What are the only 10 Foods You'd Need to Survive?

top notch pizza. That's a good word, mango. Well, super pizza was developed at Glasgow University and it's this frozen pizza that has seaweed baked into the crust and then the sauces boosted with nutrients. And the whole idea is that, because it has a third of your daily vitamins and minerals, you could actually eat pizza for breakfast, lunch and dinner and be somewhat healthy. That's pretty cool. But how's it taste? Well, I guess top notches, you might say, but now I

think like pretty good from what I've read online. Anyway, reading about it made me wonder if you had to pare your pantry down to the bare minimum, what are the only foods you'd need to survive? And that's what today's episode is all about either podcast listeners, Welcome to part Time Genius. I'm Will Pearson and is always I'm joined by my good friend Mangesh Ticketer and sitting behind that soundproof booth baking some tiny but delicious pastries and

his easy bake oven as our producer Tristan McNeil. Where did he get that? What is that, Tristan? Or those tiny croissans? Yeah, listener, those are tiny croissans. Want a tiny Croissan? That's so good? All right? Well, for today's show, we decided to do a little thought experiment. Basically, we want to know if you were going to limit your daily diet only a handful of different foods, ten or five or even just one, what should you eat? Yeah? I was pretty sure the answer is going to be

flaming hot cheetos. But apparently the answer is not flaming hot Cheetos. I don't think it is, Yeah, because this really isn't what snacks you couldn't go without, so much as the stuff you couldn't live without plus three times a day Cheetos have. It couldn't be that healthy for you. Probably not. And you know, I think the idea here is to concentrate on building the most restricted diet we can, using foods that are nutritious enough to actually keep you alive.

And along the way, we'll explore the reasons why some people actually strive for a lack of variety and what they eat, and and we'll also take a look at some of the craziest restrictive diets that people have ever subjected themselves to. Speaking Wish will also be joined by Andrew Taylor. He's the Australian man who declared two thousand sixteen to be the Year the Spud and then he commemorated it by eating nothing but potatoes for three d

sixty six days and he chose a leap here. Yeah, and now he's written a book called The d I Y Spud Fit Challenge, and it dares readers to change their relationship with food in order to live a healthier life. So we'll find out what possessed him to do this in the first place, and and why potatoes, of all things. I mean, it's so weird. I feel like growing up, potatoes were considered a healthy vegetable, or at least healthy enough.

And then there was the whole anti car movement and this this big push to cut potatoes out entirely, and now it feels like it's sort of nudging its way back in. I know, it's so weird how these things go back and forth, Like eggs are the same way with all their cholesterol in that debay, and and it's just so strange like that we can't decide to just do this in moderation. Yeah, and and and the strange part is it it almost feels he radical to be

talking about limiting our food selection. I mean, we've mentioned this before, but Americans have never had such a huge variety of options as we do today, and the idea of purposefully removing choices it kind of runs counter to most people's thinking. Yeah, so I know this isn't food related, but for a while I was enamored with this idea of having a daily uniform. My mother in law gave me this book she was reading about willpower and and it there's this argument that you only have so much

willpower and decision making power in a day. And so people like Obama when he was president, supposedly had someone pick out his clothes for him, and all of his shirts and pants were different colors but the same style and the size. He liked, the idea being if you're not using your brain power for any of those smaller decisions, you can actually save it for making swift, important decisions

later in the day. But I I know a number of successful people who just have one basic lunch they rely on, and whether that's like a turkey sandwich or a PBNJ or ramen from downstairs. Yeah, and they just eat that every day because something they like enough but don't have to spend any time thinking about. Yeah, and you know, time and efficiency. That's definitely one aspect of narrowing your food choices. But another that I've been thinking

about is, you know, space travel. How's that? According to pops I quote, the impetus of a lot of nutritional sciences how do we feed people in space? And so a lot of the effort is on how to pack more nutritional content into lighter weight foods you know that that are easy to carry. Well, well, we'll definitely talk a little bit about food science and efforts to pack foods with more nutrients. And of course there's also this trend of monodiets where people eat from just one food

group and even just one particular food. People do this with bananas or watermelon, or in the magician Penjalette's case, he did this with potatoes as well, and it's supposedly to shock his body and too weight loss. I have to say that it just sounds so miserab doable. But I mean, I guess they're all sorts of ways to eat a potato, and he's probably not just eating baked potatoes all day, at least I hope he's. I don't know. I wonder how many people were inspired by the Martian

