Food Focus: Sweet Potatoes

ByRuthie Guten

Food Focus: Sweet Potatoes

(This article appeared in the December, 2010 issue of A Healthy You.)

Sweet potatoes are on everyone’s mind this season. They seem to go hand in hand with the holidays, and fortunately, eating these and other sweet vegetables needn’t be limited to this time of year.

If you don’t have any sweet potatoes in your kitchen, go out and buy some (organic and local if possible).

  • Sweet potatoes elevate blood sugar gently rather than with the jolt delivered by simple refined carbohydrates, so there’s no energy crash after you eat them.
  • They are much higher in nutrients than white potatoes & especially rich in Vitamin A.
  • Sweet potatoes offer a creamy consistency that is satisfying and soothing.
  • They are healing to the stomach, spleen, pancreas and reproductive organs and help to remove toxins from the body.
  • They can increase the quantity of milk in lactating women.
  • They can lessen cramps and premenstrual symptoms.

Similar Posts

  • Food Focus: Walnuts

    ByRuthie Guten

    Food Focus: Walnuts Walnuts are rich in protein and high in potassium, zinc and iron. They are the fruit from a tree in the walnut family Junglandaceae. Most of us are familiar with the “nut” which is found inside the hard shell. But did you know that other parts of the walnut tree have beneficial…

  • Food Focus: Pineapple

    ByRuthie Guten

    Food Focus: Pineapple Did you know that pineapple is a compound fruit? I didn’t even know what a compound fruit was until I did my research for this article. A compound fruit is a fruit that develops from many small fruits that become fused together around a central core. It’s low in calories: around 50…

  • Food Focus: Quinoa

    ByRuthie Guten

    Food Focus: Quinoa This article appeared in the March, 2011 issue of A Healthy You. Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah), is a nutritional powerhouse with ancient origins. It was originally cultivated by the Incas more than 5,000 years ago; they referred to it as the “mother of all grains.” It contains all nine essential amino acids, making it…

  • Food Focus: Bananas

    ByRuthie Guten

    Food Focus: Bananas As you probably already know, the fruit named banana is a high calorie tropical fruit. A serving of 100g of bananas (approx.  2/5 cup smashed bananas) contains around 90 calories. It is easy to digest and provides almost immediate energy due to its simple sugars like fructose and sucrose. It also contains…

  • Food Focus: Tomatoes

    ByRuthie Guten

    Food Focus: Tomatoes Folklore Tomatoes used to be grown solely for decorations. In fact, during Colonial times, tomatoes were thought to be poisonous and that its poison would turn blood into acid. Meanwhile, the native people of South and Central America regarded tomato seeds as aphrodisiacs. The first tomatoes were probably first cultivated in Peru…