Lose a pound every 1.5 days!
LOW-CARB + SWEET POTATOES
Think sweet potatoes are just for Thanksgiving? “Think again!” say tens of thousands of folks who’ve sped off huge amounts of weight using an innovative new sweet-potato-based diet. Here’s how it works . . .
Not long ago, an Arizona fitness expert let slip to fans on social media that a lowcarb diet plus lots of sweet potatoes had helped him lose weight very quickly. As others tried his strategy and reported dropping up to 100 pounds in 150 days, word spread— and a new weight-loss sensation was born. Michael Morelli now has more than four million followers buzzing about the plan in his new book The Sweet Potato Diet. “I tested every diet imaginable—low-fat, low-calorie, low-carb, no carb. I found what worked and kept experimenting. I happened to start eating more sweet
potatoes and noticed that it ignited fat loss for me personally,” he says. Since then he’s seen sweet potatoes work for tens of thousands of others. “When you eat sweet potatoes as your main source of carbs, magic happens.”
New Jersey mom and third-grade teacher Avarelle Restituyo, 37, backs him up. “I lost 44 pounds and nine inches off my waist in a matter of months,” she says. “This the only diet I’ve ever been successful on. I am absolutely amazed!” So is North Carolina college student Allie Ducote, 21. “I had to work for weeks just to lose five pounds on other diets. On the Sweet Potato Diet, I lost 12 pounds my first week—and it felt so easy!” Could the Sweet Potato approach
work wonders for you? We’ve rounded up everything you need to know to find out!
Sweet Potato Diet cheat sheet ● The basic plan
Instead of eating the same way every day, you alternate between lower-carb and highercarb menus so your system is constantly adapting to change. “Studies show this forces your body to burn more calories and makes it virtually impossible to hit a plateau,” notes Morelli. Better yet, a British study found that the technique triggers key hormonal changes, boosting fat burn and lowering hunger enough to help dieters eat all they want and still lose nearly 100% more weight than dieters on a strict low-cal plan. That’s impressive even before you factor in Morelli’s powerful twist: For the first 90 days, most carbs you enjoy come from sweet potatoes.
● Surprise sweetpotato discovery
Sweet potatoes deliver a hefty dose of calorie-blocking fiber and are crammed with antioxidants proven to help elevate fat-burning hormones. Even so, that’s probably not enough to account for the strong link Morelli observed between sweet potatoes and fat burning. Japan’s National Agriculture and Food Research Organization recently presented a much better explanation. While searching for eco-friendly ways to use the tons of sweetpotato waste created by Japanese distilleries, scientists found exciting preliminary evidence that proteins in sweet potatoes both suppress appetite and increase fat burning— enough to lead to significantly lower body fat. More research is needed, but, per lead researcher Dr. Koji Ishiguro, “these results are very
promising!”
● Why you’ll stick with it
Sweet potatoes trigger super-fast fat melting and keep feelings of carb deprivation at bay. And for those with a sweet tooth, there are even sweet potato brownies. “They’re soft and delicious,” says 65-poundsslimmer Tamara Meier, 26, an Ontario small business owner. “I spent months on other programs feeling lousy and getting nowhere. Switching to the Sweet Potato Diet, I felt great—and I lost 65 pounds lightning fast!”