My Girlfriend and I Tried “The Potato Hack.” This Is What Happened.

Why would anyone eat nothing but potatoes for three days?

That was the question I asked myself after reading an article about the Potato Hack, a 3–5 day diet of only potatoes.

I bought the book of the same name, read it in a few hours, decided to give it a try, and brought my girlfriend along for the ride.

So let’s talk about the Potato Hack: what it is, what it is isn’t, if it’s worth a try, and my experience eating nothing but potatoes for a few days.

What is the Potato Hack?

The Potato Hack is a 3–5 day rapid weight loss diet popularized by Tim Steele, a retired fireman who alleviated his health and weight management issues using this “diet hack.”

Tim is not the first to eat a potato-only diet. His “Potato Hack” is a rendition of a diet found in a Water-cure Journal article from April 1849 called “Potato Diet.”

Writer, actor, and director Kevin Smith used the diet to drop 17 pounds in 9 days post-heart attack.

And Chris Voight, head of the Washington State Potato Commission, ate a potato-only diet for 60 days straight to protest the USDA’s revision of school lunches to exclude potatoes. He dropped 21 pounds and 67 points of LDL…