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The Potato Hack: Weight Loss Simplified

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The potato hack was modeled after an 1849 diet plan for people that were becoming fat and "dyspeptic" from living too luxuriously. This potato diet simply called for one to eat nothing but potatoes for a few days at a time, promising that fat men become as "lean as they ought to be." One hundred and sixty-seven years later, we are fatter and sicker than ever, but the potato diet still works. Potatoes contains natural drug-like agents that affect inflammation, hunger, insulin, sleep, dreams, mood, and body weight. The potato is the best diet pill ever invented. The potato hack is a short-term intervention (3-5 days) where one eats nothing but potatoes. This short mono-food experiment will strengthen your immune system and provide you with all of the nutrition you need to remain energetic, sleep great, and, as a side-effect, lose weight. The potato hack will help you develop a new relationship with food, hunger, taste, and yourself. The potato hack is not just for the overweight. As noted in 1849, anyone with digestive complaints who follows an all-potato diet for a few days at a time will find their digestion improves greatly. Modern science shows that simple diets high in fiber create an intestinal microbiome that is highly diverse and stable. This diversity and stability is lacking in most people and leads to digestive complaints like Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and Small intestinal bacterial overgrowths (SIBO). The "modern dyspeptic gut" affects millions of people and costs billions of dollars annually. The answer might be as simple as 3-5 days of potatoes. You don't need this book to do the potato hack. Just eat potatoes until full every day for 3-5 days. It really is that simple! This book explains the science behind the potato hack, some variations on the basic hack, recipes, and what to do if it does not work as advertised. Also found in The Potato Hack is a comprehensive review of resistant starch, gut health, potato history, and a growing guide for those that want to grow their own. Most of the photography throughout the book was done by award-winning photographer, Ann Overhulse. The artfully photographed potatoes found on the cover and on 30 pages within are well worth the full price of the book. Guaranteed that after reading The Potato Hack, you will never look at potatoes the same.

276 pages, Paperback

Published February 28, 2016

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About the author

Tim Steele

12 books2 followers

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5 stars
187 (42%)
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135 (30%)
3 stars
73 (16%)
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34 (7%)
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11 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
Profile Image for Lindsay Nixon.
Author 22 books798 followers
July 28, 2019
After first reading The Starch Solution: Eat the Foods You Love, Regain Your Health, and Lose the Weight for Good!, I wondered, "couldn't you just eat potatoes for rapid weight-loss?" McD said sure, but long-term there would be nutritional issues but that he and his wife once ate nothing but potatoes and frozen vegetables for a week (search "marys mini diet" for info).

A year-ish later, when speaking at a McDougall conference, I met Ray Cronise (an attendee), who said he was writing a book/website about a potato fast, or a potato hack--namely people losing weight only eating potatoes. He shared his research with me and asked I keep it confidential (I did). This was some 8(?) years ago. As far as I can tell, Cronise never released his book...

Anyway, after looking at Cronise's research back then, I became more curious about this "potatsis" (I forget where I first heard that word) and have casually followed the science and people doing the "potato hack" ever since out of curiosity.

Until this book was "recommended" to me by Amazon, I had never heard of Tim Steele, and to his credit, Steele doesn't take or claim the idea (and gives nearly all his information for free). HE attributes it to a diet from the 1800s. I have a vague memory Cronise said he got the idea when researching the effect of winter/cold weather on the body and the Irish famine of 1845.

What I can say is that his book The Potato Hack: Weight Loss Simplified is well-researched and Steele does a good job of explaining it/breaking the science down. It seems he has the same geek gene I do for wanting to share research.

SUMMARY: you eat nothing but potatoes, white potatoes, pref boiled, cooled, then reheated, for 3-5 days (or up to 10-14 days).

I've personally come across research that was not in this book, and there are a few areas of science (such as neurobiology) that connect into what happens during the "hack" but are left undiscussed. Yet, I also don't expect him to include e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g (if he had 5-stars all around).

I can affirm that the potato hack does "work." It absolutely does, as miserable as it is. I've seen it with my own eyes.

One reason I loathe to recommend this "hack" is I have also seen how it, like any restrictive diet, can lead to dietary disruptions and/or disordered eating.

With those I've worked with (who tried this diet either before me or while in my "care") they all lost weight, well except the one person who was eating 20 potatoes a day... anyway, of all of those who "succeeded" many of them spiraled out on binges and some developed binging habits/disordered eating/food hoarding/fear of hunger, even though they were not struggling with these things before. For some, these "side effects" did not happen until after the third or forth "hack" which was done 3-6 months apart from the prior efforts.

