Source: The Okinawa Diet — Living to 100 (5 mins, 2020) by Dr Greger.

One of the 'Blue Zones' populations. They traditionally got a large percetage of their calories from sweet potatoes (not potatoes). Okinawa Diet (Wikipedia) explains, "Okinawans in 1950s ate sweet potatoes for 849 grams of the 1262 grams of food that they consumed, which constituted 69% of their total calories."

The Wikipedia article cites this paper: Caloric Restriction, the Traditional Okinawan Diet, and Healthy Aging by Bradley J Wilcox, D Craig Wilcox, Hidemi Todoriki, Akira Fujiyoshi, Katsuhino Yano, Quimei He, J David Curb, Makoto Suzuki, published in Annals of New York Academy of Sciences, Vol 1114, Issue 1, pages 434-455, October 2007.

Potatoes are Pillars of Worldwide Nutrition (2002) is fascinating.

1. A Reconsideration of Andean Nutrition by Winifred L Mitchell (Michigan State University), presented at Annual Meetings of American Anthropological Association, Nov 1979. Available as PDF file.

   About 50% of the calories of Aymara Indians comes from potatoes! A typical adult between 18 and 45 consumes about 1.5 kg (3.3 lbs) of potatoes every day. These communities continue to thrive in the 21st century, have robust health and grow over a thousand indigenous varieties of potatoes.

2. Low prevalence of type 2 diabetes despite a high average body mass index in the Aymara natives from Chile by JL Santos, F Perez-Bravo, E Carrasco, M Calvillan, C Albala, published in Nutrition. 2001 Apr;17(4):305-9.

The Irish Diet from 1600 to 1840 was primarily potatoes. As per this article, men ate 4-5 lbs of potatoes for breakfast along with 1 pint (0.4 kg) of skimmed milk. Women consumed 3 lbs of potatoes along with 1/2 to 1 pint (0.2kg to 0.4kg) of skimmed milk. Dinner was the same except that herring replaced milk in winters. Supper was not always available; when consumed, it was the same as breakfast and dinner. Unfortunately, the potatoes grown in Ireland were a mono crop (same genetic variety). From 1845-1849, Great Famine was caused by potato blight resulting in deaths and emigration.

An Indian raw food system called New Diet System by Shri B V Chouhan exists. At 12:10 in this video, Shri B V Chouhan quotes Bhagvad Gita (Chapter 9, Verse 26): "Patram Puspam Phalam Toyam | Yo Me Bhaktya Prayacchati | Tad Aham Bhakty-Upahrtam | Asnami Prayatatmanah". Another reference to Ram Charit Manas is made ('kand mool phal patti pani'). The word 'kand-mool' refers to tubers (root vegetables). The other components are phal, patti, paani. In childhood, I consumed 'shakarkandi' (sweet potatoes). The word 'shakarkandi' is a combination of 'shakar' (sweet) and 'kand' (root vegetable).

History:

• (2015) Reinventing the Potato by Ferris Jabr. This is a great article tracing the history of potatoes in Europe and other parts of the world.
• (2021) The Strange History Of Potatoes And The Man Who Made Them Popular recounts the story of Antoine-Augustin Parmentier, a French pharmacist and agronomist who became a vocal promoter of potato as a nutritious food source in France and Europe in late 1700s and early 1800s. In French cuisine, several potato dishes have the word Parmentier in them: Hachis Parmentier and Hache Parmentier, for example.
• An Athlete's Ode to the Potato is an entertaining read.

Survey Papers:

• Sweet Potato: A Review of its Past, Present, and Future Role in Human Nutrition by Adelia C Bovell-Benjamin, Advances in Food and Nutrition Research, Vol 52, pages 1-59, 2007.
• White Potatoes, Human Health, and Dietary Guidance, by Janet C King, Joanne L Slavin, Advances in Nutrition, Vol 4, Issue 3, May 2013, Pages 393S-410S.

At offset 7:23 of this presentation, Dr McDougall displays these books on potato history:

• Potato: A History of the Propitious Esculent (336 pages, 2011) by John Reader.
• Potato: A Global History (142 pages, 2011) by Andrew Smith.
• The Potato: How the Humble Spud Rescued the Western World (304 pages, 1998) by Larry Zuckerman.
• The Potato (128 pages, 2019) by Bill Laws.
• The History and Social Influence of the Potato (768 pages, 2010) by Redcliffe Salaman.
• The Great Irish Potato Famine (292 pages, 2001) by James S Donnelly.

Annual Food Festival in Peru (Mistura): What to Expect at Mistura. Thousands of varieties of potatoes are also on display at this festival! [Made me wonder, 'How many stalls do they have to showcase _thousands_ of varieties?']