14 votes

Semi-formal study of people trying a fad diet where you eat mostly potatoes for four weeks

9 comments

  1. [3]
    stu2b50
    Link
    If you take the word "potato" out, the hard empirical results, as well as the testimonials, sound quite a bit like Keto... Really makes me think that the main benefits people get from Keto have...

    If you take the word "potato" out, the hard empirical results, as well as the testimonials, sound quite a bit like Keto...

    Really makes me think that the main benefits people get from Keto have nothing to do with ketogenesis, and it's just the extraneous dietary restrictions.

    I wonder if you could even replicate it with other relatively nutrient complete foods. Just do some arbitrary hard restriction and people will see weight benefits.

    6 votes
    1. [2]
      NaraVara
      Link Parent
      Almost certainly the case. Actually remaining in ketogenesis is very difficult, requires a very tightly regimented diet (there’s small amounts of sugars and carbs in almost everything flavorful),...

      Really makes me think that the main benefits people get from Keto have nothing to do with ketogenesis, and it's just the extraneous dietary restrictions.

      Almost certainly the case. Actually remaining in ketogenesis is very difficult, requires a very tightly regimented diet (there’s small amounts of sugars and carbs in almost everything flavorful), and is quite uncomfortable and even unhealthy to remain at for long.

      Most fad diets operate on just making it more unlikely for people to eat a caloric surplus by making meals more boring/less addictive.

      7 votes
      1. [2]
        Comment deleted by author
        Link Parent
        1. NaraVara
          Link Parent
          Yeah. And even the Atkins diet, I think, largely just operated on encouraging people to eat foods with a lot more protein and fat so they felt fuller longer and ate less as a result. Carbs aren’t...

          Yeah. And even the Atkins diet, I think, largely just operated on encouraging people to eat foods with a lot more protein and fat so they felt fuller longer and ate less as a result.

          Carbs aren’t bad per se, but it is very easy to house 600 calories worth of white rice or bread without thinking about it. I think any mechanism that forces you to not do that inevitably pushes weight down because everything else you can eat is so much more filling.

          6 votes
  2. [5]
    skybrian
    Link
    Apologies for the clickbait title. That’s what they used, though they’re being ironic. This is a very long blog post reporting the results of a semi-formal study of people trying a fad diet where...

    Apologies for the clickbait title. That’s what they used, though they’re being ironic.

    This is a very long blog post reporting the results of a semi-formal study of people trying a fad diet where you eat mostly potatoes for four weeks. I don’t know if I’d recommend the diet, but I’m impressed by the report, which seems very thorough while being open about the various minor screwups during the study.

    I’m also impressed by people’s ability to try something weird for science. It seems like a rather rationalist community thing to do.

    4 votes
    1. [2]
      Adys
      Link Parent
      You don’t have to use the original title. It’s funny in an article but since on tildes it competes with other titles it’s important to keep them clean.

      Apologies for the clickbait title. That’s what they used, though they’re being ironic.

      You don’t have to use the original title. It’s funny in an article but since on tildes it competes with other titles it’s important to keep them clean.

      7 votes
      1. cfabbro
        Link Parent
        If you or @skybrian can think of a more appropriate title, let me know and I can change it to that. For now I have just changed it to skybrian’s description of the article from his comment.

        If you or @skybrian can think of a more appropriate title, let me know and I can change it to that.

        For now I have just changed it to skybrian’s description of the article from his comment.

        2 votes
    2. xstresedg
      Link Parent
      Honestly thought you were a bot at first, before I read your comment.

      Honestly thought you were a bot at first, before I read your comment.

      1 vote
  3. meme
    Link
    I'm absolutely cackling at the demographics of this study, confirming all my biases about the fanbase of slatestarcodex. But good on them for being so game for some informal science

    I'm absolutely cackling at the demographics of this study, confirming all my biases about the fanbase of slatestarcodex. But good on them for being so game for some informal science

    4 votes