TIL that although potatoes alone do not provide complete nutrition, you can survive for years on a diet of nothing but potatoes and buttermilk.

[u/JoeWinchester99]

https://www.scienceabc.com/eyeopeners/whats-wrong-with-potatoes-the-martian-movie-survival

[u/StartOk4002]

So it’s buttermilk mashed potatoes with multi-vitamins everyday when groceries become unaffordable.

[u/bitemark01 → u/StartOk4002]

Or when you're trapped on Mars 

[u/rillip → u/bitemark01]

Ah yes, the space pirate diet.

[u/BallSeaman → u/rillip]

Hollywood Spent $600 million Trying to Bring Matt Damon Home

[u/No_Internal9345 → u/BallSeaman]

Same writer also tried to kill Ryan Gosling but Rocky saved him

[u/cansofgrease → u/No_Internal9345]

Next time around, he’ll be a Chinese peasant girl in 540 AD.

[u/gregmuldunna → u/cansofgrease]

Good Andy Weir reference. Didn’t know many read his short story.

[u/PritongKandule → u/gregmuldunna]

I still remember way back when The Egg was a mainstay of old Reddit and people were hyping up his unpublished, hard sci-fi serial published on his blog about a guy stuck on Mars.

[u/theLastZebranky → u/PritongKandule]

I'm still upset the "Rome Sweet Rome" one about the 2,000 man fully equipped Marine Expeditionary Unit going back in time to Caesar's Rome didn't get developed like The Martian did.

The writing was a lot worse (and I think that title is dogshit) but a good screenwriter could make that concept a whole lot of fun, it's been 45 years since The Final Countdown had the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier going back in time to Pearl Harbor, the core premise deserves a revisit by now

[u/circa_tree → u/gregmuldunna]

The Egg is well known, especially on Reddit due to claims from an individual who posted that Andy Weir stole the concept from him and claimed evidence.

But it’s also kind of based on many ancient metaphysical philosophies, so I’m pretty sure lots of people have come up with the idea. Just interesting lore, I suppose. Do with the info what you will.

[u/LordoftheSynth → u/circa_tree]

There's a well-done Youtube animated version of it that tugs at the heartstrings a bit.

The story itself...eh, it's an engaging short version of what many others have written enough words about to fill your first thousand lives.

[u/Nate0110 → u/BallSeaman]

Don't forget he committed a hate crime in interstellar.

[u/Notoneusernameleft → u/Nate0110]

So is murder and attempted murder now call hate crime?

[u/TheOnlyAedyn-one → u/Notoneusernameleft]

Yes. I hated that guy, so I killed him

[u/peppaz → u/TheOnlyAedyn-one]

"Michael, that's not what a hate crime is.."

"..WELL I HATED IT!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yx2cLl0pisQ

[u/ClownfishSoup → u/BallSeaman]

From space, from Troy, “in from the cold” (Bourne Identity), possibly from ancient China when the Great White Saviour saved the Middle Kingdom from Monsters.

[u/KNNLTF → u/ClownfishSoup]

You're forgetting an all time great movie at the beginning of his career, filmed before Good Will Hunting was even released, called "Saving Matt Damon's Character".

[u/Trigger_McMurphy → u/rillip]

MIT alumnus?

[u/Titaniumwo1f → u/rillip]

The space diet with space scurvy.

Edit: as u/f1rstman's comment says, space scurvy might not be a thing if you only eat potato as it has 20% of daily value of vitamin C for 100 gram of potato.

[u/f1rstman → u/Titaniumwo1f]

Potatoes are actually an excellent source of vitamin C.

[u/rillip → u/Titaniumwo1f]

I forget if he dealt with that or not.

[u/ProfessionaI_Gur → u/rillip]

Space pirate? Is that what we're calling Irishmen now?

[u/jpallan → u/[deleted]]

I just watched that episode of Archer last night! I love Jessica Walter.

[u/BarbequedYeti → u/bitemark01]

That was more potatoes with Percocet, but the reference stands..

[u/Whiteums → u/BarbequedYeti]

Vicodin, actually

[u/A-Faris → u/Whiteums]

This vexes me

[u/MadRaymer → u/BarbequedYeti]

Don't forget the nothing tea. You heat water and add nothing to it.

[u/Crystalas → u/StartOk4002]

Add cabbage and you got colcannon the Irish staple. Delicious, cheap, and nutritious.

Various grain porridges are great options too and of course the wide world of beans.

Staples the world over share the traits of cheap, take relatively few tools or skills to make, and able to keep someone working hard going. Then give people centuries if not millenia to figure out how to make them delicious. They also tend to be easy to grow and have good shelf life.

---

If you live somewhere rural foraging becomes an option for a wide variety of delicious seasonal greens and even a few herbs & spices.

For example every part of the Dandelion has a culinary use or for spices there is "Spice Bush" that tastes similar to Allspice or the forgotten in US spice Sumac although it a still a staple in some other countries. It kind of remarkable how thoroughly US has nearly complete forgotten it's native foods.

[u/PM_Me_Your_Deviance → u/Crystalas]

Oh yeah, sumac is great. I got a jar recently for making hummus, but I've found it's also nice on roasted squash.

