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On the heels of our Thanksgiving eating frenzy comes a seemingly redemptive story about the potato. For the last two months, an American man has been eating nothing but potatoes in every form – 20 per day – and he claims that his health has improved. He says that he has lost 18 pounds, that his cholesterol has dropped 52 points, and that he is feeding himself on just $15 per week.

Before you run out for a fresh batch of piping hot fries, however, consider a few key facts.

First, the man in question is Chris Voigt, executive director of the Washington State Potato Commission. Call us skeptical, but we’d say he has a gargantuan dog in this race.

Second, Mr. Voigt is eating his potatoes with no cheese, butter, or milk. We are fairly sure that no one wants to eat potatoes this way, so the potatoes you and I eat will inevitably be far less healthy than his. That said, all tales of calorie restriction lead to weight loss – potato or otherwise. This much we knew.

Third, monogamy works far better for your relationships than it does for your body. You’ll have a hard time finding a nutritionist who would recommend that one item – fruit, vegetable, or other – be your sole importer of nutrients. A diet of standard potatoes, for example, would be deficient in vitamins A, E, and K, plus the minerals calcium and selenium, essential fatty acids, protein, and dietary fiber – and a woman attempting this diet would find herself too low on iron.

So what’s an eater to do?

First, don’t feel too bad about the potatoes you eat. Prepared responsibly (those fries we mentioned earlier don’t count, we’re devastated to say), they are a solid, healthy choice.

Second, don’t feel overly confident about the potatoes you eat, either. They will only get you so far.

Third, resist the ever-present pull of fad diets (the recently publicized Twinkie diet, for example, is no runaway hit with nutritionists either) and stick to, surprise, surprise, a well-balanced diet that includes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and protein. We know this news has far less sex appeal than the prospect of a single vegetable that could feed you winningly for just $15 a week – but around here, we consider good old-fashioned common sense to be pretty darn cheap and sexy too. So, as they say: potato, po-ta-to.

– Kelli Congelli