A 43-year-old man in Shantou, Guangdong, has attracted attention online after losing 12.5kg in six months by making one simple change to his daily diet — replacing rice and noodles with potatoes.
Chen, who had previously been diagnosed with fatty liver and found to have elevated blood pressure and blood sugar levels during a health check-up, wanted to lose weight and improve his overall health.
Rather than skipping meals or following an expensive diet programme, he continued eating three regular home-cooked meals a day but swapped refined staples such as rice and noodles for potatoes.
The approach reportedly cost him just 300 yuan (around RM176) a month in food ingredients.
Chen stuck to the routine for six months and lost 25 jin, equivalent to 12.5kg. He also reported that his previously elevated blood pressure and blood sugar levels had largely returned to normal, while his fatty liver condition had improved significantly.
He has since added strength training to his routine and said his overall physical condition has improved.
One reason potatoes have attracted attention as a staple food for weight management is their content of resistant starch, a type of starch that is difficult for the small intestine to digest.
According to Xia Yuhan, deputy director of the Nutrition Department at the General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University, resistant starch differs from ordinary starch because a significant portion passes through the small intestine without being broken down into glucose. It then reaches the large intestine, where some is fermented by gut bacteria.
Research into resistant starch has increasingly examined its potential links to weight management and metabolic health.
A 2024 study published in Nature Metabolism found that resistant starch combined with a balanced diet could help alleviate obesity through changes to the gut microbiome.
Other research has also linked diets rich in resistant starch with improvements in markers associated with fatty liver, blood lipids and insulin resistance. However, these findings do not mean that potatoes alone can treat obesity, fatty liver or other medical conditions.
Resistant starch can be found naturally in a range of foods, including whole grains such as oats, barley and wheat; legumes such as chickpeas, peas, soybeans and beans; and starchy vegetables such as potatoes and sweet potatoes.
Unripe bananas are another source.
Interestingly, cooking and then cooling certain starchy foods can also increase the amount of resistant starch. When cooked rice or potatoes are cooled, some of the starch undergoes a process known as retrogradation, which makes it more resistant to digestion.
Foods considered relatively high in resistant starch include oats, brown rice, unripe bananas, cooled rice or potatoes, chickpeas and beans. Corn, wholemeal pasta and sweet potatoes contain moderate amounts, while refined white rice, refined flour products and glutinous rice generally contain less.
Nutrition experts have suggested several ways to increase resistant starch intake, including cooking and cooling rice or potatoes before eating them, adding small amounts of vinegar or lemon juice, and avoiding excessive cooking that makes starchy foods overly soft.
However, more resistant starch does not necessarily mean better health.
Consuming large amounts suddenly can cause bloating, increased gas, nausea and other digestive discomfort.
The key remains a balanced diet rather than relying on a single food or nutrient. Chen’s experience highlights how replacing refined staples with less processed alternatives can form part of a broader weight-management approach, but individual results can vary.
