The nutrients off of a potatoe and milk diet

MrCrazyMike

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2828/could-i-survive-on-nothing-but-potatoes-and-milk

According to this web site that I posted above, the blogger claims that you cannot live off of potatoes and milk alone because it lacks one nutrient, "molybdenum". He says to substitute a potatoe and and milk diet with oats(since there is a source of molybdenum in it) like the Irish did in the past since the irish also had oats in there diet.

I then found other sites like livestrong.com(http://www.livestrong.com/article/282286-milk-potato-diet/) that use the straightdope blog as a fact source to make the case that it is not possible to have a potatoe and milk diet long term. They did not even fact check the blog at all and they just blindly repeated the same conclusions that the straightdope blog said.

After that, I wanted to make sure that what these sites are saying is correct so I started to look up how much "molybdenum" is actually in potatoes and milk. According to one site(http://www.vitaminupdate.com/definition.cfm/id/35.html), it claims that 100g of potatoes contain about 7 mcg of molybdenum and that 100g(around 100 ml) of milk contain about 5 mcg of molybdenum. Also, according to another web site(http://wholefoodcatalog.info/nutrient/molybdenum/foods/b/), they claim that a 125g portion of a raw potatoe contains about 5 mcg of molybdenum while 150g(around 150 ml) of regular milk contains about 6 mcg of molybdenum.

Now let's do the math with their example using the vitiminupdate web site's figures.

((8 pounds of potatoes) * (450g which is around how much how many grams a pound is/100)) * (7 mcg of molybdenum)
= 252 mcg of molybdenum in 8 pounds of potatoes

(3785 ml makes a galon of milk but we will round it off to 3800 ml/100) * (5 mcg of molybdenum)
= 190 mcg of molybdenum in a galon of milk

(252 mcg of molybdenum in 8 pounds of potatoes) + (190 mcg of molybdenum in a galon of milk)
= 442 mcg of molybdenum if you eat 8 pounds of potatoes and a galon of milk

---

Now coming from the straightdope blog itself is says that you need 45 mcg of molybdenum to survive long term. When I did the math of their 8 pounds of potatoes and 1 gallon of milk example, I found out that those amounts of potatoes and milk give about 10 times the amount of molybdenum needed to survive while the straightdope site claims that there is no molybdenum what so ever . I just don't know where this blog gets it facts from and the sad part is that other credible sites like livestrong use the straightdope site blog as a fact source for their arguement without even fact checking the straightdope's blog themselves. I even seen other message boards where people use that blog also to support their case that it is not safe to do a milk and potatoe diet. I cannot stand this BS.

magerum

Phoenix_Warrior

Bahaha love ^^

Mokey41

We needed to know this because .........

cmriverside

cwolfman13

Wait....what was the question? Yeah, I always put milk in my mashed potatoes...

MrCrazyMike

We needed to know this because .........

Just wanted to show that sites like livestrong.com are not professional when they do not do their own fact checking. Like if livestrong would do this with the potatoe and milk diet without fact checking, I can imagine them doing stuff like this in their other blogs as well. Heck, livestrong are not the only ones who did not "fact check" the diet before blogging their conclusions. Think about that for a sec.

Thomasm198

jofjltncb6

Wait...

...what was the question?

jofjltncb6

We needed to know this because .........

Just wanted to show that sites like livestrong.com are not professional when they do not do their own fact checking. Like if livestrong would do this with the potatoe and milk diet without fact checking, I can imagine them doing stuff like this in their other blogs as well. Heck, livestrong are not the only ones who did not fact check this diet. Think about that for a sec.

I haven't put any faith in a livestrong article in...

....well, ever. Glad you reached a similar conclusion (even if it was by a seemingly strange path).

LePetitCochon

All I read was potato spelled with an e and now I'm thinking of Dan Quayle

escloflowneCHANGED

Why would anyone think a potatoe and milk diet would supply the proper nutrients!?

rml_16

Are people living off stictly poatoes and milk and I'm unaware of this new diet fad?

JenMc14

There's a potato and milk diet? That's a thing?

Muddy_Yogi

Wait...so all you can eat is potatoes and drink milk? But why?

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

MrCrazyMike

There's a potato and milk diet? That's a thing?

Well yeah. Ever since that straightdope blog mentioned it and claimed it cannot be done long term, other sites then began to claim the same conclusion about the diet without fact checking. I think that straightdope started it all.

MrCrazyMike

Wait...so all you can eat is potatoes and drink milk? But why?

Who says I am even eating that only. I just find it alarming that sites just quote the straightdope blog's conclusions without factchecking.

Thomasm198

Wait...so all you can eat is potatoes and drink milk? But why?

Who says I am even eating that only. I just find it alarming that sites just quote the straightdope blog's conclusions without factchecking.

And we should care, why?

Mokey41

Since when was Livestrong considered the fountain of knowledge anyway? The internetz is full of crap regardless off the source but thanks for pointing this out to us in a strange sort of way.

cmriverside

Wait...so all you can eat is potatoes and drink milk? But why?

Who says I am even eating that only. I just find it alarming that sites just quote the straightdope blog's conclusions without factchecking.

I think the nature of any blog - or for that matter - any non-scientific website, is going to be BS and more BS. Same way with these forums, facebook, magazines, etc.