to do this diet. But uh, but when I first started, you mentioned this topic and this idea of foods you can't live without. It reminded me of that German poet and philosopher Frederick Schiller, and he'd keep rotting apples in a drawer in his desk, and whenever he was getting writer's block, he'd open the drawer to take a whiff. Supposedly it inspired him to keep writing that before I know. And then then there's like Ballza who had fifty cups of coffee a day to keep them writing. But do

you have any tricks for retter's block? Uh? I don't actually think I do. What about you, well, it's not a trick, but I actually hate writing, so whenever I have to do it, I have to get like a bag of jelly beans as a treat, just to make the experience seem more fun. But uh, I know I took his off track. Nutritionists definitely worn against mono diets, but sometimes that dieting can't be helped. So what do you mean by that? Well, it can also be psychological

like that. There was a story a few years ago about that teenage girl in England who had been hooked on chicken nuggets. She'd been doubting them since like age two or something, and according to the report, she had eaten practically nothing but chicken nuggets for like fifteen years. Wow. Yeah, I remember hearing about her. I know what. It sounds kind of funny or impressive, even until one day she passed out and couldn't breathe. That's a lot less funny.

So did she did she have a heart attack or something? No? Apparently she was so malnourished that she had to receive vitamin and nutrient injections. Woh. I mean it's actually kind of heartbreaking when you think about it, I know. And and the sadder part is that her mother couldn't even stop her. Like her words were, quote, uh, it breaks my heart to see her eating those damn nuggets. You know what, what you're describing sounds way more than just

hankering for chicken nuggets. I mean, it actually sounds more like compulsive behavior. And in some cases people are like highly selective about foods they're willing to eat because of food addictions. But it can also be about food phobias. And in fact, there was this other British woman who ate only chicken nuggets for twenty five years, but she

was also that's with the Brits and their nuggets. I have no idea, but in this woman's case, she became so accustomed to eating her favorite food at home that she developed this serious fear of eating anything else. Like when she put in her mouth she gagged. But after visiting a hypnotherapist in London for a single hour, just an hour, she was totally cured. And she's been feasting

on a non nugget diet ever since. I'm so happy she's off the nuggets, all right, So this is obvious, but in general, it sounds like eating only one kind of food is a very bad idea. I mean, I guess it works for pets. Ruby has this pet bearded dragon at school that apparently only eats crickets, and it

seems to be doing just fine. But but you're right, I mean, part of the problem is that, like, they're huge parts of the world population, especially in Africa and Asia, and they survive on a diet that's made up almost entirely of rice. So it's not really by choice. And in fact, according to a report from the E. T. H University in Zurich, and I'm employing this on now, quote, nearly every second person in the world eats primarily rice

to meet the daily calorie need. A meal of rice stops the hunger, but contains only very few or none of the essential micronutrients. So, I mean, the good news is that researchers have had lots of success with creating genetically modified multi nutrient rice to help fight malnutrition, especially

in those rice dependent regions. You know, I know they're economic and political implications of the genetically modified food stuff, but it is kind of amazing that you can just infuse all these nutrients into rice and and and solve this big problem. Of course, whether someone chooses a restricted diet, or has it thrust upon them. That lack of dinner table variety poses other problems, you know, aside from the nutrition of it all, and and mainly that just makes

meals seem so boring. Really, yeah, I mean, that's my biggest gripe with all of this, and that's not just our opinion. I mean humans actually experienced a phenomenon called sensory specific safety, and that's when we keep eating the same thing. So I've never heard of that. What's that mean?

You know? So basically, the more you eat of a specific food, the less appetizing it gets and and the less you can stand the thought of eating it, which explains why kids always complain when they're full midway through dinner, but then miraculously find more room in their stomachs when

dessert rolls around. That's exactly what's happening there. And researchers think sensory specific sayt he might be an evolutionary trade, you know it It acts as the body's way of telling us to eat something different in order to avoid that malnutrition. But of course you don't have to stick to just a single food item to suffer this. The effects of this even you know, limiting yourself to one food group can be unhealthy. And I mean, just look