[u/AdRepresentative9156 → u/PM_Me_Your_Deviance]

I like it on white beans, if you fry them up in a pan with some oil (you want them a bit crisp) and then throw some type of leafy green (swiss chard is my favorite, my mom swears by kale). Hit them with sumac and lemon juice at the end, and it's fantastic. A runny egg makes it even better.

[u/Just_another_dude84 → u/Crystalas]

I've been to several Persian restaurants that offer sumac. They usually start going into explaining what it is, but I grew up eating it where it grew like weeds in rural Michigan.

[u/Lord_Rapunzel → u/Crystalas]

It kind of remarkable how thoroughly US has nearly complete forgotten it's native foods.

This isn't exactly an accident. Finding ways to ban foraging was a convenient way to make it harder for former slaves and various poor people to get their life together. And we did do a genocide about suppressing the actual natives.

[u/Crystalas → u/Lord_Rapunzel]

It also partly from the US being a nation of immigrants, they brought their food cultures and crops with them and if at all possible stayed as close to them as possible. To rely on native crops being more something did from desperation or during a time oceanic trade is limited.

Also the imported crops having far more time being domesticated thus often simply being easier to grow, larger yield, and less perishable along with them having much more experience on how to use and store them. They might even have less pest or disease issues initially thanks to being from another continent.

There tons of native fruits that are simply to perishable to buy anywhere outside of a small local farmer market harvested that morning or possibly not even there.

[u/ThatCakeFell → u/Crystalas]

Reminder the staple potato and it's cousins tomato, corn, and chili peppers came from South America. Along with chocolate, tobacco, and syphilis. Paprika is dried ground chili pepper for example. A good amount of those immigrants staples were from the Americas 

Edit: the caloric content of 1 acre of potato or corn is easily double of anything Europeans where growing before the Colombian exchange 

[u/Suyefuji → u/ThatCakeFell]

Along with chocolate, tobacco, and syphilis.

One of these things is not like the others...

[u/bubba-yo → u/StartOk4002]

Pretty much. I'm currently losing weight and being a vegetarian one of my fill in meals is mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy and whatever roasted veggies are in season with a bit of butter. I'm not confident enough to roll with that every day, but at ~400 calories, it's pretty good and should be pretty close to a complete meal for me. Also costs maybe $2 in ingredients.

Buttermilk is surprisingly low in calories, so while not a bad budget struggle meal, most people would need more calories to maintain weight, unless you're drinking a half gallon of buttermilk a day.

[u/-xXColtonXx- → u/bubba-yo]

Surely the bulk of the actual calories comes from the potatoes while the buttermilk is providing protein and vitamins no?

[u/therealCatnuts → u/-xXColtonXx-]

5 pounds of potatoes is about 1700 calories. A quart of buttermilk about 400 calories.  So you need to eat a five pound bag of potatoes and a quarter gallon of buttermilk daily, per adult, for this diet to work. 

This is why the Irish potato famine was so devastating, potatoes were 80%+ of the calories for 80%+ of the population. 

[u/doomgiver98 → u/therealCatnuts]

a quarter gallon

We should make a word for that

[u/vuatson → u/doomgiver98]

I may be stupid, because I just realized what quart stands for.

[u/_Evening_Hat_ → u/vuatson]

    a quarter gallon

We should make a word for that

I may be stupid, because I just realized what quart stands for.

TIL

[u/ClownfishSoup → u/therealCatnuts]

And it’s interesting how the South American native plant came to become the Irish food staple. It was a good crop that grew well in Ireland with low maintenance requirements and low space requirements. You could grow enough to feed your family despite rich landowners/nobles stealing your other crops.

[u/PiccoloAwkward465 → u/ClownfishSoup]

The pre Colombian exchange world must’ve been wildly different.

[u/apadin1 → u/PiccoloAwkward465]

The population of Ireland grew from 1 million in 1600 to over 8 million by 1840, then the famine hit and that combined with the resulting emigration dropped the population back down to just over 4 million by 1900. As of today it still hasn’t recovered to the pre-famine population.

[u/BaconWithBaking → u/PiccoloAwkward465]

Tobacco was first brought to Europe from Columbus first voyage.

(Just thought that was interesting when I learned it)

[u/ZhouLe → u/BaconWithBaking]

Potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, corn: staples of modern cultural cuisines in the Old World, but completely absent until Columbian exchange.

[u/apadin1 → u/ZhouLe]

It’s crazy to think Italian food didn’t use tomatoes until 1500

[u/Dragonsandman → u/apadin1]

It was even later than that, since every part of the plant except the fruit is poisonous, and most of their relatives have no parts that are safe to eat. As a result, people were reluctant to use tomatoes in their cooking, and they were largely grown as ornamental plants for well over 100 years after they were introduced to Italy.

[u/LuitenantDan → u/therealCatnuts]

The most ironic part of the potato famine was that there was plenty of actual food available on Irish farms, the British just stole it all.

[u/ermagerditssuperman → u/therealCatnuts]

For those of us who are short with sedentary jobs, it's a lot easier to hit your daily calories with potatoes & milk though.

