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FOOD OF THE WEEK
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Should it be a Healthy Holiday Table Fare Only?
 
My husband carried a small box of these that he had harvested from his compost pile bringing to mind how great a health food they are?
 
As I looked over the orangy/redish vegetable I thought about how this food is so ignored by most? Usually eaten by so many people only on Thanksgiving as pie or side dish, and that's a shame, since they're among one of the most nutritious of foods you can eat.  One that is a great immune boosting food!
 
If you don't eat sweet potatoes very often, or only at holiday time when they're smothered in melted marshmallow goop and baked until they're unrecognizable, you're missing out on one of nature's truly perfect foods. Low in calories, high in fiber, great for diabetics who are carbohydrate sensitive, and packed with minerals - rich in Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Sodium, Zinc, Copper, Manganese and Selenium while rich with vitamins C, B-6, B-12, A, DFE, E, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Pantothenic acid and tastes great! Real calming, comfort, health food!
 
Their bright color is key to their high beta-carotene content, and containing the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin. A sweet potato really isn't a potato; it is part of the sprawling vine called morning glory. The sausage-shaped tubers are a bit potato-like, but taper to pointed ends unlike potatoes. Skin is smooth and can be white, red, golden or purple/black. Having sweet purple, white, yellow or deep orange flesh.
 
In 1932, when the sweet potato was considered a poor man's food, Americans consumed 30 pounds each per year. With this economy maybe we will go back to those times and find healthier people for it since consumption is slight 4 pounds now. Though the tuber has become more appealing and growing because it's a favorite of Oprah Winfrey and television chef Emeril Lagasse, it hasn?t gained popularity near enough. It is also a hormone smoothing veggie for women in menopause, post-menopause or perimenopausal years. Rich in beta-carotene means a disease fighter as well!!!
 
A study conducted by the Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland gave 21 HIV-positive people 180 mg (300,000 IU) of beta-carotene every day for four weeks, resulting in several indicators of their "helper" T cell activity increasing significantly over the people who were given a look-alike-but-inactive placebo, whose indicators dropped. "Helper" T cells are the primary target of the HIV virus, and the body's ability to fight infections diminishes as their T cell levels drop.
 
A study conducted by John Hopkins University researchers linked high levels of beta-carotene with a lower incidence of lung cancer, which kills approximately 145,000 Americans every year. A great reason to eat sweet potatoes or their beother yams.
 
At least 70 research studies have found an increased risk of cancer in people who don't eat enough produce rich in carotenoids. Since the sweet potato is very rich in beta carotene how better to get a health benefit?
 
Basic types of sweet potatoes:
 
Moist: (orange fleshed) tends to be plumper and its skin a little redder. The sweeter orange-fleshed sweet potato varieties dominate the U.S. market. often called "yams," but this is a misnomer: The true yam aka "botanical family Dioscoreaceae" is a large - as much as 100 pounds - root vegetable grown in Africa and Asia and rarely seen in the western world. However, over time common usage has made the term "yams" acceptable when referring to sweet potatoes.
 
Dry: (yellow or purple-fleshed). Some people prefer the starchier yellow-fleshed types, a little narrower with a tan skin, when they aren't side by side, it's pretty difficult to judge the difference. In most instances, you can assume you're getting orange-fleshed sweet potatoes. If you are actively seeking the yellow-fleshed, you should ask the produce manager. The Okinawan sweet potato, grown year round in Hawaii has light skin and lavender flesh and is of Chinese and Japanese origin. The potato is not well known or easy to get on the mainland, except in specialty or ethnic markets on the West Coast. Something I experienced this spring when I was in Hawaii and loved them?
 
A bit of history;
 
In 1514, Peter Martyr named nine varieties that grew in Honduras. It was taken to Spain about 1500 and several kinds were cultivated there by the middle of the 16th century, including red, purple, and pale or "white" varieties.
 
Cultivation of sweet potatoes was tried unsuccessfully in Belgium in 1576. John Gerarde of London, claimed that in 1597 he grew the plant in England and that it was known in India, Barbary, and other hot regions.
 
Early Spanish explorers are believed to have taken the sweet potato to the Philippines and East Indies, from which it was soon carried to India, China, and Malaysia by Portuguese voyagers. The original introductions from America into the Pacific and Far East were so unobtrusive that the origin of the plant was long overlooked, many believing it native to southern and southeastern Asia.
 
Sweet potatoes are sold throughout the year, but are most abundant in their harvest season of fall and early winter, found on sale in the U.S. around Thanksgiving and Christmas, in large quantities.
 
Sweet potatoes are also sold canned or frozen. The canned potatoes are usually packed in heavy syrup--"candied"--although some processors also pack them in water. Canned sweet potatoes are significantly lower in beta-carotene, vitamin C, and B vitamins than fresh ones.  Fresh is always better as they contain more than double the nutrients.
 
Selecting sweet potatoes;
 
Choose heavy, similar-sized potatoes if you plan to cook them whole, so that the cooking time will be uniform. Choose potatoes that are smooth, hard, and free of bruises or decay, even if cut away, a decayed, shriveled brown/black spot may have already imparted an unpleasant flavor to the entire potato.
 
My family's favorite ways of eating sweet potatoes are;
 
Sliced about 1/8" thick and round like silver dollars, Sautéed in olive oil with a touch of butter for flavor, until tender, with just a pinch or two of brown sugar and a pinch of nutmeg to pick up the flavor or baked either whole. Or Sliced and seasoned bake.
 
Heat oven to 375 degrees.
 
Peel and cut into thick round slices or quarter potato.
In a baggie put ½ teaspoon Stevia or 1 teaspoon brown sugar, pinch of ground allspice or nutmeg, pinch of cayenne pepper, ½  teaspoon sea salt, ½ teaspoon Turmeric, shake until well mixed. Spray slices of potato with virgin olive oil then put potatoes into bag with spices and shake until covered with mixture. Layer "one layer" on cookie sheet that has been sprayed with olive oil. Put into oven and bake about 15 to 20 minutes then turn potatoes over and bake another 20 to 25 minutes until done and slightly browned. Time will vary according to size of slices.
 
There are as many ways of eating sweet potatoes as there are people so use your imagination and eat for health?
 
Enjoy your newfound wealth of mineral and vitamin rich food!
Lena

NOTE: Sadly food alone cannot yield all the necessary healthy nutrients - especially balance of minerals - as they did in centuries past, so we can't rely totally on our food intake! Because of the lack of nutrients in our soils and the pollutants added in the form of air pollution, pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers important nutrients are almost nonexistent and we know the body is not capable of producing minerals with even the healthiest of diets, as it can vitamins, and must be obtained from our foods or daily supplemented...  Click Here to understand why minerals are so important to your body's health!

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 HEALTH TODAY
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