at the fruitarians out there. So I grew up vegetarian, but I remember when I heard about fruitarians thinking that feels like a step too far. I would agree with that. Well, it's definitely a more extreme form of vegetarianism. And the idea is that sev or more of your daily food intakes should be fresh fruit and usually eat and raw. And health and wellness bloggers have helped popularized the diet in recent years, so much so that hundreds of like ended eaters now gather every year in New York for

the Woodstock Fruit Festival. The Other wood Stock, I think it's probably just a little bit different than the Other wood Stock. So it's this week long event where fruitarians gathered a mingle with other fruitarians. They attend lectures and gorge themselves on the all you can eat fruit and vegetable buffet, you know, and that's what they get for

their twelve hundred dollar tickets. Yeah, it's crazy. And if you're wondering how much fresh produce it takes the feed close to a thousand hungry fruitarians for an entire week the answer is over a hundred thousand pounds. That's so much fruit. So it wasn't Steve Jobs a fruitarian. I feel like I read that somewhere. And and also that he smelled terrible. I I don't know if that was because of how his body reacted to the fruits or because he didn't use any deodorants. Well, I I can't

confirm why he smelled. But but Jobs was probably the most famous fruitarian in the world, and he kept the strict vegan diet for most of his life, went through stints along the way where he would only drink smoothies and eat raw fruit, all just that kind of strict diet. And I guess, oh, it makes sense in hindsight, right, Like it's right there in the company name. Well, you

may be kidding about this, but it's actually true. So Jobs came up with the name Apple Computers during one of his fruit terry and faces, Yeah, it says it. In his biography, he wrote, I had just come back from the apple farm. It sounded fun, spirited and not intimidating. Apple took the edge off the word computer. That's so crazy, Like I always just assumed the Apple was a reference to Isaac Newton, although it didn't all that fruit actually

wind up contributing to Steve jobs illness. Like I I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that there's a higher risk of pancreatic cancer if you consume a lot of fruits and juices. Well, some studies have definitely shown a strong link, but of course there's there's no real way of knowing what brought on Steve's illness, and diet can definitely play a role, but it's hardly the deciding factor with something

like cancer. That said, when Ashton Kutcher took on the role of Steve Jobs for that biopick, Kutcher it here to a fruit terry and diet for about a month as a way of getting into character, but apparently it was a disaster and he end up being rushed to the hospital with stomach pains, you know, just a couple of days before filming began, and the test found that his pancreas levels were way off what they should have been, which really is kind of frightening given how Jobs passed away.

And it's kind of counterintuitive, right, like to think of something we equate with such health being bad for you. I guess it's just another win for like boring old moderation. You know, you're definitely not going to find most doctors or dietitians that recommend you take up fruitarianism or any other highly restrictive diet. And a good general rule of thumb for diets is that you know, if it's making

you sick, it's probably a bad diet advice. But vegetarians square off fish and meat, and they tend to be pretty healthy in general. How can we can get away with dodging some food groups but not others? We tend to aim for very diets because that gives us a better chance of getting all the different nutrients we need to help our bodies function properly, and cutting out whole food groups lessons that likelihood to two different degrees. So

eliminating meat is one thing. I mean, you can make up the protein other ways, but eliminating everything except me, honestly, that would be about as dangerous as the all fruit diet. Well, we should definitely get into what ten foods we've taken to space or to a desert island. But now seems like a good time to get Andrew Taylor on the line and see if we can figure out how he beat the odds and managed to survive and even thrive

on his all potato diet, Samango. I know today we're talking about limiting diets to ten foods, and what would those ten foods be if that's all we could choose. Well, today's guests took that to another level. So and in two thousand sixteen, Andrew Taylor was struggling with depression and anxiety, and he also weighed more than he'd ever weighed in his life. So he decided to take matters into his

own hands. He took what you might call a pretty unusual measure, and that was he decided to eat nothing but potatoes for a year. I don't know if that's how you've ever decided or thought about approaching a weight loss or anything like that, but Andrew Taylor welcomed the part time Genius. Thanks for having me on. I'm excited. Yeah,

we're thrilled to have you as well. So, Andrew, you said that you were addicted to food at the time, and I think I read you wanted to make your food as boring as possible, so your mind wasn't consumed by food. Why did you decide on the potato. Yeah, that's exactly right. It was. It was an experiment really to say if, uh, if dealing with my own food

addiction through abstinence would would be a helpful thing. So, you know, an alcoholic should quit alcohol, and I think it may be a food add it should quit food. And obviously we can't quit food entirely. So I wonder if there was one food that I could eate and and then quit everything else and getting as close as possible to quitting as as you could. Um, So I tries.

