What in the Earth is the Potato Hack?

Potatoes has had a bad reputation for years. They have been removed or limited from our diets for their starchy nature and believed to cause weight gain. But actually they are highly nutritious, rich in vitamins and now have been discovered to have the power to reset your gut for a healthy start. Shocking or intriguing? Below story will change all your misconceptions about the innocent potatoes. One of our own, Idil, has recently undergone a minor operation and was prescribed with heavy intake of antibiotics. This is when we first started hearing about resistant starch and how it helps digestive health. So, what is it and how does it help protect the diversity of good bacteria living in our own ecosystems? Resistant starch, as can easily be guessed from name is the type of starch resistant to digestion and functions as a soluble fiber. Foods such as grains, teff, green bananas are high in Type 1 and Type 2 resistant starch and can easily be added to our daily diets. On the other hand, Type 3 occurs when starchy foods like potatoes and rice are cooked and cooled down.

 

After extensive research, Idil came across to the POTATO HACK. Below is her very personal experience in her own words:

“The Potato Hack is a method of single food diet which resets your gut flora after a traumatic event for your good bacteria, in my case this event was a heavy antibiotics usage for a long time after an infection. So, I was looking for a way to get my digestive system back on track and I thought it would not hurt to give it a try.

The Potato Hack usually lasts for 3 to 5 days and just to remind you all, it is not a sustainable diet but it can be repeated once a month as a gut detox. During these 3 to 5 days you should prepare yourself for an all you can eat cold potato buffetJI was eating around a kilo of reheated and cooled potatoes a day and I must say the main problem was not the hunger, It was the boredom! You are not advised to add any salt or oil to your potatoes but free to add chili peppers or some other spices to funk it up. Oh and do not forget to drink a lot of water.

 After the second day I could see the effects, I was no longer constipated and my tummy aches were fully gone and my stomach was a lot flatter. To be fair I did not start the hack with the hope of losing weight but at the end of 4 days I was down 2 kilos and I did not seem to gain it back so It was a nice little surprise for me!! I would say If you are on a low fiber diet or have used antibiotics you could give this a try; you can see how it works for you yourself and if you are happy with the results it is a cheap and easy hack to do for your digestive health.”