Why sweet potatoes should be your “go-to” potatoes
With fall in full swing, the colour orange is everywhere – bright coloured leaves remind us of the temporariness of summer, carved pumpkins struggle to maintain their cheery demeanour despite the cold winds whipping at their core, and the last campfires of the season crackle in all their fiery delight. As the colder months advance, along with them come typical comfort foods that make us feel nostalgic for home. Unfortunately, many of these are often laden with high calorie content, high fat and sodium, and low nutritional value. It’s essential to not forget about some delicious and nutritious in season produce that can spice up your evening meals and give your immune system a quick boost before winter comes knocking at the door.
Root vegetables, along with citrus fruits, are coming back in-season. It’s been a while since the grapefruit has made an appearance in all it’s tangy goodness, but let’s put fruits aside for a minute: there’s an underestimated vegetable that should be making a serious comeback in our evening meals. The sweet potato could be dubbed the nicest vegetable, and for good reason.
To start off, this plain looking, starchy root vegetable has an impressively high concentration of beta carotene per serving – your daily recommended intake will be met with little effort, and your eyes will thank you for it later. Additionally, the sweet potato differs from the yam in a nutritional sense. When comparing the two, sweet potatoes score higher on the overall health benefits: they’re loaded with vitamin A, are slightly higher in Vitamin B6, and depending on the method of cooking, will yield a lower glycemic index than the yam.
Why should you worry about glycemic indexes? Choosing lower glycemic index foods can be helpful for those who are at risk of developing diabetes. Foods scoring high in glycemic index will raise blood sugars more quickly than those with lower glycemic indexes. This has to do with how the body digests the carbohydrates within the given food. Quickly digesting these carbohydrates will spike your blood sugar, and may leave you feeling tired and lacking energy shortly after.
Think of it as a sugar rush – after drinking an XXL blue-raspberry slushie on a scorching summer day, kids will initially be bouncing off the walls. However, after this sugar has been quickly digested by the body for instant energy, sluggishness kicks in, and it will be hard to motivate the child to even complete simple tasks because of a post-sugar slump – and grouchiness often follows as well.
When comparing sweet potatoes to simple white potatoes, the scores are significantly different – sweet potatoes are considered “low GI” foods, whereas regular potatoes score in the “medium GI” foods section. However, it is important to consider how the potato is prepared. “Roasted or baked sweet potatoes have a high GI, and boiled sweet potatoes have a much lower GI,” explains Dr. Laura Forbes, PhD, Family Relations & Applied Nutrition department at the University of Guelph. Cooking methods will alter the structure of the amylose and amylopectin in the product, which will either lower or increase the speed of glucose metabolism in the body after consumption. “Sweet potato is still a healthy option, either way. Lots of vitamin A,” said Forbes. The sweet potato contains 10-times more vitamin A than the regular white potato – quite impressive for under-credited vegetable. As little as half a cup of sweet potatoes will help your meet the suggested daily intake from Canada’s Food Guide.
There are so many ways to incorporate a little sweet potato into your life. Try them as home-made french fries baked in the oven, add them to cakes and pies, or just be creative. Best of all, sweet potatoes are in season all year long. If that isn’t sweet, then what is?