The title is after a lot of race there. I spent six weeks studying to figure out what would be the best food to choose, and the title has just had the most evidence behind them. Basically, most people know about the Irish diet. For a couple of centuries, the Irish entire population almost only potatoes, and they would maintained good fitness and health. And they actually went through a population zoom, which wouldn't happen if they weren't kitt and healthy. Um.

There are tribes around the world. There's the Puppin Pup in New Guinean highland of tribe. To this day um eat almost only sweet potatoes. UM and there's you know, examples in Japan and the Okinawa and getting nearly all of their calories from Japanese sweet potatoes and living having a very high rate of centenarians as people that lived till a hundred years old. Um. Another interesting thing was

prisoners of war. I read about prisoners of war that were fed out the potatoes, and they were the same thing they would in great health and in uh, in great fitness. And you know, you see photos of prisoners of war that have totally malnourished, and uh, that's that's not these guys. These guys that were fed only potatoes

did really, really well. And another great season of information I found was there was a study done in the twenties and the late nineteen twenties where a marathon running couple were supervised by scientists for six months eating only potatoes, and again they did really well. They maintained good fitness and health, and at the end of six months, I actually ran personal best marathon. So there's a lot more information that I read that that's the best examples I

can give you. And and yeah, once I read all that, a lot more than my decision was easy. The potatoes are the obvious choice. Wow, that's a that's just fascinating. And clearly you did your homework on this. I am curious. Were you consulting a nutritionist at all through the process. No, I've got my personal doctor is a dietician as well qualified dietician and doctor. And once I've done all my research and made my decision and decided that that's what I wanted to do, I went to him and basically

told him what my plan was. And and yeah, he agreed to supervise me and help me, but he didn't have any input in the initial planning of it. Now, and I heard you mentioned sweet potatoes and and I think regular potatoes. Did you mixed potatoes or was there just one type of potato you're reading on the stand? I had all kinds of potatoes. Yeah, I didn't want to.

I wanted to be restrictive, but I didn't want to like, you know, if I went to the to the store and they only had one kind of potato available and it wasn't the kind that I was eating, that was going to make things hard, you know. So I just decided to make it all kinds of potatoes, just the logistical reasons. So, yeah, and obviously the potatoes pretty versatile to cook. But well, what types of meals did you make and and did your art of cooking the potato

evolved as you continued on this process. Yeah, Well, like you briefly mentioned earlier, my I figured that a big part of my problem with food was that I was relying on it for comfort, enjoyment, emotional support, things like that. Like at the end of a bad day, I would get home and want to try to make myself feel

better by eating um, exciting, interesting food. So the idea was that I wanted to make my food as boring as possible so that I'd have to retrain my brain to get that comfort and enjoyment and emotional support from other areas of life rather than just from food. So for that reason, I kept it for as boring as possible on purpose. So per cent of my meals were probably mashed potato, baked potato, or um or boiled potato,

or just playing and m Yeah. Every now and then, maybe once a fortnight or even once a month, I would do something a little bit more interesting, like, uh, they make some oven baked chips or some potato waffles or something like that. But really it was it was all about learning to be happy with boring food. And I got this saying making food boring in your life interesting. So rather than spending my time and energy on trying to make interesting, exciting food, I just tried to do

interesting and exciting things. It seems like a great way to approach. And I'm curious, are you still eating potatoes now that you've finished your year of only potatoes? Yeah? I had mashed potatoes and rockets. I think you got called a rugula mashed the tatoes and a rugula for breakfast. So, Andrew, I'm curious. I know, you know, diet experts would probably point out the lack of protein that you're getting in

this diet. So what what would you say to those that that would be critical of the diet or be concerned that you might not be getting enough protein or or you know, other essentials in your diet. Yeah, well there there are. I've had lots of input from diet experts around the world and since I started doing this,

and it's it's interesting that potatos. I guess I have a bad rat the table of things that they're lacking in so much nutrition, but they've actually I was getting when I was eating in the potatoes only, I was getting idy flops and antigrams of protein a diet which is death really well within the recommended daily intake. And it's all the all the required essential amino acids getting covered. So yeah, I find it a little bit disturbing when