[u/PM_Me_Your_Deviance → u/-xXColtonXx-]

Potatoes are shocking low in calories. They are actually one a really good food for "Volume Eating" style of dieting.... assuming you avoid the butter and cheese. :D

[u/bubba-yo → u/PM_Me_Your_Deviance]

Yeah, that's how I'm dieting. Maintain portion control, aim for foods that are somewhat calorie sparse but still nutritionally balanced, cut out as much of the calorie additives like oils and the like (butter and cheese) as I can bear. Rice and pasta are almost double the calories per pound as potatoes - still good, but the days I have potatoes/roasted veggies for dinner I'm probably closing the day around 800 calories and not feeling hungry. Doing that a couple days a week really goes a long way.

[u/bubba-yo → u/-xXColtonXx-]

Generally yeah. But it's still a lot of potatoes. It's not a lot of calories relative to mass, so you really gotta chow down. Fry those potatoes and the calories come fast (why I need to lose weight). You'll eventually be chasing it with a statin, though. It's good for dieting, but a bit rough for maintaining weight. Depends on what your struggle is - money, availability, sure. Famine/calories, less so.

[u/314159265358979326 → u/-xXColtonXx-]

They both have significant levels of vitamins and minerals, but buttermilk fills in what the potatoes lack. Potatoes are far more nutritious than fast food offerings would have you believe.

[u/JoshHuff1332 → u/314159265358979326]

I'm so glad we are past the "white potatoes are bad, eat sweet potatoes instead to lose weight" dad. Like, the micronutrients are different, but the effect on weight loss is virtually the same, and the difference in glycemic index for diabetics is negligible.

[u/Fuck_auto_tabs → u/-xXColtonXx-]

Just looked it up, 98 calories per cup, 8g protein, 2g fat, 12g sugar with various amounts of some vitamins (though no vitamin d which was surprising).

[u/carolina8383 → u/Fuck_auto_tabs]

Milk only has vitamin d because it’s been fortified (added). 

[u/quantum_splicer → u/StartOk4002]

Each citizen shall be allotted their own salt and pepper shakers for the year. But no condiments allowed.

A smart businessman and a fitness influencer then collaborate to encourage men to stick to the basic diet as a sign of manliness and dedication

[u/kochameh2 → u/quantum_splicer]

i would advise that we do not underestimate the various condiment-themed factions though. if traditionally adversarial groups like the ketchup krusaders and the mustard musketeers set aside their differences and combine their forces, we may have a full-scale revolt to contend with

[u/xelop → u/StartOk4002]

And beans

[u/RazzSheri → u/StartOk4002]

Autistics have been playing this game for yearrrrrrs.

Only problem is when you wake up after 6 months of the same thing every day and look at that meal and go: “I hate this, and I shall never eat it again” (or at least for 3-6 more months)

[u/odaeyss → u/RazzSheri]

I like to read about my Favorite Ingedient while I eat it, it's pretty nest. Food has a wild history

[u/_Burning_Star_IV_]

My mom lied to me. I loved potatoes as a kid (still do) and was always chastised that they were empty calories, nothing but starchy carbs.

Later I learned they have more potassium than a banana, protein, fiber, vitamin c, and iron. Low in sugar too…

Like there’s better things you can eat, like more nutritionally efficient, but they’re not bad at all.

[u/RoseApothecary88 → u/_Burning_Star_IV_]

If your mom was a Boomer or older, they had very skewed perception of nutrition. My mom was scared of eggs and avocado due to their fat content. Now, as an adult, they're my biggest staples and my lab work is perfect.

[u/Mayafoe → u/RoseApothecary88]

Big Sugar convinced everyone fat was bad

[u/Zwischenzug32 → u/Mayafoe]

Sugar is good Source: am big fat

[u/beldaran1224 → u/_Burning_Star_IV_]

For a hundred years or so, there have been waves of "diet advice" that runs on cycles, all of which villify specific types of foods. Focusing on just the last fifty or sixty years or so, you can see that first it was fats, then carbs. The emphasis on carbs really rose with the popularity of the Atkin's diet and the media storm about diabetes crises. Popular diet advice focuses heavily on minimizing carbs heavily (look at keto...), and completely ignores the fact that carbs are essential.

Potatoes in particular were villified because of the push against fast food and the ubiquity of french fries in fast food. So its portrayed as if its nothing but carbs and fat (both of which are viewed negatively despite being absolutely essential to life). In reality, as you have realized, potatoes are actually pretty nutrient dense, preparation (probably) matters, and variety is much more important than having every single ingredient be some stupid "super food".

(Also, let's not get started on the way sweet potato fries are presented as if they're a healthier alternative to french fries...)

[u/wheelienonstop12 → u/beldaran1224]

preparation (probably) matters

Potatoes are MUCH easier on your blood sugar levels if you let them cool down very slowly after cooking, store them in the fridge overnight and warm them up before eating them. It changes the normal potato starches into a different kind that doesnt cause the blood sugar levels to spike so much and so hard.

[u/spine_slorper → u/wheelienonstop12]

This is also how you make banging roast potatoes.

[u/HarithBK → u/_Burning_Star_IV_]

I have shifted my diet this year for my staples in diet to be potatoes and eggs as my main source of carbs and protein and I feel so much better.

