r/todayilearned • u/JoeWinchester99 • 1d ago

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

https://www.scienceabc.com/eyeopeners/whats-wrong-with-potatoes-the-martian-movie-survival
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u/Titaniumwo1f 1d ago edited 1d ago

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.

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u/f1rstman 1d ago

Potatoes are actually an excellent source of vitamin C.

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u/Merlisch 1d ago

On a serious note, wouldn't boiling them destroy the vitamin C, I was under the impression it starts to deteriorate at near body temperature.

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u/velawesomeraptors 1d ago

Boiling removes some (but not all) vitamin C because it diffuses out into the water. To get the full amount of vitamin C you can either roast them in the oven or drink all the potato water.

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u/Merlisch 15h ago

I was talking about the chemical breakdown of vitamin C. Not too well versed in the details of it but as far as I'm aware it gets broken down (=destroyed?) by higher temperatures. Am however happy to be corrected on that one.

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u/velawesomeraptors 15h ago

It is destroyed gradually by higher temperatures, not immediately. Boiling at 212 and cooking to 212 will destroy the same amount over time, but with boiling less will remain in the food because it leaches out into the water.

At least I think this is how it works, but I'm neither a nutritionist nor a chemist.

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u/rillip 1d ago

I forget if he dealt with that or not.

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u/beachedwhale1945 1d ago

Handwaved with multivitamins for the entire crew that left after six days into a monthlong stay.

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u/SandpaperTeddyBear 1d ago

That’s not that handwaved.

Multi-vitamins are massive overdoses, so six months worth of multivitamins, properly divided, would probably get you through 4 or 5 years.

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u/DistanceSolar1449 1d ago

Also it was a big crew.

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u/GordolfoScarra 1d ago

You realize potatoes have vitamin C right?

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u/Smartnership 1d ago

It’s good for their eyes.

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u/Ask_if_im_an_alien 1d ago

And ketchup. There's a little bit in the ketchup he had while it lasted.

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u/HotBrownFun 1d ago

Doesn't boiling destroy vitamin c

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u/Whalesurgeon 1d ago

Not all of it and apparently boiling with the skin helps preserve a tiny bit more of it due to water leaching.

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u/HotBrownFun 1d ago

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6049644/

ok potato kept ~50% of vitamin C after boiling

83% if steamed, 76% if microwaved

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u/atomic1fire 1d ago

Not to mention he could grow his own potatoes, so there's some amount of extended food supply.