h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/what-would-happen-if-you-only-ate-potatoes-a6880871.html

As long as you don't take it to the extreme, like he has, and eat *nothing* but spuds.

I like spuds. I like them a lot. Boiled, mashed, fried, roast, baked, on top of a shepherds pie. And according to that article you wouldn't have to eat much else to get your full quota of daily vitamins, minerals, protein etc. A few eggs here, a bit of cheese there, some fruit, the odd , and an occasional or Not to mention wholewheat flour for making tattie scones with. And maybe you could work some oats in somewhere.

But if you were to add other things to the diet, would you still end up losing weight as he has because of 'sensory-specific satiety', I wonder. The Gosho waistline could stand to lose an inch or two

As much as I've come to enjoy cooking in recent years, there are times (like this week for instance) where I wish I didn't have to but don't want to go out to eat. Doing nothing more than boiling up some spuds and mashing them for dinner seems quite appealing sometimes.

Of course, boiling up some spuds does require one important thing I don't have right now...

Water

The concept reminds me of that "food replacement", Soylent.


http://thehustle.co/soylent-what-happened-when-i-went-30-days-without-food


Water required.

Interesting read. Lots of differences, of course, in that he runs 70 miles a week and I run... well, sometimes to the bus stop if necessary; he doesn't really have any control over what he's eating because he doesn't make the Soylent powder; with Soylent all you do is add water to the powder and drink it whereas eating spuds still involves a little cooking and eating, which is a big part of the fun of meals; he started off at an extremely low weight and fat index, and I won't (nor did the bloke in Australia by the sound of it)

Chips and crisps are two things I'd avoid in an all-spud diet. I mean, they're hardly the most nutritious or healthy thing you can do with spuds, although Alton has pointed out that, when done properly, deep frying adds very little fat to food, and it does make it taste delicious So maybe chips would be an occasional treat. I've never cared for crisps that much anyway, except for the ones you can get now made with vegetables.

I've just remembered, incidentally, that I did once sort of do an all-spud (or mostly-spud) diet, several days a week. I detested cooking so much at one point that all I'd have for dinner was mashed spuds with added cheese, onions and various other things to make it more interesting. The rest of the day though I was still eating all the regular stuff - toast and marmalade for breakfast, and egg and tomato sarnies at lunchtime from the local sandwich bar/caff.

Tattie scones with baked beans or a fried egg for breakfast is something I reckon I could live with on a long-term basis

slow-roast, oven cooked, sliced skin-on potato 'wedges/chips' - only needs a couple cal olive oil and some black pepper, and they're tastier than ordinary deep fried chips IMO take ages to cook though boiled tatties here tonight, with steamed broccoli, and oven roast onion and red pepper, with, something (either salmon tunnasteak, or chicken breasts in the roast tray) and maybe with some shrooms thrown in somewhere too... and/or some garlic... damn I'm hungry now

I'd certainly do more baked potatoes, if I didn't live in a climate where you need the air conditioning running non-stop for several months of the year or almost any time you turn on the oven

You know that old joke that goes "I love the British summer, it's my favourite two weeks of the year"? Turn it around 180° and you've got the Texas winter, which is the only time of the year it's great to have the oven on. Although, I do have a much smaller toaster oven...

I was more referring to the case of the Aussie above, subsisting on nothing but taters and the effect it might have on one's health, physical and emotional.

What you're proposing sounds quite sensible in comparison. You'd avoid the burnout from eating a monotonous and bland diet by garnishing the spuds. You'd also avoid the hazards mentioned in the first article relating to potatoes deficiency in certain nutrients and protein.

I don't think I could do it as I already have an issue with my cholesterol and specifically, my triglycerides and that much of a starchy, carbohydrate laden diet would put me off the scale again.



When I first went away to college and lived in the dorm and ate at the school cafeterias, I ate primarily a pasta based diet. The cafeterias were run by ARA Food Services, Inc. They could make nearly any meat unpalatable and most veggies as well. Other than the few exceptions, like "Salisbury steak" and broccoli cheese casserole, I subsisted mostly on plain pasta with butter and sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. I was down to 7% body fat at 174 lbs. (I was also a lot more active in those days.)

I'm guessing that neither pasta and butter, nor spuds, make you fart like Soylent apparently does, although living on my own would mean that's not a big problem if it does

I can just imagine how my poor cat would react.

At least you can blame it on the

Not when they're both heading for the door.

There is one other thing about this, and I've experienced it before, although not with potatoes.

Three kilos of spuds a day... six pounds. When you buy that much of one vegetable every day, day after day, whether it's 6lbs a day or 12lbs every two days or 42lbs a week, you do get some quizzical looks and questions from the greengrocer/supermarket checkout operator

Just tell 'em you've got a potato cannon.


I sometimes miss the one I had. It was twelve feet long, looked like a german 88 anti-aircraft gun, and could fire a spud about 3/4 of a mile. But more fun was firing a steel projectile at at junk furniture and appliances.

Just tell them your crazy, and paint all day using potato cut out shapes. they'd understand. and certainly believe you - actually, going back a few posts... your comments on how hot it is there... - I'd not eat anythin cept salad, maybe some stir fry noodle stuff, o the odd flash/quick fried cuts of meat, way too hot to b boil anything I reconk!