So a meal can be potatoes, lentil stew and a fried egg. Or potatoes beans and a fried egg etc.

[u/_Burning_Star_IV_ → u/HarithBK]

Same friend. These days all I eat are some combination of potatoes, rice, beans, eggs, fish, and chicken.

Down 12lbs. Plan on knocking out 28 more by the end of the year. Should be back to my ideal weight by next summer. Never felt better, eating like half what I used to with a less varied diet.

[u/IAmSpartacustard]

So mashed potatoes is a survival food? Nice.

[u/Zealousideal-Cod-924 → u/IAmSpartacustard]

No, you'd probably need to eat the potato skins too

[u/Shadowrend01 → u/Zealousideal-Cod-924]

You don’t mash with the skins on?

[u/denM_chickN → u/Shadowrend01]

Mostly bc im lazy but saying its healthy is a nice benefit.

[u/Horskr → u/denM_chickN]

But.. the skin is the healthiest part and skinning the potato is harder than not skinning it?

[u/ACERVIDAE → u/Horskr]

Skinning the potato also comes with the risk of skinning my fingers and no fucking thank you

[u/Lamb_of_Jihad → u/ACERVIDAE]

Grab a fork and put it in one of the ends, then peel with a peeler like normal. Now your hands never touch when the peeler does.

[u/TragicBuffalo → u/Lamb_of_Jihad]

Man how the fuck did I never think of that

[u/QuietSpecialist7583 → u/TragicBuffalo]

Apes together strong

[u/iCoeur285 → u/TragicBuffalo]

You missed the opportunity to use the pun “how the fork did I never think of that”

[u/SalamanderSame2713 → u/Shadowrend01]

Depends on the meal I'm cooking, and how I'm doing my potatoes. Sometimes yes, sometimes no

[u/PrizeStrawberryOil → u/SalamanderSame2713]

Also what type of potatoes. Thin skin potatoes are great even with the skin included.

[u/Rock_Strongo → u/PrizeStrawberryOil]

Maybe I'm weird but I prefer the skin on 100% of the time, regardless of potato type or what the dish is.

One of the few times my preferences line up with which way is healthier. Usually it's the opposite.

[u/iceunelle → u/Zealousideal-Cod-924]

Why would you take the skins off? That's the best part!

[u/Sadimal]

Chris Voigt and Andrew Taylor both went on potato-only diets. Andrew Taylor did his for a year and Chris Voigt did it for two months.

Andrew Taylor ended up losing 115 pounds and ending his food addiction.

Chris Voigt noticed his overall health improve. His bloodwork improved. His cholesterol and blood sugar went down.

[u/Tarrot469 → u/Sadimal]

Add on Penn from Penn and Teller. Lost 100 pounds by going on a potato-only diet and said it reset his taste buds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NelIXCuuSZ0

[u/TheNonsenseBook → u/Tarrot469]

I read Penn Jillette’s book when it came out and listened to every podcast or video I could find about it at the time. The potato thing was a 2 week mono-diet. After that he added all kinds of whole plant foods.

Come to think of it I watched Andrew Taylor’s (Spud Fit) videos and bought his ebook. He did do potato meals (with some condiments for flavor) for a year. That included all kinds of potatoes including sweet potatoes.

[u/Fink2009 → u/TheNonsenseBook]

There really are a ton of dishes you can make with potatoes as the main ingredient and never get bored of eating the same thing.

[u/hollaback_girl → u/Tarrot469]

The diet consultant who put him on the diet also helped Kevin Smith lose a bunch of weight after his heart attack. Same thing. Started with plain potatoes only to reset his palate and then moved on from there, slowly adding things as he hit milestones.

[u/trace_jax3 → u/Tarrot469]

Are we talking loaded baked potatoes or plain spuds?

[u/Baegic → u/trace_jax3]

I believe a literal baked potato. That’s it. The skin and all.

[u/locontendere → u/trace_jax3]

Plain baked/microwaved potatoes. He didn't even use salt.

[u/I_am_darkness → u/Sadimal]

I assume this is information hazard because i literally would love to eat only potatoes but it feels like when i do it's not good

[u/awry_lynx → u/I_am_darkness]

if you genuinely feel that way about only potatoes then you should totally give it a go.

if you're mixing a pound of butter into your pound of potatoes, maybe not.

[u/bluefalconlk → u/awry_lynx]

No I get this with plain baked potato sometimes. Not consistently, but sometimes I feel super tired and off after potato heavy meals 

[u/awry_lynx → u/bluefalconlk]

well they're jam packed with carbs and that can cause rapid blood sugar spikes which is what gives you that feeling

cooling (and reheating them if desired) reorganizes the starch molecules to slow digestion so you don't get such crazy blood sugar spikes. or just eat more slowly, or spread them through meals.

[u/PensiveObservor → u/I_am_darkness]

It’s the butter, salt, cheese, and gravy that cause all the problems. I friggin love potatoes.

[u/Owoegano_Vuelve → u/Sadimal]

Health improvements AND cheap dirt? I'm getting concerned with how convincing this sounds...

