Featured Image Credit: YouTube / 9 News
Topics: Health, Mental Health, Food And Drink
Michael Slavin
When you’re trying to lose weight, every diet seems to be filled with misery.
Whether it’s cutting out all sugar, consuming everything via soup, or constraining yourself to only eating at specific times, it seems like near every diet is purpose-built to make you sad.
Therefore, when someone comes out with the statement that a ‘potato only diet’ changed their life, you would be hard pressed to find someone who didn’t sit up and listen.
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The diet was one carried out by Andrew Taylor, known online as ‘Spudfit’, who switched to a potato-only diet to try lose weight.
Taylor said he ‘had issues with food addiction’ and was 151.7 kilograms when he started the diet.
When he says ‘potato-only’ Taylor really isn’t kidding, as he ate just that for an entire year.
While potatoes are arguably the most versatile ingredient around, and in theory I’m sure many of us (myself included) would say we’d love to do this, it takes a bonkers level of dedication to do so for an entire year.
So the real question is, what effect did it have on his body?
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Well, Taylor actually lost over 50 kilograms in the year he spent eating only spuds.
The man went from 151.7kg to just under 100 at 98.5 kilos.
Taylor said of the process that it had ‘totally changed’ his life ‘for the better’.
Speaking to The Independent at the start of his experiment, the potato-lover said: “I'm getting over 600% of my daily iron retirements and over 400% of vitamin c as well as heaps of fibre - all things that so-called experts have said I'd be low in today.
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"The only thing of concern was calcium, potatoes have calcium but maybe not enough.
"To be sure I'm using a calcium fortified organic soy milk to make mashed potatoes."
He also said that he would be taking regular blood tests, and would be taking fat if the blood tests gave any concerning results.
According to advice given by doctors, he is eating a mixture of white and sweet potato recipes.
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Taylor also stated that, over the course of the year, his mental health improved greatly.
The spud-aficionado said that, prior to this experiment, he had been struggling with clinical depression as a result of his food addiction, and has revealed that the diet re-focused his relationship with food, and thus improved his mental health.
He also stated that it eased his feelings of anxiety.
Regarding the diet, an expert told the Daily Mail that, while he would be eating enough to keep up energy and lose weight, the diet is lacking in ‘essential nutrients like zinc, B12 and omega-3.’