Australia: Ate One Type of Food, Lost 51 kg in a Year

When Andrew Flinders Taylor from Melbourne, Australia decided to embark on a diet he read about in a certain health magazine, he never truly believed it could succeed. In fact, until that point, he had tried almost everything to rid himself of the excess fat—"for every kilo I lost, I later gained double," he recounts.

Taylor decided to eat just one type of food for an entire year: potatoes. "When I told people, they thought I was crazy, and I can't blame them," he says now, after losing 51 kg. "I realize this isn't a balanced diet and could be really dangerous for some people—but for me, a healthy and strong person, it was excellent. I believed I could get all the vitamins and nutrients needed from eating potatoes in various forms, including sweet potatoes."

According to Taylor, there was no intention to continue this diet after reaching his goal. "Even though I'm getting my daily intake of essential nutrients like iron, vitamin C, and dietary fiber, it's clear to everyone, myself included, that a diet based on a single type of food endangers health long-term. One of the nutrients missing from potatoes is calcium, which I supplement with soy milk. To meet the daily calcium requirement, I add plenty of soy milk to my mashed potatoes," he writes on his own website, Spudfit, where he details the process in full.

Against all odds, Taylor reports that the diet improved the results of his latest blood tests. "Initially, I had high cholesterol, and thanks to the diet, it dropped significantly, along with blood pressure and blood sugar levels. Even activities I disliked before the diet, like exercise, have changed considerably, and now I ensure to cycle for an hour each day. I can understand those who oppose this diet or any other single-component diet, but in my case, not only did it not endanger me, it helped me out of danger."

So, for whom is this diet not suitable? Pregnant women, individuals who have undergone bariatric surgery, people with various diseases, and healthy individuals who are prone to weaknesses and side effects with any dietary change.