All About Sweet Potatoes
♥ The sweet potato is not a member of the potato family but rather of the morning glory family.
♥ There are nearly four hundred sweet potato varieties. Their flesh may be white, yellow, or orange, and the thin skin may be white, yellow, orange, red, or purple.
♥ Sweet potatoes are native to Central America. They have been consumed since prehistoric times, making them one of the oldest vegetables known.
♥ In the mid-twentieth century, the orange-fleshed sweet potato was introduced to the United States and given the name “yam” to distinguish it from the white-fleshed sweet potato to which most people were accustomed.
♥ Sweet potatoes are an excellent source of carotenes. In general, the darker the variety of sweet potato, the higher the concentration of carotenes.
♥ Sweet potatoes are also a very good source of vitamins C and B6.
♥ Sweet potatoes are a good source of manganese, copper, biotin, pantothenic acid and vitamin B2.
♥ Sweet potatoes contain phytochemicals like quercetin, a powerful anti-inflammatory, and chlorogenic acid, an antioxidant.
♥ A 3 ½-ounce, 100 gram, serving provides 90 calories, 2 grams of protein, 21 grams of carbohydrate, 3 grams of fiber and 8 grams of sugar.
Sweet Potatoes and Blood Sugar
As a long-time low-carber and someone who had insulin resistance, I still enjoy sweet potatoes on occasion. More specifically, I am strategic about when I eat this starchy vegetable, typically after a heavy strength training workout or a sprint workout that is more demanding of my glycogen stores. Even on days when I incorporate a sweet potato into my meals, my overall carbohydrate load for the day falls well within what is considered low-carb. Did you know that even Dr. Atkins recommended 60-90 grams of carbohydrates a day for regular exercisers?
“The impact of food on blood sugar is of great concern to those trying to lose weight, and of even greater concern for those with either diabetes or metabolic syndrome. If blood sugar control is an issue for you, either because of stubborn weight problems or because of medical ones like diabetes, the glycemic impact of this delicious potato needs to be taken into account. Whether it's a great food for you or not depends on your situation.” Source
Ingredients
- 7 oz. Sweet Potato
- 1 Tbsp. Bacon Grease
- Celtic Sea Salt
Directions
- Using a veggie spiralizer, make sweet potato spaghetti.
- In cast iron skillet, over medium-high heat, melt bacon grease.
- Add sweet potato spaghetti and cook until desired tenderness.
- Sprinkle with Celtic sea salt to taste.
- Enjoy.
This post was submitted to Allergy Free Wednesdays.
We love the white flesh/purple skinned Japanese sweet potatoes in our house. The flavor is a bit sweeter and we put cinnamon and butter on them to play up on the sweetness – it’s like a dessert!
I just found the purple flesh/purple skin sweet potatoes at last! I cannot wait to try them!!! Food is more fun when it comes in cool colors. (Although we dislike the orange flesh ones because we feel they have a different texture to them and they are not quite as sweet).
Yes i eat the orange color sweet potatoes daily it’s the only starch i will eat after shunning wheat and grains from my diet permanately i have seen the white sweet potatoes i guess i will try e’m and the purple ones i haven’t spotted yet since becoming low carb i can’t stand anything too sweet so the orange fits that bill i usually roast my sweet potatoes in oven cut up in chunks with garlic,pink himalayan salt,rosemary,thyme and EVOO until tender about 45-50 mins.
I was all very interesting reading about sweet potato until ” bacon grease” came a long in the recipe , what is it? I am a Londoner and food fanatic, never heard of it over here. It doesn’t sound health though…if I am paying £10 pounds for Ghee for being the healthiest butter then don’t I mess it up with buying bacon grease :))
I don’t “buy” bacon grease — it is leftover after making bacon and is a healthy stable fat to cook with.
“Healthy”?? with all that saturated fat, you have to be kidding. Sounds pretty gross too. Why ruin a healthy dish with bacon grease? Peanut oil, canola oil, olive oil, coconut oil, so many other choices…
Hi Maggie — welcome to Healthy Living How To — saturated fat has been wrongfully condemned and in fact is healthy. I written several pieces on this: here, here and here for starters. Did you know that in 2010, a large meta-analysis (21 studies with nearly 350,000 subjects), published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, concluded there is no association between saturated fat and heart disease?
Oh Maggie, please read about peanut oil and canola oil. Oh dear.
Yay for sweet potatoes of all kinds and healthy bacon grease from healthy pigs!
The white ones have less sugar in them, so they are my once in a while choice. Seriously, canola, soy, vegetable oils are horrible for you. Very high in omega 6’s which are inflammatory
What do you think about cooking with coconut oil?
I use that as well.
Sweet potatoes are very hard. I must be difficult to make into noodles. Youtube demo’s of Paderno Tri Sprial you recommend use softer veggies…zucchini for instance.
Is there trick to this or just brute force?
I have no problem spiralizing sweet potatoes.
This looks AMAZING. Never thought to do this! I have some lambs fat I could use for this! Vanessa, I am looking to buy a spiralizer. Which brand of veggie spiralizer do you use?
I have the Paderno World Cuisine model. This one: http://amzn.to/1nVoYhy
I have the same prializer and it didn’t work at all. The potato kept falling off and the “spaghetti” part was very fine and short (due to the potato not working right) I use the zucchini with it all the time, but I don’t know how else to use this machine for harder veggies. Any tips?
Hmmmm. That’s interesting. I have not experienced that problem. Sorry.