expert make these claims. We're clearly not knowing what they're talking about. And the potatoes, everyone knows they've got a lot of carbohydrates, but they've also got the protein. Like I mentioned, they've got a small amount of fat, which is enough to give the body what it needs, especially

when you're carrying extra fat like I was. And uh, and yeah, they've got a really good balance of all the other vitamins and minerals that we need to So my blood tests were getting better through the whole year, and I was really getting everything I need from from this diet. So yeah, no complaints there. So I was curious how your marriage was affected by this, and and what were you spending more time on instead of just cooking, uh and thinking about food. Yeah, my marriage was only

affected in positive ways. My life was really supportive and before I started this, I have now to take to say that I gave a hundred percent of everything I had to being the best husband I could and being the best father I could. Um, but you know, I was clinically depressed and hundred and twenty pounds more than I am now, and so you know, a hundred percent then is not the same as a hundred percent now.

So I'm able to give more these days, which means my marriage and my life is has only been affected in positive ways. Yes, so no complaints there, and my wife was really supported from the start. It's amazing how much time and space food takes up in your life for you thinking about it, planning and preparing its, shopping for it, cooking and cleaning up after it. All that.

You don't realize how much time and effort and energy that all takes up until your remove it from your life basically, So, yeah, I've added a lot into my life. I'm doing a lot more exercise and and really I guess most of my extra time and attention has just gone into having fun with my loss and my boy. And you know, at the time I'm used to spend thinking about and planning and all that, it's it's just

spent on enjoying myself with them. I've wrestled with my little boy and read books and my jugs, and you know, we got walking and playing at the playground and it's just all the little things in lot. But just got a little bit of extra focus for I mean, that's I decided there's one particular thing. It's just across the board, I get a little bit more. I'm for each of

the more positive experiences and loss until that's wonderful. Well, Andrew, this has just been fascinating, and congratulations on your success with this. I really admire what you've accomplished. And as you've put it before, it's it's not about the potato. I mean. You can check out Andrew's book, The d I Y spud Fit Challenge on Amazon or visit him online at spud fit dot com. Andrew, thanks so much for joining us today. Thanks so much for having me.

It's same fun and you have good luck with everything you guys do. You're listening to part Time Genius and we're talking about how to get by on the least number of foods possible. Okay, Mango, So, after talking to Andrew, I think we're in agreement that potatoes belong on our list of the only foods you'll ever need. What do

you think about this? Absolutely? I mean, there are twenty amino acids that humans need to survive, and while our bodies produced most of those four us there are nine essential acids that we only get from foods we eat. And although most food supply at least a couple of those essential aminoes, white potatoes can actually get you there in one go. And it's funny that potatoes don't get the coveted super food moniker like some of the others do. But I agree with you on this. I mean they

belong in the card. And of course white potatoes aren't enough on their own, since they lack some of the much needed minerals and vitamins. You know, we think about vitamins A and E, and as Andrew points out, a true potato terry and I guess if that's a word, they would need to add sweet potatoes to the mix

in order to survive long term. Yeah, that sweet potato footnote really made me wonder how the Irish made it through that famine in the eight hundreds, Like roughly a third of the population lived mostly on plain potatoes during those lean years, But I don't think they were farming sweet potatoes. Yeah, I was actually curious about this as well, so I decided to do a little digging into this. And and the traditional go to meal for the Irish

peasants has been potatoes, milk, oats, beans, and bread. But you know, by the time the famine struck, most peasants had to sell their milk supplied just to make rent, so their meals dwindled to potatoes, salted fish, and oatmeal, and that was enough to keep them going for the most part. It actually was. I mean that the fish would have been high in protein and calcium, plus some of the important minerals and vitamins, but the real saving grace,

surprisingly was actually the oatmeal. You see, even on a diet that included both white and sweet potatoes, you'd still be lacking a crucial mineral. And I have a hard time pronouncing this mineral, but it's called molybdenum. I've never heard of it, nobody has heard of it, and I don't think anybody can say it. And it's it's often

called the most important element you've never heard of. So basically, without molybdenum, your body would be unable to break down the sul fights and turn them into usable sources of energy. And since soul fights are naturally found in so many foods we eat, including potatoes, most foods would eventually kill you without it, you know, in order to take care of the soul fights. But thankfully we really don't need