BOTTOM LINE: It's my opinion that the safest approach might be to integrate this science "hack", that is, use the tool in a less extreme way. I venture to say it would be better/more sustainable to include more potatoes in the diet (a la the Starch Solution), *especially* at breakfast, and lunch too, if possible OR the same advice no one wants to hear: focus more on eating healthfully all of the time (just with the addition of potatoes, preferably eating them first thing in the morning with nothing else, if you want to lose weight/body fat) ****AND** that potatoes should be consumed like an apple, albeit a cooked one. That is, AS IS not with butter, cream, or chopped up and certainly not pulverized into a "chip" or baked/dehydrated/fried/air popped into something else.
Profile Image for Ryan Pennell.
67 reviews
July 19, 2018
I would not be inclined to suggest this book to anyone. I'll just say that it worked for me and add that perhaps I am lucky. As promised, I lost 15 lbs in 15 days and have yet to gain any of the weight back (I switched to a plant based diet afterwards). The potato hack allowed me to re-evaluate the way I was eating prior and make healthy adjustments. I would almost compare the potato diet to rehab for over eaters (and sugar fiends like myself). I personally struggled with depression after the copious amounts of sugar I was eating left my body (about day 4). The fourth day seems to be hard for many others who try this hack (fast/cleanse). Breakfast was the hardest for me. I found that eating nothing but potatoes for breakfast was too difficult. So, I switched to fruit for breakfast fairly quickly (perhaps just to feed my sugar demon). I will agree with the author, if someone is going to give this a try then try to just eat potatoes for 3 days. You will never enjoy a blueberry more in your life after the fast.

Recipe: microwave potato and let it cool for a few minutes.
Profile Image for Gard.
472 reviews
February 12, 2023
Some interesting science on resistant starch and its positive effect on the gut microbiome.
Profile Image for Teri.
271 reviews1 follower
February 23, 2017
The Potato Hack is based on a simple weight-loss diet from the 1800's. It is simply this: for 3 to 5 days in a row, eat nothing but plain cooked potatoes (2-5 pounds daily, or until full). This means without butter or dairy or anything else (a little salt is ok). This plain mono-diet will help break addictive cycles and reset your brain chemistry and palate. Most people who try this lose 3-5 pounds in this time frame, without being hungry. (From my own experience, I lost 6 pounds in 5 days. Plain potatoes are incredibly filling. This does work. Expect joint pain to disappear-- unless you are allergic to nightshades-- and expect digestive and even sleep issues to improve. It is rather liberating, too, not having to think about what you're going to eat because it's just the one thing. Your brain will stop obsessing about food and get on with the business of living.) Repeat this diet as necessary to give yourself a reboot whenever you feel you are spiraling out of control with junk food. Though Andrew Taylor and High Carb Hannah did the potato mono-diet for much longer, this book advocates doing it only 3 to 5 days at a time, as needed. The author does offer some variations on this diet if you find this too restrictive. With our carbophobic culture, I know it is a mind-blowing idea that you can actually lose weight by eating potatoes (but only if you keep the fattening stuff off of them).

There were many chapters on the gut microbiome that I found to be really helpful, especially since my son has some serious digestive issues. It helped clarify what his doctor has been saying about short chain fatty acids. I was expecting just a weight loss book, but the book covered so much more: it also went into depth about the resistant starches that keep the bacteria in our gut microbiome happy, and how to reverse digestive issues by eating potatoes and other starches.

There is a chapter of "recipes," but it's mainly instructions for how to bake a potato, or how to make plain mashed potatoes or homefries and such. Nothing fancy or gourmet here. If you're a beginning cook (like a college kid on their own for the first time), then you'll find this helpful. He also gives instructions for how to collect your own potato starch from raw potatoes, which our gut bacteria gobble up with glee. He recommends it as an additional daily supplement to eating cooked potatoes if your digestive system has been really messed up. Raw potato starch provides a different kind of resistant starch than do cooked potatoes... if you consume both, you're getting all the resistant starch that the potato has to offer.

The final chapter has instructions for growing your own potatoes. Cool! And unexpected!

I eat a WFPB (whole foods plant-based) "starchivore" diet anyway, so this book fits right in with all my McDougall books. It's similar to "Mary's Mini."
Profile Image for Patrick Weix.
21 reviews2 followers
January 24, 2017
Read about Penn Jillette's weight loss and got interested in this. It is not as extreme as some make it, and his recommendations are quite limited and all the key information is on his web site. That being said, he goes into a lot of depth for interested nerds about resistant starch, the effect of RS on the gut biome, the history of potatoes and their use in prior dietary experiments, and healthy ways to cook potatoes (any way you can think of except frying). Why do potatoes work so well for dieting? High satiety index->fewer cravings on a low calorie plans.
Profile Image for Chris.
29 reviews21 followers
May 3, 2016
Some people will benefit from the weight loss that comes with a few days of eating nothing but potatoes. Others may be interested in the information about gut health, resistant starch, and the microbiome. Those who have put aside potatoes, or eat them only in fast food form, may be inspired to give them a new look.
Profile Image for Lisa.
32 reviews1 follower
February 13, 2017
Potato

