Fri, Feb-19-10, 10:55
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Senior Member
Posts: 1,213
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Plan: South Beachy/ My Plan
Stats: 206/159.0/145
BF:
Progress: 77%
Location: CA, USA
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Sweet potato, are you eating the right one?
Was eating my 128g of sweet potato the other night and my mom asked, "you are eating a regular potato?!?" I replied, "no, this is a sweet potato." She then asked, "aren't they purplish with an orange inside?"
I gave her a little lesson. 
They are NOT the same.
Serving sizes & Glycemic load
Sweet potato, average = 150g 17 
Yam, average = 150g 13 
BUT sweet potatoes are significantly better for you!
"Although they are different species, the yam and sweet potato are frequently confused owing to their similarity in taste and appearance. While both are renowned to be top-notch health foods, they offer diffferent health benefits and different culinary uses, and each vegetable yields its own completely unique nutritional profile.
The sweet potato is only very distantly related to the yam, and is actually a type of morning glory. While the term yam encompasses many different species, sweet potato varieties all have vary similar nutritional value and health benefits because they are all genetically quite similar. Sweet potatoes have a reputation among health food advocates as one of the most densely nutritious (but surprisingly low-calorie) foods on the market.
Sweet potatoes are packed with massive amounts of vitamin A, a nutrient considered critical in maintaining proper eye health. One sweet potato contains nearly eight times an adult's daily need of this important vitamin, and, because the vitamin is fat-soluble rather than water-soluble, the body can store it for later use. So many Americans are deficient in this important vitamin that the sweet potato might be seen as a critical health food for our inadequate diets.
The sweet potato contains several other vitamins and minerals in amounts not found in the lowly yam. Compared to yams, sweet potatoes contain significantly higher amounts of calcium, iron, and vitamin E, and they twice as much protein per serving. While these stellar nutritional scores may make the sweet potato look like a hands-down winner, the yam also has its own impressive nutritional values, some of which the sweet potato lacks.
Omega-3 fatty acids have received significant news coverage in recent times owing to their ability to do everything from prevent heart disease to increase brain stamina. Although both the yam and the sweet potato are low-fat foods, the ratio of essential fatty acids is preferable in the yam compared to the sweet potato. Sweet potatoes contain less omega-3 fats than yams, and have nearly twice as many omega-6 fats, which are known to inhibit the body's ability to make use of the omega-3's. When it comes to fatty acids, yams are quite preferable.
Still, the yam has other drawbacks compared to its distant cousin. While sweet potatoes contain massive amounts of anti-inflammatory compounds, which are very important in the health of people with IBS, arthritis, gout, and other inflammation-related diseases. Yams, on the other hand, not only lack these anti-inflammatory nutrients, but actually contain a number of compounds that aggrevate these conditions. However, their inflammation-causing tendencies are still less severe than many other foods.
Both the sweet potato and yam offer special health benefits to people with diabetes. Both have very low glycemic indexes, with the gylcemic load the sweet potato weighing in 17, and the yam weighing in at 16. Additionally, the sweet potato was found by one animal study to actually benefit glycemic resistance in those with diabetes-- preliminary evidence that long-term consumption of these miracle-vegetables can actually help to fight against diabetes symptoms.
Other health benefits found in both the sweet potato and yam include similarly high concentrations of key minerals. The yam and sweet potato are both loaded with potassium, magnesium, and phosphorous, as well as several so-called trace minerals: selenium, zinc, and copper. Even when it comes to these health benefits, the sweet potato tends to win the competition.
If there is one thing that can be said about the American diet, it is that we are severely undernourished when it comes to fruits and vegetables. knowing this, it would be false to say that eating yams could possibly be a bad idea. However, given the number of unsurpassed benefits of the sweet potato, it is certainly the preferable option for health-conscious consumers who want to choose the best vegetable for their own." - http://www.associatedcontent.com/ar...lth.html?cat=22
I hope you all enjoyed this tidbit of info!
Last edited by BMarieB : Fri, Feb-19-10 at 11:27.
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I have always known Yam and sweet potato to be two totally different things. You can get yam here at some of the London food markets. It's not sweet and is quite dry. Sweet potato is also known as as 
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