all that much of the mineral. In fact, the recommended daily allowance for it is only about forty five micrograms, so a little oatmeal actually does the trick. And you just ask the Irish or the Scots for that matter. And while researching, I found that the cornerstones of a traditional Scottish diet where potatoes, oatmeal, milk and kale. And now I'm actually thinking they all should have a place on our list. It's a pretty great comba. I mean, you could you could probably get buy on those four

a loan if you had to. Though, I think you could make the case for swapping oats for barley just because it has the same essential vitamins and minerals as the other grains, but it also helps to manage those cholesterol levels. Okay, so we've got a pretty good list going here. We've got white and sweet potatoes as well as oats are barley, and now we're adding milk and kale. And of course I'm kind of sick of hearing people talk about kill these days. Yeah, I know, I know

what you mean on this. So it does kind of live up to its reputation though. It can help with everything from cardiovascular support to the fight against things like arthritis or asthma or diabetes, even cancer. It's been shown in some studies. Plus it's super rich and vitamins and minerals. I know, us that's super and five, I know, but I feel like I'm in a kale ad well, I

mean mango. A single hundred gram serving of kale contains way more than the recommended daily allowance for let's see here, vitamin C, vitamin A, and vitamin K, and you can order some using the coupon code kale dot com slash genius. So to be clear, that's a fake coupon code. We don't not on the Kale Lobby's dual. And while kale has plenty going for it, it's not without its drawbacks. Really,

So why is that? Well, rock hille can be extremely tough on the digestive system, and even cooked kale can lead to hypothyroidism. That's if you eat too much of it, and all that vitamin K you mentioned. I mean, it's great in moderation, but too much can lead to the formation of blood clots. So if you're already dealing with blood clots, or if you're on a blood thinning medication, you might want to subdend spinach instead. You know, it's weird how it all gets more complicated than you think,

even with something like kale. But you know, you know, still milk seems like a safe bet for the list. If if you drink vitamin D fortified whole milk, your body is getting a lot of what it needs right there. You know, it's got carbs, protein, potassium, all the essential amino acids, and of course, as we know, calcium pretty much the only thing is missing our fiber. And apparently

it's so hard for me to say moleb molybdenum. Yes, exactly, alright, So so grains and greens and potatoes would still need to be on the menu to get your nutrition fixed. But it really is amazing how close any one of these foods can get you to a pretty healthy diet. It is, and I know we already debunked the mono diet. But there actually is one food that succeeds that, delivering the complete nutritional package all on its own. And that's better than an all potato diet and way way better

than the all chicken nugget diet. Do you like chicken nuggets? No? I'm curious. Sorry, So, so what's this amazing mystery food? Milk or specifically human milk. So, according to Joanne Hattner, a nutrition consultant at Stanford and former national spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association, mother's milk is a complete food that means it's calorically sufficient and contains a little bit

of all the vitamins, minerals, and amino acids that we need. Yeah, but you're talking about for babies though, right, Like adults couldn't survive on breast milk, could they. Well, that's the catch. Even though all the vital nutrients are in there, they don't occur in high enough amounts to sustain an adult. In fact, that that's why we ultimately add solid foods to infant diet so that we can eef up the

amount of iron and other nutrients that they receive. And technically, though anyone could survive solely on mother's milk, provided they were able to you know, source enough of it. Well, I don't think that's going to happen, thank God, exactly. So our best bed is to stick to other mammal milks like cows or goats. And if the milks for mintage or you know, like a yogurt, that's all the better because the added bacteria can do wonders for our

doguestive tracks. Welcome back to part time Genius Now. Earlier we harped on fruitarians quite a bit, so I do want to make sure we give fruit its to and include at least one on our list. The problem is, there's so many tasty fruits and pretty much all of them are good for you. So I'm going to leave

it to you Mega. What's your pick? Well, everyone knows by now that I have a soft spot for bananas, and thanks to their high level a potassium and fiber and lack of fire or salt, they're not a bad choice. They are pretty sugary, though, and and a little week in the calorie department. For example, have you heard of this, uh, this YouTube phenomena Freely the Banana Girl. I can't say

that's in my list channels. Yeah, she's this Australian social media darling and she practices a monodiet of just bananas, and since the average banana only contains a hundred calories or so, really scarves down fifty plus bananas every day to keep her energy every day. Oh my gosh. Yeah. So of course we'd be supplementing our fruit with other things on our list, so we wouldn't have to eat quite as many. But if we're trying to stick to just one kind of fruit, there are probably better options.

