The Truth Behind The Potato Diet

Potatoes are affordable and healthy food staples. They’re versatile, able to be used at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and in soups, salads, and other kinds of dishes.

However, would a diet revolving around potatoes help with weight loss?

In this article, we’re going to look into the potato diet. We’ll explain exactly how it works and what the pros and cons are. We want you to have the most informed opinion possible before starting this diet.

Most Frequently Asked Questions about potato Diet

By completing this post you will the correct answers for all the below questions and more, so please keep reading till finish and if you have any unanswered question, just leave them in comments

  • What is the potato diet
  • What to eat on the potato diet
  • How to do the potato diet
  • How much weight can you lose in a week on the potato diet?
  • What happens if you eat only potatoes?
  • Are potatoes bad for losing belly fat?
  • What kind of potatoes can you eat on the potato diet?
  • How does potato diet work
  • How many potatoes to eat on potato diet

The potato diet has a very straightforward premise. For between three and five days, participants only eat potatoes. However, this doesn’t mean you’re supposed to feast upon potato chips and baked potatoes covered in chives. These potatoes are meant to be as plain as possible. You can get away with adding a little salt, but the emphasis has to be on the potatoes.

Potato Diet Rules

Not only does the potato diet limit you to eating potatoes, but it also limits the kinds of potatoes you can eat. You won’t be able to eat sweet potatoes or yams on this diet, for instance. Despite being full of nutrients and being absolutely delicious, the potato diet doesn’t make room for them.

Potatoes must be prepared plain, and without any added fats or oils. You will be unable to add the following ingredients to your diet:

  • Butter
  • Oil
  • Sour Cream
  • Cheese
  • Extra vegetables, herbs, or toppings

plain potato Diet

Make sure that any potato dishes you eat are ones you’ve made yourself, with white potatoes. Do not add anything more than salt to them, and go easy on the salt amount. If you would like to accompany your potatoes with something to drink your options are simply, water, tea, and coffee (with no additives).

How Does the Potato Diet Work?

The potato diet involves eating exclusively white potatoes. You’ll still follow your normal meal plan, even having them as snacks. However, the lack of other food items and the relatively low caloric content means you’ll be consuming far less than you would in a typical day.

A medium potato has roughly 161 calories. On the potato diet, you can eat more than a dozen of them in a day and still be well below your normal calorie intake. Space them across multiple meals and in different formats such as:

  • Boiled
  • Baked
  • Raw

This will help add a bit of variety to your diet.

Eating 12 or more potatoes is hard when you’re just starting out. You can begin with nine and increase your intake with each day. Create a meal plan so that you have at least one new potato preparation to look forward to each day.

Is This Diet Effective and Healthy?

If you’re looking to lose weight fast, the potato diet is an excellent option. You don’t need to be a nutritionist to understand that fewer calories taken in means you lose weight faster. Potatoes are filling, but they’re also quite low in calories.

Whether it’s healthy isn’t so clear. There’s a reason why it’s a short-term diet. No one could live exclusively on potatoes and be as healthy as they need to be. Plus, there’s an inconvenience with the diet. We’ll talk about this more in the “Downsides” section.

The potato diet is a short-term solution, but short-term solutions aren’t anywhere as good as permanent lifestyle changes. The weight you lose with the potato diet might come back in a few weeks as you go back to old habits. Keep that in mind before you try this or any other temporary diet.

Potato Diet Benefits

The potato diet is very affordable. You can buy a bag of potatoes at a very low cost. Potatoes also give you access to great nutrients and vitamins, including iron, Vitamin C, potassium, and Vitamin B6.

Potato Nutrition

This diet is also very easy to understand. The concept is simply eating potatoes without anything on them, save for salt. You don’t have to be a top chef to understand how to prepare potatoes.

If you’re lacking fiber, the potatoes are high fiber foods. Potatoes can also aid in keeping your heart healthy. After trying this diet, you may be encouraged to add potatoes to your meals in many different ways.

Potato Diet Downsides

The potato diet is far-too restrictive to be an actual solution. While potatoes are delicious and nutritious, they can’t be the only part of your diet. No one food can provide all the nutrients you need. Psychologically, it could warp your mind and lead to further unhealthy eating practices.

Some proponents of the potato diet will also encourage fasting on this diet. They’ll suggest you forego some meals, even if the meal is just going to be potatoes. You could end up eating under 1,000 calories in a day, which could leave you very unenergized and unable to get things done.

While potatoes have plenty of nutrients, they don’t have protein or fat. According to healthline.com, the daily intake for proteins should be:

  • 56 grams for a sedentary man
  • 46 grams for a sedentary woman

A 100-gram portion of white potatoes sits at about 2.3 grams of protein per day, and only 17% of your recommended daily dose of vitamin C. Unfortunately, with these numbers, your body won’t be able to produce enough energy to keep you feeling lively and active.

Potato Diet Side Effects

Although the potato diet can help you lose weight, that’s not all going to be weight from fat. It can end up depriving you of muscle as well. Since you’ll be eating so little and not getting enough protein, you can become weakened by this diet.

The few days you spend with the potato diet won’t be enough for you to develop a serious nutrition deficiency. However, the repercussions of taking that chance can be unwarranted.

Finally, a short-term diet like this means short-term results. As soon as you get off the potato diet, you’re likely to find your weight can start creeping back.

The only way to take pounds off and keep them off is through committing to a lasting lifestyle change. Potatoes are great and healthy, but they shouldn’t be the only thing you rely on.

Sophia Alex
I have been a Registered Dietitian for over 11 years, working in many different capacities. The majority of my experience has been working as an outpatient dietitian. I have had a lot of experience in the areas of research, general wellness, weight loss, oncology, CKD/renal failure, celiac disease, diabetes (I and II) and gastrointestinal concerns.

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