Potatoes are good for this, but not enough.
Andrew Taylor only ate potatoes for the whole of 2016. But a few notes: He ate both white and sweet potatoes and sometimes mixed them with soy milk, tomato sauce, salt, and various herbs. He also took B12 supplements. But generally he ate potatoes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. During the year, he had four blood tests, all of which he claimed were normal. He even lost weight and felt more energetic. “If you need to choose a food; If you’re one of the people to be sent to Mars, choose potatoes, ”says Taylor. “I’m not trying to be a potato fan, but it was a really good experience for me.”
First and foremost, eating only one type of food is not a good idea. In order to survive, we need a lot of minerals and vitamins as well as 20 amino acids (nine of which are essential, so we can’t make them ourselves and we need to get them from food). And obviously, we need water in addition to food to keep our cells hydrated so that they don’t dry out and stop working. Throughout history, both intentionally and accidentally; We often combined different foods to some extent, such as rice and beans, yogurt and cucumbers, and even pasta and cheese. Thus, we have taken in an appropriate balance the nutrients that we cannot usually obtain by eating only one type of food. But in times of famine, fasting, or interesting challenge, there are a few foods a person can survive by eating; at least for a while …
Potato is a good example in this regard. Andrew Taylor is not the only person in history to rely almost entirely on potatoes for survival. Around a third of Ireland’s population in the early 1800s derived most of their calories from potatoes. The average American consumed around 51kg of these starchy tubers in 2015. “In terms of money and blood pressure, there’s nothing better than a traditional French fry,” says Joan Salge Blake, professor of clinical nutrition at Boston University.
Technically conventional white potatoes; It contains all the essential amino acids you need to build protein, repair cells and fight disease. Also, if you only eat five a day, you will reach this point. Adding those orange things to the mix (i.e. sweet potatoes; but they belong to a different taxonomic family than white potatoes) increases the likelihood of the potato consumer getting the recommended daily dose of vitamins A and E. Vitamin A; You know, the organic ingredient found in carrots that your mother says will make you see in the dark… No one who eats sweet and white potatoes will get the famous scurvy disease that causes vitamin C deficiency and causes the victim’s teeth to fall out.
Even with this mix, you’ll still need to eat a lot of potatoes to get everything at the right levels. Consuming five potatoes; It will provide you with all the essential amino acids you need to build protein, repair cells, and fight disease. But unless you eat 34 sweet potatoes or 84 white potatoes a day, you will eventually become calcium deficient. Also, you will need 25 potatoes each day to get the recommended amount of protein. Soybeans have more protein and calcium; but no vitamin E or beta-carotene.
Of course, potatoes have many health disadvantages; especially when you eat in bulk. White potatoes are rich in a type of carbohydrate that causes your blood sugar to spike and then drop. This situation puts pressure on the insulin system. According to multiple studies, people who eat more of these bumps are more likely to have diabetes and become obese.
Andrew Taylor actually lost weight; probably because he eats less overall and releases sugar. But this was not his ultimate goal. The reason he stopped eating most food was to train himself to gain pleasure and comfort from other areas of his life. “It was just an experiment and it turned out exactly as I wanted,” he says.
No nutritionist would recommend a diet consisting only of potatoes. Nor do they recommend a diet that consists only of coconut, kale, seafood, or yogurt. There’s a reason the US dietary guide recommends consuming a variety of vegetables, grains, proteins, fruits and fats. If you eat any of these alone, you soon experience the same nutrient deficiencies as with the potato. Diversity is important and is vital in this case. So don’t just eat baked potatoes, add other healthy things to it.