Well why don't we go the other way for a minute and maybe choose a high calorie fruit like avocados. I mean they have fiber and potassium like bananas do, plus vitamin E plenty of healthy fats that that helped keep inflammation and cholesterol in check. They're just overall healthy. Yeah, that definitely works. And avocados are great for breakfast or lunch or dinner, and and they're more versatile than bananas I guess. But another strong choice would be some kind

of berry, and any kind really. Blueberries and pomegranates are popular choices because they're all packed with antioxidants and tons of vitamin c. But I actually read this article and Business Insider that ranked the nutritional value of a bunch of berries, and the one that topped the list was

one I never would have thought elderberries. Elderberry never, never would have thought if you ever had an elder actually haven't had an elderberry, but a fairly elderberries surpassed their cousins and potassium and iron and fiber and also vitamin B six and see. And the only problem is that eating too many raw ones can actually make you sick, so you'd have to cook them down into a syrup. But if you want to go with the second best berry, that happens to be the BlackBerry. I have had that

type of berry, and they're very good. And it's definitely easier to find blackberries too. I'm actually not sure I've ever seen an elderberry in a grocery store. All right, So, so fruits, veggies, grain, starch, and dairy are covered on our list, And and now we need a dedicated protein.

And it's tempting to go with something like a decadent steak, but you know, anything besides an ultra lean cut is going to provide more saturated fat and cholesterol than you really want when we're trying to come up with a list like this, so I don't know. Instead, I say we take another page from the Irish and opt for maybe surf instead of turf. Yeah that sounds smart. So what are you thinking? Well, any fish is going to offer protein and healthy fat, but you really can't do

much better than salmon. I know, we talked about kale earlier in the greens category, and much like that, salmon has been the it thing within its category. It's been the it fish for a while now, but it's loaded with high quality protein, not to mention vitamin B twelve and minerals like potassium and selenium. You know, while salmon is a fattier fish, most of that comes from Omega three fatty acids, and those help promote healthy brain function,

they produce joint inflammation, and they strengthen your heart. Yeah, well, salmon is a strong pick. But in case any vegetarians are listening, we should point out a few guilt free alternatives for protein, and thankfully there are a ton of them, like being pulses, nuts, and seeds. They're all fantastic protein choices and they're much easier to carry, store or even prepare than animal proteins, assuming that you pair them appropriately to make a complete protein, like in the case of beans,

pairing them with rice. All right, so what would you say are the best of the best for the plant based proteins? Well, and this might be biased according to the Bean Institute, which apparently is a thing. Beans contained between protein by weight, and since that's much higher than other sources of vegetable protein, you know, the nut or

seed options. I'd go with beans and different beans packed different amounts of protein and other minerals, with black beans, kidney beans, pinto, and soy tending to provide the most. But that's the beauty of beans. No matter which one you go with, it's going to be a good source of protein and fiber, and it will also be fat free, sodium free, and cholesterol free. Looks like beans for the wind.

I feel like you said beans a lot that I do want to mention though, that it just like with eating too many fruits or something like kale, there is such a thing as too much protein. It's actually called protein poisoning, or some people call it rabbit starvation. I've never heard of this, but just saw in the research and it occurs when or more of your calorie intake is derived from protein. And the nickname actually has nothing

to do with malnourished bunnies or anything like that. He comes from the early North American explorers who sometimes survives solely on lane proteins such as rabbits, And this would happen for weeks at a time, and that I had often led to starvation because a person's liver it can only process so many calories from lan proteins. Yeah. So so remember, no matter where you get your protein, don't overdo it. The bulk of your calories should be coming

from fats and carbs and not protein. Yeah, that's a good tip. So there you have it. There are two kinds of potatoes on our list, oats or barley, kaylor spinach, milk or yogurt, avocados or berries, and salmon or beans. And if you have extra room, maybe a package of flaming hot cheetahs. Yeah, that would cover all of your

nutritional bases. But again, whether you want to or even whether you should stick to a limited diet like this, that's a whole different matter, maybe for a different episode one day, totally, because while it makes sense on paper, that we can restrict our diets, that's not really how

things play out in real life. So for for example, there was a study in two thousand two where researchers took data from fifty nine thousand women and found that those who alternated sixteen to seventeen healthy foods through the diet had a forty two lower mortality rate than those who regularly ate between zero to eight healthy foods. So even if you're eating mostly healthy foods like the ones we listed today, you'll still be at a disadvantage if