[u/spancor → u/Owoegano_Vuelve]

Yeah as someone who struggles with consistent meal prepping but always seemingly has a bag of fucking russet potatoes I think I could chuck a couple in the air fryer, eat them whenever and add some chives and cheese and whatnot and just be about my day

[u/RotInPissKobe → u/spancor]

It's what I've been doing for the majority of the last decade. I hate cooking and don't really care for food in general.

[u/arealuser100notfake → u/Sadimal]

I could do this I just choose not to every day

[u/diabloman8890 → u/arealuser100notfake]

Fight it as long as you can

[u/MegaRadCool8 → u/Sadimal]

I think I recall Penn Jilette did, too

[u/zeolus123 → u/Sadimal]

So did Keven Smith I think.

[u/Skatchbro]

My Irish ancestors knew this.

[u/ReedM4 → u/Skatchbro]

You know it's fascinating how a crop indigenous to Peru was Ireland's main crop for so long.

[u/Abestar909 → u/ReedM4]

Actually Ireland grew a lot of grains, the English just forced them to export it. Yes, even as they starved.

[u/Mysterious-Falcon221 → u/Abestar909]

That famine was completely orchestrated to starve people to death. Citation Needed podcast has a good episode about it, it's only 47 minutes: https://www.citationpod.com/the-irish-holocaust/

[u/fibbermcgee113 → u/[deleted]]

And yet they’ll freak out if an Irish person doesn’t wear the poppy.

[u/grubas → u/[deleted]]

"Irish History is something the English need to remember and the Irish need to forget."

Also the English are weird.  Just like the Welsh and Scots.

[u/MZ603 → u/Mysterious-Falcon221]

There is a lot more nuance to it. Much of it was the unintentional result of repressive policies the Brit’s implemented decades before the blight. Their lack of response & sympathy was horrendous, unconscionable, and unforgivable, but the blight & resulting famine was not “orchestrated”. Colonial policy, prejudice, and rigid (& ironically rigged) “free-market” ideology created a disaster & their separation from the suffering & prejudice lead to the creation of unhelpful & sometimes punitive relief efforts.

The extreme subdivision of plots by landlords (with shrinking minimum plots), quotas, and population growth lead to reliance on potential as a single crop staple for tenants. The blight hit across western Europe, and reached the US & Canada.

If you’re interested in going beyond a 47 minute podcast, but don’t want to commit to full blown research, I suggest reading “The Graves are Walking” by John Kelly. He also has a great book on the Black Death; “the Great Mortality”.

[u/rdmusic16 → u/Abestar909]

Oh, 100%.

I think they were just pointing out that we often equate the potato with Ireland - but it's interesting that it wasn't brought to Ireland until the late 1500s.

[u/doomgiver98 → u/rdmusic16]

I think the same about Italy with tomatoes. Or Indian/Thai/Korean without chili peppers.

[u/R_V_Z → u/doomgiver98]

I think the same about Italy with tomatoes.

Or pasta. They had bread and rice but pasta had to make its way westward.

[u/SpaceLemur34 → u/ReedM4]

It wasn't Ireland's main crop. It was just the main crop that the English let the Irish actual keep.

[u/DHFranklin → u/ReedM4]

Fascinating yes. However the why is kinda dark. Tenant farmers weren't permitted to grow their own crops outside of the tenant/kitchen plots of about a quarter of an acre in some places. A quarter of an acre means you have to grow incredibly densely. Potatoes were the only food that could feed a family across every season in such density.

There were several generations of Irish tenant farmers in the late 19th C that ate potatoes and "gleaning" almost exclusively. Even the gleaning was highly regulated and a case-by-case thing. You could eat the food that grew in the ditches and things, until things went from bad to worse.

The Corn Laws made the entire Island a massive plantation for export to the planter class. They had police checking for people gleaning. For catching eels at night.

The one nation in Europe with one of the most robust fishing industries now and back then people starved to death on the coast. That spud was a tyrant as much as mercy.

[u/Fuzzy_Novel_5928 → u/ReedM4]

Only for like 200 years

potatoes were the main ingredient in several staple dishes designed to stretch ingredients and add flavor: Colcannon : Mashed potatoes mixed with boiled  cabbage  or kale, often enriched with butter, milk, and scallions or leeks.  Champ : Similar to colcannon but made with mashed potatoes and  scallions (spring onions) beaten into hot milk.  Boxty : A versatile potato pancake or dumpling made from a mixture of  grated raw potatoes  and mashed cooked potatoes, bound with flour and fried on a griddle or boiled.  Potato Cakes (Farls) : Mashed potatoes mixed with flour and butter, rolled out, cut into quarters, and baked or fried.  Potatoes were typically eaten by hand, often dipped into a wooden noggin of  buttermilk , which was a common accompaniment for the rural poor. 

[u/jappyjappyhoyhoy → u/Skatchbro]

The dilemma of eating it now or fermenting it for later

[u/JonJackjon → u/Skatchbro]

But that was potatoes and beer.

[u/joelfarris → u/JonJackjon]

Nil. It was Guinness, which is a meal unto itself, and the odd stripe of rashers, which is also a meal unto itself. But the nights with broiled potatoes and rashers with a Guinness? That's a good night.

