gelatin (collagen), and 4 ounces or so of fish or lean meat and a bit of rice and a well cooked veggie for dinner.

I'm also going low fat, aiming at 8% or so fat calories, not ultra low fat.

I'm also planning on enjoying my food, and not just eating like this.

I'd like to lose about 20 pounds or maybe 25 pounds of fat, while increasing lean mass.

I'm reading Presto by Penn Jillette which is a wonderful read, BTW.

I read The Potato Hack: Weight Loss Simplified which is pretty good

Anyway, what are your experiences with it?

 

[tara]

I'll be interested in how this goes for you.
I was quite sick recently, and after a couple of days of little appetite, plain boiled potatoes with salt was the most appetising thing I could think of. They tasted so good. I've had a couple more meals like that since then, too. Normally I think of them as needing other accompaniments to make them palatable, but I guess if they are really nice potatoes, well-cooked, and we are hungry for them, they can be just fine like that.
The only addition I was contemplating the other day was some greens.
At the time, OJ or anything sweet was just making me feel more sick.

I've made the occasional oyster chowdery kind of dish with potatoes, and made with milk instead of cream it's not so rich and luxurious, but can still taste pretty good for a change.

 

[DaveFoster]

Interested in this; let us know how this goes, especially any digestive impact of eating so many potatoes.

 

[lollipop]

Watching the thread. Also interested to see.

 

[kiran]

It worked great for me when I had food poisoning from some dirty leeks. For a little while it was all I could digest without getting the runs. Mostly roast potatoes made with coconut oil and EVOO.

 

[EIRE24]

Potatoes, in my opinion have to be the best digested starch by far.

 

[Luann]

Have potato-hacked but it coincided with my wisdom tooth flare-up. The thing to watch out for, is dental, due to phosphorus.

 

[denise]

I read The Potato Hack: Weight Loss Simplified which is pretty good

Anyway, what are your experiences with it?

I read Tim Steele's book too, and I read his blog. Super nice guy!

I did the hack back in April because I was dealing with major digestive fallout after quitting smoking (I intend to write a post devoted to this so I won't go into detail here), and after 24 hours on potatoes, my bloating was 100% gone. I did it for only three days because I think I must be a little sensitive to the solanine. It didn't make me feel bad, but I had this metallic aftertaste in my mouth after eating nothing but spuds for 3 days, and I needed a break. Digestion-wise, though, for me they're a perfect food. And I found a recipe to make the most amazing oven home fries with virtually no fat. I could eat those every day of my life.

 

[ecstatichamster]

I felt pretty horrible today and yesterday. Had a really bad headache, and feel very stiff in my joints.


I had a pizza last night, LOL. After I've been feeling crappy.


This morning, I do feel better. Was it the four potatoes I had yesterday, and the three potatoes I had the day before? Am I intolerant of solanine alkaloids?


I do not eat the skins. They are highest in solanine.


Not sure if this has anything to do with anything but maybe it's just adapting to new diet, or maybe I don't really tolerate potatoes that well.

 

[ecstatichamster]

Feels like endotoxins to me. Exactly like after I did ultra low fat after a few days.

 

[whodathunkit]

@ecstatichamster: very low fat gives me inflammatory/endotoxin symptoms, too. Potatoes don't affect me but a prolonged stint with very low fat does.

Did you peel your potatoes before cooking? A day of eating unpeeled boiled potatoes will cause me to have stiff joints the next morning, but I don't seem to be bothered if I peel the potatoes before boiling. Cooking them with skins on doesn't really change anything. You must peel them before cooking.

I like the potato hack. I've done several. Lost a few pounds each time. And as I think I said in another thread, doing resistant starch really *did* help the integrity of my skin, particularly on the soles of my feet. Along with probiotics for me, but I've heard anecdotes from people who didn't use probiotics.

I'm seeing more improvement in my feet after a few weeks of doing some things to clear endotoxin and biofilms (and therefore inflammation).

 

[ecstatichamster]

Thanks. I'll peel first. But the baked ones seemed to do the same thing.

 

[whodathunkit]

But the baked ones seemed to do the same thing.

Again, removing the peel before cooking seems to be the key for people who are that sensitive to the chemicals in the peels. No matter what the cooking method or whether the cooked peel is discarded without eating it.

 

[DaveFoster]

Sounds very much like LPS and associated endotoxemia. I have the same symptoms.

 

[dbh25]

Yes, peel the potatoes before boiling. I like to boil them in chicken stock+water, and then add salt and have it as potato soup.

 

[Lin]

@ecstatichamster Maybe your symptoms were the caused by presorption of the starches?

 

[ecstatichamster]

Yeah. Could be. I think I will try again tomorrow and Tuesday with peeled-first potatoes

 

[Jenn]

Are you male or female? When my son eats only potatoes (in the form of homemade French fries) he will lose about 20 lbs in a month. When I eat only potatoes (eating the same of whatever he is eating), I can lose about 5 lbs. Make sure you are CHEWING to digest the starches in the mouth. If you look at weight loss as a form of calorie restriction, then potatoes aren't it. If you look at weight loss as a form of healing the body, then potatoes are the ultimate in quality protein, high potassium and minerals (salt especially), add some fat and have a complete meal food. We ate a hand sized portion per meal and when I chewed enough, I would get full before I ate the full amount.

Keep in mind, you need to realize that your body makes enzymes according to what you give it. If you normally eat a high fat diet, your body is used to making lipase and less protease and carb digesting enzymes (the proper name is escaping me right now.) Switching suddenly to a low fat, high starch diet is going to cause a lack of proper break down of the "new" foods.

 

[ecstatichamster]

Are you male or female? When my son eats only potatoes (in the form of homemade French fries) he will lose about 20 lbs in a month. When I eat only potatoes (eating the same of whatever he is eating), I can lose about 5 lbs. Make sure you are CHEWING to digest the starches in the mouth. If you look at weight loss as a form of calorie restriction, then potatoes aren't it. If you look at weight loss as a form of healing the body, then potatoes are the ultimate in quality protein, high potassium and minerals (salt especially), add some fat and have a complete meal food. We ate a hand sized portion per meal and when I chewed enough, I would get full before I ate the full amount.

Keep in mind, you need to realize that your body makes enzymes according to what you give it. If you normally eat a high fat diet, your body is used to making lipase and less protease and carb digesting enzymes (the proper name is escaping me right now.) Switching suddenly to a low fat, high starch diet is going to cause a lack of proper break down of the "new" foods.

That makes a lot of sense. It takes at least 2 weeks to really adjust to a new diet...I'm male. Chewing carefully is a great point. It's easy not to with potatoes...

 

[Ewelina]

It also takes about a month or two (in some cases longer) to see detrimental effects of a new diet. In my case it took over a month after eating bread and brioche on a daily basis to end up with serious endotoxin issues.

For me potatoes are deadly, far worse than bread or rice. However, if somebody has healthy gut and robust digestion then why not eating them. In theory potatoes have a really good nutritional profile.