Potato potato potato potatoes and more potato. Just eat potatoes. Potato potato potato. Quick read. Lots of references if you want the science.
Profile Image for Don Gillette.
Author 15 books39 followers
December 31, 2019
Although it sounds a bit goofy and I seriously doubt I'd ever be able to try it (or stick to it), from what I can tell, it's nutritionally sound (for a time) and would definitely work - not because of the potato being a magical vegetable, but because of the low calorie consumption. If you ate 10 potatoes a day, you'd be getting from 1,000 to 1,500 calories and NOBODY can eat 10 potatoes in a day.
Profile Image for Kayla.
8 reviews
June 26, 2018
This book was an interesting read. It goes beyond something that is honestly a simple hack and gives more background information on the potato and the nutrients it has. If you just want to start the hack and you don’t care about how it works or potato facts, you don’t need this book.

I take one star away for the misinformation on veganism. The author paints veganism as nutritionally deficit when the nutrient deficiencies mentioned are not exclusively vegan. B12 anyone? You are not automatically healthy as a vegan or a meat eater. ALL people should seek to have a nutrient dense diet, it’s not just vegans that need to put that work in.

It’s also funny that veganism requires all these supplements but the potato hack does not. The potato hack, when adhered to in its most basic form, IS a vegan diet. That just didn’t make sense to me.

Also, Reese’s and McDonald’s fries? NOT vegan. There’s milk in one and beef fat in the other.

In the grand scheme of things, the vegan thing is small. However, it’s small enough that he could have done some research.
1 review
April 18, 2023
Absolutely loved this book!

I am so glad I found this book. I happened upon it when I was looking for a book by Dr MacDougall. I had to find out about this starch solution. I have been on and off the keto diet and was thoroughly convinced by experience no less that the diet does not work long term, in any case not for me. I have tried the Potato hack for a couple of weeks now and it works! No animal sacrifices needed:) and none desired. This information has saved my life. I feel like a light has been turned on for me as I stumbled around in a dark room. Thank you for an enjoyable, relaxing, easy and very informative read!
402 reviews5 followers
August 17, 2019
What a terrific book!!

I bought this book as a lark. Not so much as a diet search, but maybe get a few good recipes. WELL, I was wrong. The information was outstanding about the health benefits of the humble spud.
A section was set aside about Resistant Starch. Amazing, simply amazing facts are sprinkled throughout the book. I'm so going to start eating a lot more potatoes. I've been hung up for years on Keto, Paleo, Low Carb diets that I've been missing out on the joys of starches. Now I can see a meal with veggies, salad and potatoes. And bread!!!
33 reviews
December 9, 2020
Everything about potatoes

The author has researched potatoes and their food value meticulously. The book is understandable and informative. If you are considering embarking on a potato diet of any length of time, this will alleviate any concerns you a have. It has all the information you need to feel “good” about your decision.
Profile Image for Jamie.
24 reviews1 follower
November 30, 2016
Very Interesting and easy to read

The first half of the book was so simple, I was really pleasantly surprised at how much science the author included in the second half. I learned a lot.
Profile Image for Deborah.
53 reviews1 follower
January 2, 2018
I'm not usually the type of person who goes in for fad diets; I'm not sure what provoked me to read this or to try it but I did. The diet consists of eating only potatoes (no oil or butter or anything) for several days. The advantage of the diet, in addition to its simplicity, is that potatoes are nutritious and it helps reset your palate and wean you off of sugar and refined carbohydrates that many people become addicted to. You may also loose weight.

However, eating a mono-diet of any one item can be devastating to the gut. When I tried this intermittently over the course of three weeks I lost 10lbs and then I got so constipated I had to go to the doctor. About 8 months later I was diagnosed with small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, which I believe started with this diet.

The book is not particularly compelling nor is it based in the full breadth of research available on the subject. I feel like it should present both sides of the issue, include more warnings regarding health, and discuss the potato itself in more depth.
Profile Image for Julie Barrett.
9,205 reviews205 followers
July 28, 2022

The Potato Hack: Weight Loss Simplified by Tim Steele
TOC where chapters are about potatoes.
Forward and intro with some pictures and how potatoes are used to reset your metabolism and help your gut health.
Follows a journey in how it all works. Potato quotes start the chapters.
Lots of pictures help explain the process of what the meals are like.
Lot of different methods o cooking potatoes. Check with your doctor before you start.
Each recipe starts with a title, list of ingredients and directions. There are also variations.
There are NO recipe pictures or nutritional information.
First year planting potatoes for me and made a lot of mistakes, watering 2-3 times a day. i have one pot left, the others were diseased so badly i tossed out the dirt with what was left.
Have hilled them and will continue to do so. Flowers look awesome, hope this works. Lots of tips in this book along with references.
A KEEPER for just growing ptoatoes.
Profile Image for Auntie Raye-Raye.
486 reviews59 followers
May 5, 2017
Eh, closer to a 3.5. In a non making-fun of it way, parts of this book are hilarious. The author and audiobook narrator come off as super-passionate about potatoes. It's funny to hear the word "potato" so much. Also, this book made me want to eat potatoes.