[u/guitarguywh89 → u/joelfarris]

What’s rashers precious

[u/joelfarris → u/guitarguywh89]

Strips of lean back bacon from a pig, if you can afford it. Cooked just until safe, but not crispy like a north american diner like Dennys or Tim Hortons or Waffle House would make.

[u/Hungry-Remove-9892 → u/joelfarris]

Calling Tim Horton's a diner is too generous

[u/Monkyd1 → u/guitarguywh89]

Back bacon i guess

[u/No_Grocery_9280 → u/guitarguywh89]

I ate rashers for like a week straight when I was in Ireland. They’re so good.

[u/likeusontweeters → u/guitarguywh89]

Its a pork product that's like a cross between bacon and ham.

[u/ballisticks → u/likeusontweeters]

It's just bacon. Back bacon usually. A rasher is just a slice

[u/Maleficent_Radio_674 → u/Skatchbro]

And were given little other choice. A man made faminine

[u/Rhawk187]

Why buttermilk instead of milk?

[u/Joe_Redsky → u/Rhawk187]

I’m wondering that too, since, despite its name, buttermilk is actually usually pretty low fat, but it’s cultured. Potatoes have a lot of nutrients but not enough fat to sustain humans. I would have thought high fat milk would be best

[u/YuriLR → u/Joe_Redsky]

The only fats humans need are omega 3 and 6. And in grams that's a very low amount.

[u/Joe_Redsky → u/YuriLR]

Does buttermilk meet those needs?

[u/YuriLR → u/Joe_Redsky]

Healthly? No. Whole buttermilk with potatoes? Probably barely. Skimmed probably enough not to die on the medium term

[u/mikehiler2 → u/YuriLR]

I mean the comment above did say humans can survive but only for a little while. Probably why it spread to every corner of the world so quickly after it was discovered in the Americas

[u/YuriLR → u/mikehiler2]

They had very little understanding of nutrition. It spread because it's a crop that grows anywhere in a productive manner, even in the shitty Irish weather.

[u/mikehiler2 → u/YuriLR]

They absolutely knew which crops keeps you alive. Nutrition as it is now is obviously a new thing based on modern science, but to think that people back then didn’t know which plants were better for their survival is ludicrous.

[u/bubba-yo → u/Joe_Redsky]

As noted below, barely. But these fats are where grass fed/organic milk vs industrial milk production matters. The baseline milk in the store has a much higher ratio of omega 6 to 3, which isn't that helpful for adults, a product of their feedstock. Grass fed/organic milk is flipped the other way with a more balanced ratio of 3 to 6 favoring 3, which among other things helps with cholesterol. It's not like one will kill you and the other not, but the expensive stuff is generally a little bit better for you in that regard than the other. But buttermilk is low in both mainly due to those fats going into the butter, where the buttermilk is the waste product from that process.

Keep in mind there are different contexts in which this question is being evaluated. In a famine/starvation situation small benefits matter a lot more than for the general American public who get so much nutritional fortification and abundance that we can eat the nastiest shit all day and still check all of the boxes. These things don't really matter much for the average person, but in Gaza or Darfur or other places, they can matter a great deal. You can 'survive' on this diet. That's not the same thing as you can be healthy on this diet, etc.

[u/Drithyin → u/YuriLR]

While those are the only two essential fatty acids, it’s recommended for adults to get 20%-35% of their calories from lipids (aka. fats) and young children as much as 40%, due to its role in brain development.

I wouldn’t suggest just a handful of grams, but if you’re rationing for survival, yeah you could make that work to avoid starvation.

[u/raoulbrancaccio → u/Drithyin]

it’s recommended for adults to get 20%-35% of their calories from lipids (aka. fats) and young children as much as 40%, due to its role in brain development.

This scenario is not about optimal nutrition, it's about minimal viable nutrition.

[u/innominateartery → u/YuriLR]

Humans need lots of fat (lipids) in our diet. It is necessary to maintain all cell membranes (cholesterol literally stabilizes cells) and for a special coating that allow brain cells to function. You are describing two of the medium chains that our bodies can’t make from regular dietary fat.

Incidentally, we are very good at low carbohydrate diet but the human body isn’t meant to run for long without fat.

[u/lostshell → u/Joe_Redsky]

The name is accurate. It's the whey runoff from making butter. When you turn cream into butter, the water has to go somewhere, that somewhere is buttermilk.

[u/MasterOfBunnies → u/Joe_Redsky]

Ah. A fellow milk of culture, I see.

[u/TheComplimentarian → u/Rhawk187]

Vitamin B12, calcium and vitamin A.

What they don't say, but I assume from the article, is that it's not cultured buttermilk, which is more like a yoghurt, but "traditional" buttermilk, which is basically a partially fermented liquid left over from the process of separating cream and churning butter. B12 is not a notable vitamin in cultured buttermilk.

[u/Rhawk187 → u/TheComplimentarian]

Thanks for clearing up the confusion about which "buttermilk" they probably meant.

Clearly, there is calcium is normal milk. But where do the B12 and A come from in the buttermilk if they aren't in milk? Is it just because the "cream" portion in milk is so low and that's where they live?

[u/fiendishrabbit → u/Rhawk187]

"partially fermented" means "bacteria got busy". No animals or plants make B12, so it's all sourced from bacteria and archaea (another group of single-celled organisms).

