Experts reveal how you can survive a one-year potato diet

Last year, Andrew Taylor ate nothing but potatoes. The Victorian man in Australia told news.com.au in December he embarked on the extreme diet to combat his addiction to food, and he lost 50kg over 12 months. When he started, he weighed 151.7kg, and he spent his days eating deep-fried food, ice cream, cake, chocolate and pizza. “I had a realisation I was a food addict and it got me thinking about how if you’re an alcoholic you quit alcohol, or a drug addict you quit drugs,” he said. “You can’t quit food, but I wanted to get as close as possible and wondered if there was one particular food I could eat and potatoes came up best.“ No competent doctor in the world would prescribe such a restricted eating plan — Australian health guidelines promote eating a balanced diet of carbohydrates, vegetables, fruit, dairy and fats — but experts say the plan actually isn’t all bad. “For the money and your blood pressure, you can’t beat a traditional baked spud,” says Joan Salge Blake, a clinical nutrition professor at Boston University. More