you aren't varying what you eat. Yeah, and that actually tracks with an article I read by a dietitian at Glasgow Caledonian University. Her name is Jenny Jackson, and she openly it meants that while we know a diet that includes a variety of vegetables is healthier than eating just a few, we actually don't know exactly why that's the case. As she puts it, quote, we don't really know which

foods are causing which effects. So while you could workout exactly what you needed from macro nutrients, you don't know exactly what you might be missing. Yeah, I'd say the real strength of a thought experiment like this is that it reminds us of the practical purpose food serves. I mean, humans have evolved to value the taste of food and the experience of eating way more than any other species,

which of course I'm grateful for. But that focus on the sensory can distract us from food's true purpose as fuel for our lives. Yeah, I think that's exactly right. And you know, at a time when people are so wrapped up with food as a social experience or as a form of entertainment instagramming What's on your plate or writing reviews on yell, but it is a little sobering

to think about food is this basic necessity. But picking apart the pros and cons of individual foods, it it does give you a sense of not only what we're putting in our bodies, but but why we're doing it. That's definitely true. But you know, one thing you can always safely consume without having to overthink it. I'm really hoping this is not about breast milk again, they're part time gene is fact off and and what do you say, because we're both surprised by how nutritious the potato is,

we turned this into the potato edition. All right, sounds good to me, m m so. According to a history of Greece I found, there's an often told story that, in order to popularize potatoes, in eight new governor Johnny Cappadistas tried to give potatoes away, but the people were totally uninterested. So we've placed armed guards in front of a shipment as they were loaded off docks to make them seem more important. And when the guards turned away

or left their positions, people just stole the potatoes. And that's how the potatoes popularity spread there. But what strange is that it isn't the first time leaders tried to convince people to eat potatoes. According to an article and mental floss quote, in the late seventeen hundreds, in an effort to inspire their starving subjects to plant the newly introduced vegetable, Marie Antoinette wore potato flowers in her hair, and her husband, King Louis the sixteenth wore them in

his buttonholes. And while the move launched a new fad, convincing French nobility to start wearing potato flowers, the plant didn't have the intended effect. The lower classes resented the propaganda and spurned the plant. So did you know that potato parties used to be a thing in Japan and South Korea? Like teenagers would go into McDonald's, ordered two hundred dollars or more of fries and then just spread them out on tables to eat while they hung out. Actually,

that sounds pretty delicious to me. I want to admit that. Well, did you know that Mr Potato had was the first toy advertised on television? I had forgotten that. The craziest part to me was that you actually provide your own potato. Yeah, well, since you knew that fact, how about this one? Did you know that gardeners will sometimes put rose cuttings into a potato, then plant the potato and the ground. Why is that? Well, the potatoes full of nutrients so it

can actually help the rose grow. That's insane. Do you know that uh Garbachev's life once tried to impress a British minister by telling him that the Soviets had more than three hundred ways to cook potatoes, and when he doubted her, she sent him a cookbook of five dred ways to cook a potato showed him all right, Well, I mean I guess, with five hundred recipes from Russia alone, we don't have to worry about pendil Lad and whether

he gets his variety anymore. But all right, I think because of that fact, I'm gonna let you take home the championship belt this week. That's it for today's Part Time Genius. If you enjoy the show, feel free to drop us a line on our seven fact hotline. That's one eight four four pt Genius. You can also send us a note part Time Genius at how stuff Works

dot com or find us on Facebook and Twitter. And if you really really enjoyed the show, please give us a review or rating on Apple podcast or wherever you listen to your podcast. Thanks so much, thanks again for listening. Part Time Genius is a production of How Stuff Works and wouldn't be possible without several brilliant people who do the important things we couldn't even begin to understand. Tristan McNeil does the editing thing. Noel Brown made the theme

song and does the mixy mixy sound thing. Jerry Roland does the exact producer thing. Gabe Louesier is our lead researcher, with support from the research army, including Austin Thompson, Nolan Brown and Lucas Adams and Eve Jeff Cook gets the show to your ears. Good job, Eves. If you like what you heard, we hope you'll subscribe, And if you really really like what you've heard, maybe you could leave a good review for us. Do we do we forget Jason? Jason who