The author certainly has done his research. That was pretty impressive. I did kinda blank out on some of the science and medical research.

I'm considering giving the potato hack diet a try. I like potatoes, I'm poor, I have time to do an experiment and my gyne told me i need to be less fat. So, if I end up doing it, I'll update.
Profile Image for Dylan.
324 reviews33 followers
June 29, 2018
One of my co-workers brought this book in for me to read after I mentioned that I had never heard of the potato diet. The book did (surprisingly) have a lot of great information. That was neat, but overall my thoughts were: 1. I am not interested in any nutrition suggestions that cannot be sustained long-term, and 2. I could never even attempt this, as there are too many other health variables to consider when only eating one food item for several days straight. So. Interesting, but not something I would have normally picked up for myself, and I am way too wary to test it out.
152 reviews4 followers
August 11, 2019
Love love loved this book!

The potato hack seemed like a crazy idea but my husband, who has been overweight since the day we married, and probably has yeast gut problems, is not a candidate for any other diet. But who doesn’t love potatoes! All of the plus's sound fantastic so we are going to give it a try this week. I loved the writing style and the humor in this book, along with the scientific explanations that were way over my head! I will review this book again after our experiment with it. Couldn’t put the book down! Eat your potatoes!
26 reviews
April 1, 2020
There are a whole lot of claims this book makes.

Does it work?

Maybe.

I did it for about 2 weeks straight, and I did lose weight. But. I don't think I was eating enough because my appetite isn't great at the best of times and with all the potatoes it really fell off. Evidence of this is I immediately gained all the weight back when I went off it and tried to just do the hack a few days a week.

I might try again later with one of the modifications. I still haven't decided.
Profile Image for Lydia.
353 reviews
November 4, 2021
Kindle Unlimited

3.5 stars. The Mark Watney diet may be more appropriate - potatoes daily for every meal without anything else. Don’t think I’ll be eating that nor going to Mars for that matter. On the other hand, eating a potato a day is more feasible. His other book was more interesting and readable, this one is a bit heavy on scientific terms for a couple chapters so you may or may not enjoy that section. Baseball cap photo hear the end: Make Potatoes Great Again 😂
Profile Image for William Nelson.
67 reviews1 follower
March 21, 2024
This book was surprisingly insightful. My diet is primarily vegetarian, so I was interested in understanding more about the power of potatoes. Since reading this book, I’ve changed my diet quite a bit to include more potatoes on a regular basis (like daily) but I still haven’t ventured into the “potato hack” where it’s all I consume for a given period of time.
4 reviews
August 7, 2019
Great book

This book was very well written and researched. Everything you could ever want to know about the potato hack
is in this book. I started today and am feeling positive thanks to the info in this book!
Profile Image for Carla.
448 reviews2 followers
March 19, 2022
Eh...The basic 3-5 day diet will work and takes 5 minutes to read how to do. Then there's LOTS of focus on variations that won't work. And some info is just WRONG. Sorry. Mary's Mini-McDougall Diet (guidelines online) is a much better short-term diet with the same principles.
Profile Image for Shauna .
1,257 reviews
January 7, 2018
Interesting ideas. I gave it a try. I lost 5 pounds after a few days. I'm sure I'll try it again sometime. I like the idea of resetting my metabolism.
3 reviews
March 13, 2018
Surprisingly informative.

Worth the six dollars I spent. Very informative stuff... especially the bit about the resistant starch, which I haven’t read anywhere else.
Profile Image for Tina Billings.
95 reviews
April 13, 2018
lots of great information on mono diet. History of its use in 1800's to sustain health during bad crop seasons
Profile Image for Wingchiu-Henry Ho.
24 reviews
April 24, 2018
A very different kind of diet. But it is intriguing for the informative history of the potato.
Profile Image for Dakota D. Davis.
1 review
September 26, 2018
A lot of science.....who knew the potato was such a superstar

No recipes per se but lots of intense info about potatoes. I recommend if you like to know the science.
Profile Image for Jill.
174 reviews4 followers
October 1, 2018
I enjoyed the book and the science. Tried it out for 3 days, lost 3 lbs, bottom line, it totally works and it's super easy to do.
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