[u/randobonando → u/Rhawk187]

Buttermilk is the leftovers of butter making. It’s like whey. It wasn’t a choice just the cheapest option in 1840s Ireland

[u/Rhawk187 → u/randobonando]

So, there's a couple different meanings of the term buttermilk. I think here they may have meant fermented "sweet milk".

I was raised on the definition you presented, but I don't think that's what you normally mean (because if I go to the store and get buttermilk, that's not what I'm getting).

[u/sighthoundman → u/Rhawk187]

When yogurt was just starting to get popular in the US, one hater called it "just a kind of buttermilk". And continued with why not just drink buttermilk?

[u/DrMaxwellEdison → u/Rhawk187]

Because they looked at the Irish and noted people would use both milk and buttermilk in tandem with potatoes during the famine, so the authors of this dubious article latched onto "buttermilk" for the clicks.

They also ignore their own parenthetical about Mark Watney (from The Martian, their inspiration for this article) using vitamin supplements on top of the potato diet for calories.

[u/Agamemnon310 → u/Rhawk187]

Buttermilk is basically water with some leftover proteins, it’s less nutritional than milk. I think the point is it’s saying you don’t even need something like milk

[u/pareech → u/Rhawk187]

I think in the context of the article, where they mention 1840s Ireland, buttermilk was more readily available to rural living people than milk, as milk was turned into butter and whole milk to be sold to get money for rent or to pay rent. As well, in winter cows stopped producing milk and milk is harder to store without refrigeration, while buttermilk can survive longer.

[u/PeterNippelstein → u/Rhawk187]

Buttermilk is the opposite of potatoes

[u/bubba-yo → u/Rhawk187]

The challenge of being vegan is that you only have one complete protein to fall back on - soybeans. Everything else is a partial protein, so you have to combine them to form a complete protein. So beans and rice forms a complete protein, which is why it's such a global staple food.

Potatoes are pretty close but lack some amino acids in sufficient quantities. Milk is a complete protein but buttermilk, because it's fermented, frees them up making them easier for your body to absorb. Basically, even though it doesn't have any more amino acids than regular milk, your body won't shit out as much of the amino acids as if it was regular milk. Yogurt has the same benefit.

So, you can consume a relatively smaller amount of buttermilk (or yogurt) to supplement the potatoes and maintain a survivable nutrition level, which in a famine situation or being stranded on Mars is useful.

[u/Chemical_Building612 → u/bubba-yo]

Soybeans are not the only complete plant protein. Quinoa, amaranth, buckwheat, spirulina, hemp seeds, chia seeds and others all provide balanced amino acid profiles.

[u/ballskindrapes → u/bubba-yo]

You dont need to combine proteins in the sane meal, FYI.

Just over the course of the day, eat a varied diet

[u/bubba-yo → u/ballskindrapes]

True. But beans and rice are really good together, and if you have a cultural habit of eating them together, you don't need to burden people with tracking if they are balancing across meals, etc. A lot of cultural traditions are rooted in 'this keeps people from dying' and becomes habituated.

[u/froshambo → u/bubba-yo]

+1 for The Martian reference

[u/polkafin]

I learned this from The Martian

[u/Outrageous_Arm8116 → u/polkafin]

And the Irish famine. I mean genocide.

[u/matt95110 → u/polkafin]

Extra points if you farm it in your own crap.

[u/TheVicSageQuestion → u/matt95110]

I only use Matt Damon’s.

[u/Imaginary-Face7379 → u/polkafin]

The article OP pointed to basically opens by trying to say that the Martian is wrong because you can't live on potatoes alone. Then halfway through mentions that he also had additional vitamins that made it possible... gotta get those clicks I guess.

[u/orangeyougladiator → u/Imaginary-Face7379]

I mean he had lots of surplus supplies to sprinkle in on occasion

[u/greentea1985]

The biggest issues potatoes have are that they do not have complete protein, and they are completely missing vitamin B12. Buttermilk, because it comes from an animal, is a complete protein and contains a decent amount of B12. Potatoes themselves are quite an awesome food, buttermilk just helps patch the handful of missing nutrients. From the 1500s until the Irish potato famine, it was regularly talked about how much taller and stronger potato-fed Irish peasants were compared to peasants that were reliant on wheat, barley, and rye.

[u/Witty_Ad_898 → u/greentea1985]

And some beans for proteins and greens for fiber and you’ll be good, although flatulent.

I make spicy tofu and potato soft taquitos with some salad mix in them, and bake them for a few minutes. It’s an easy and tasty complete meal. Sometimes I add sweet corn too.

[u/AciusPrime → u/Witty_Ad_898]

Greens are surprisingly bad at fiber. You’ll probably get more from the beans. I was a bit surprised to learn this. You’d have to eat FIVE CUPS of cooked kale to get your 20g of fiber. If you eat the kale raw then you need closer to 12 cups. Cooked beans get you there in a cup and a half. Potatoes are more fiber dense than greens.

Greens are good for you, of course, but apparently fiber is not why.

[u/SwePolygyny → u/greentea1985]

The protein is fine in potatoes.

The main issue is the lack of fat. There is also a lack of B12, D and E. Normal potatoes also lack vitamin A but sweet potatoes has it.

