The Potato Hack

Potatoes get a bad reputation as a fattening food when in reality they have the highest satiety rating of any food on the planet. The only way to make the potato fattening is to process it and cook it in oil. So avoid fries and chips.

For the potato hack to work the potatoes need to be cooked only in water. Boil, steam, or pressure cook.

When cooked potatoes are cooled overnight in the refrigerator they develop something called resistant starch. Resistant starch is beneficial to our gut flora, balances blood sugar, and other additional health benefits. These resistant starches are not digested in the same manner as regular calories, so they have the effect of reducing the calories of potatoes.

Refrigerating cooked potatoes overnight will reduce the calories by about 17%. The potatoes can be reheated before eating without losing any of the resistant starch.

The potato hack will still work if you don't refrigerate the potatoes, so although this step is encouraged, it is optional.

Eat the potatoes plain. Salt if you must. You can add a splash of malt or red wine vinegar if a blood sugar spike is a concern, although cooling the potatoes will reduce the glycemic response.

To get the full benefit of the potato hack, it is strongly advised to eat the potatoes plain. You are teaching your brain how to get full without flavor. This is the opposite approach taken in dieting where one continues to get flavorful food but in a restrictive manner.

With the potato diet, do not walk away from the table hungry. Eat until full.

How many potatoes should one eat? It all depends on how much weight you want to lose and how important it is to you. There are several popular strategies.

A classic potato hack is 3-5 days. That could be done once or twice a month. Another popular potato hack is to only eat potatoes before dinner.