Quote:
Originally Posted by
rainforests1 
I'd be curious as to these studies you're talking about. I was just doing research on the internet and found the site, so I'm not familiar with the site itself.
Excerpted comments about the two studies and about white potatoes.
"A landmark experiment was carried out in 1925 on two healthy adults, a man 25 years old and a woman 28 years old. For 6 months these two people lived on a diet primarily of white potatoes. (A few additional items providing insignificant nutrients were added: a few fruits, coffee, and tea. Because they were losing too much weight, pure fatcontaining no other nutrientswas also added.)
"Could a diet of potatoes meet their nutritional needs? Even though they were both physically active (especially the man) they were described as, in good health on a diet in which the nitrogen (protein) was practically solely derived from the potato.
...
"White potatoes are 10% protein with all of the essential amino acids provided in generous amounts. These tubers have 2.5 grams of dietary fiber per potato. That translates into 50 grams for an active man and 37 grams for an active woman. Potatoes are very high in vitamin C, B vitamins, potassium and other minerals...
"The potato even meets the needs of growing infants. Eleven Peruvian children, ages 8 months to 35 months, recovering from malnutrition, were fed diets where all of the protein and 75% of the calories came from potatoes. Their growth patterns were normal. (Soybean-cottonseed oils and pure simple sugars provided some of the extra caloriesneither of these sourcesoil or sugarcontains protein, vitamins, or minerals.)
"People in New Guinea who live on diets consisting almost entirely of sweet potato tubers and leaves have cholesterol levels, on the average, of 108 mg/dl. Heart disease, obesity, inflammatory arthritis, colon cancer, and type-2 diabetes are unknown in these people on their sweet potato diet.
Some of the references cited:
Kon S. XXXV. The value of whole potato in human nutrition. Biochemical J. 1928; 22:258-260.
Lopez de Romana G. Fasting and postprandial plasma free amino acids of infants and children consuming exclusively potato protein. J Nutr. 1981 Oct;111(10):1766-71.
Lopez de Romana G, Graham GC, Madrid S, MacLean WC Jr. Prolonged consumption of potato-based diets by infants and small children. J Nutr. 1981 Aug;111(8):1430-6.
Luyken R. Nutrition studies in New Guinea. Am J Clin Nutr. 1964; 14:13-27