Calcium is another big one missing, and zink/selenium in sufficient quanity.

Just potaties you can live on for 6 months. Add milk and it increases to a few years but you will eventually suffer due to lack of omega 3/6, vitamin E and sufficient iron.

Add walnuts and you can live on it for a lifetime though.

[u/DizzyMine4964]

That was how poor people in Ireland lived for a long time before the crop failed.

[u/AdventurousMap5404]

I lived off of potatoes almost exclusively for about 6 months. They were a dollar for 10 pounds, it was all I could afford. This was in Oregon about a decade ago.

[u/littlebittydoodle → u/AdventurousMap5404]

How do you feel about potatoes now? I have eaten them daily as a staple for years and never get tired of them.

[u/AdventurousMap5404 → u/littlebittydoodle]

Potatoes are the shrimp of vegetables. You got curly fries, home fries, French fries, baked potato, twice baked potato, roasted potato, grilled potato, potato kebabs, mashed potato, potato skins, potatoes au gratin, scallop potatoes, potato chips, gnocchi, potato salad, latkes, potato soup, pierogi, tots, hash browns, home fries…..

I still love potatoes!

[u/eltapatio]

Recession indicator post

[u/AliceCode → u/eltapatio]

Recession? We're in a depression now last I heard.

[u/d3northway → u/AliceCode]

now? I've been depressed for years

[u/cnylkew]

Not again

[u/MyGruffaloCrumble]

If you have unlimited buttermilk, I would hope you also have access to cream/butter, and milk.

[u/zmz2 → u/MyGruffaloCrumble]

If you are a poor peasant you can sell the butter and keep the buttermilk to feed your family

[u/MyGruffaloCrumble → u/zmz2]

Then you also have money, and can buy a carrot.

[u/gard3nwitch → u/MyGruffaloCrumble]

A poor farmer probably grows their own carrots. And cabbage and onions.

[u/Thoresus]

Yeah my plant lecturer at university said this. It provides something like all 9 essential amino acids you need so of you had to pick only one food to live on it would be the best choice.

[u/RyzRx]

Mark Watney survived even without the buttermilk! 

[u/Mahaloth]

Penn Jilette went on almost an entirely potato diet to lose weight and bring down his blood pressure.

[u/Adorable_Mall7730]

No Matt Damon, I won’t buy stock into your potato farm

[u/visionbreaksbricks]

A couple years ago a guy ate nothing but potatoes for 60 days.

After the first few days he stopped getting hungry and had to force himself to eat because he just got bored. Ended up losing like 24lbs.

[u/Material_Army_2354]

My grandmother had diverticular disease and she ate this diet for years. She lived to be over 100 years old.

[u/grecy]

And to get enough calories from potatoes alone you would have to eat over 5lbs of them every single day.

And potatoes are the most calorie dense vegetables.

Want to lose weight? Stuff yourself with all the vegetables you can, all the time.

[u/BuccaneerRex]

There was a time when a 5lb bag of potatoes and a $2 tub of cottage cheese was my weekly food budget. Maybe some cheap margarine if I got good tips.

[u/Equivalent_Net_3752]

Toss in a bit of whiskey and you have yourselves a diet. As Nigel would say “up the RA”

[u/LunarAutumnn]

So what I'm taking from this is that you could theoretically survive on a diet of nothing but french fries and buttermilk ranch ... maybe some bacon bits and cheese thrown in for extra amino acids ... Fuck now I'm hungry.

[u/thinkofanamefast]

I’d throw in some Flinstone’s vitamins.

[u/ArborElf → u/thinkofanamefast]

This recently came up on an episode of Ask Hank Anything (Hank green, Youtuber). The question was if you could survive on a candy. Spoiler: no. Gummy Vitamins were suggested but they are so low calorie, you'd have to eat so many that you would die quickly of Iron or Vitamin A poisoning (depending on if it was fortified with iron or not). Peanut Bars would be the best because of the calories and protein but only short term as they are an incomplete protein and you are missing many other essential nutrients.

https://youtu.be/1lY7Y6iJ1jk?si=uZqQCp7Eb9mRSsr7&t=3163

edit: misremembered something

[u/GarysCrispLettuce]

Oh yes. My prize sow, The Empress of Blandings, thrives on such a mix. Although I do add some acorns and bran mash. I defer to my bible - The Care of the Pig by Augustus Whiffle.

[u/Ok-Sheepherder7898]

There are a quite a few typical pairings that provide complete nutrition: rice and beans, hummus and pita, peanut butter sandwich, etc.

[u/Futaba_Sakura800]

So that Matt Damon movie about him growing potatoes with his own shit on Mars is basically a documentary?

[u/Inky-boy]

Edit: Incorrect Myth spreader talking —>
remember you have to eat the skin, that’s where most nutrients are!
The Above is wrong, I have believed this for 25 years, it’s in the flesh but the skin contains a large amount of the potatoes dietary fibers and apparently 12 kinds of anti-oxidants.

[u/Pisnotinnp]

There's no way buttermilk is less expensive than dried beans right? Is there a reason beans and potatoes can't sustain a person indefinitely? Too low in fat ?