A Friend of mine is a walking encyclopedia on fitness and nutrition. (ex-professional athlete)

Before you think it.......He is very supportive of my surgery and results and had some very intelligent questions for me. He isn't the normal "Meathead" that was gonna tell me to diet and exercise boot camp style.

And I in turn respect this guys opinion and knowledge. (have for many years)

In casual conversation he mentioned "Sweet Potatoes" as one of life's 10 wonder foods! (note to self to ask him what the other 9 are)

I've not had much in the way of sweet potatoes.....my mom loves the candied yam at Thanksgiving, but I never caught onto that.

I looked up the nutritional values on it and like I thought, it is very carby.

But when you google this food.....it comes up with all kinds of nutritional benefits!

So my question is..... In maintenance would it be smart to try and work in the Sweet Potato on say a weekly basis? I'm more in favor of adding a food like sweet potato than say bread or regular potato.

Anyone use the Sweet Potato for it's nutritional advantages ?

frisco

I LOVE sweet potatoes but right not I am trying to do very low carb to get the holiday weight off.  Once that is done, once a week I bake sweet potatoes.  I spray Pam on the outside skin and bake in the oven until soft.  I like mine plain with nothing added but John adds brown sugar and butter (he never gains weight).  If I am ever in a restaurant, I always order the sweet potato instead of the white.  The fried sweet potatoes are good also.  You can now get them in the frozen food section and bake the strips instead of frying.

I do love me some sweet potatoes Frisco.  And, as much as we can eat, provided it's protein first, veggies second, then I just don't worry about it.  It's just a few bites after all.  I doubt you're gonna eat the whole thing.  And I can say that my personal trainer, who is a world champion natural bodybuilder, eats them as well as oats and brown rice.  These are his carbs of choice when preparing for a contest, aside from veggies of course!  I guess it really comes down to how carb sensitive you are.  I am not at all.  I can have a few bites of just about anything and not having it calling my name an hour later.  You could try it out and if it works, then great.  But if not, then just cut it back out. 

I for one, am not willing to cut out entire food groups.  I am however, extremely careful with portions...makes my life and this lifestyle, a lot more pleasant.

Laura

I love both sweet potatoes and yams, in fact I am not usually sure which is which.  I cook them in the microwave and eat them with just a bit of salt. very warm & satisfying. and yes, I can eat a whole one.

Sweet potatoes are very carby and you can get more nutrients and health benefits in green veggies than sweet potatoes. If you are looking to up your calories in maintenance I would always suggest doing healthy fats first, before adding any carbs.

Healthy fats have uses in your body (carbs are only burned for energy) and help lubricate your skin and let you synthesize hormones for starters. Carbs are pretty much unnecessary but if you are going to eat them sweet potatoes would be low on my list.

 Green veggies first (after protein of course), then perhaps nuts or fruit second, as Dr. C says. I think he's right on target with that.

I love them, but they are a slippery slope for me. If I could just eat them with a hint of butter and cinnamon, I'd be okay. But, honestly, I want it slathered with brown sugar/cinnamon/tons of butter.

I don't eat them on a regular basis, but if I'm out and restaurant offers them in place of a regular baked potato, I have that instead of the other option.

Being from the south, sweet potato casserole is a tradition for all holiday meals. I love it, and can eat ****pots of it. I did indulge, well overindulged, on it over the holidays.

Funny thing is, we brought in a wounded box turtle back in March 2009, his shell was cracked, and being a former vet tech, I couldn't not take him in. He's part of our little family, and from my days at a hospital that was a certified wildlife rehab center, Boxster's diet consists of sweet potatoes, strawberries, bananas along with his little turtle pellets and calcium supplement. His shell healed up within 4 months, but I couldn't bring myself to release him back into the wild. So, I constantly have sweet potatoes in my house. I've caught myself eating a few bites of is potato when I first prepare it.

Sweet potato french fries were invented by the devil, and I avoid the 2 eateries that feature them on the menu because I can not and will not deprive myself of those pretty little creations if I walk into those restaurants.

Sweet potatoes are delicious. I used to make them for holidays just steamed, coarsly mashed and with a bit of butter, touch of brown sugar and a good jolt of fresh cracked black pepper. the pepper really makes it. You could do this and leave out the butter and use a bit of brown sugar splenda but hit it with the black pepper and a little salt.

But the real question is whether is whether to eat this at all since its carby. I think it falls in the category of complex carbs like brown rice, quinoa, amaranth, barley and other whole grain items. These are things i didn't eat at all during weight loss phase but now eat in very small amounts during maintenance phase. Sweet potatoes (actually most of what you get is actually yams and i think they are better) probably fall in this category. A small serving once in awhile if probably fine. One issue is whether they would trigger the carb craving that other white carbs do and cause that bad pattern to reemerge. I have not found that to be true with the occasional whole grains listed above but don't know if the yams would be any different. I see from my book that they are somewhat higher in calories than white potatoes, but how big a portion can we eat anyway?

On a somewhat related point, last night Dr. C was talking about the raw veggies and such and said one thing not to eat much was summer squash as it had a fairly high glycemic index. I was surprised as I thought summer squash was pretty much a yellow version of zuccinni and was low calorie and low carb and fine and i ate it often in small amounts during weight loss phase (great roasted with olive oil and a hint of parmissan cheese). So this was puzzling and i looked it up and while it is slightly higher calorie than zuccinni, it is only maybe one or two g carbs more in a cup than zuccini and still pretty low. So i can't figure out whats so bad about it and think i will still eat it in moderation - husband hates it. He hates yams too so we never have them anyway.

Thats all I know.   Diane

Sweet potatoes, sans butter and sugar, are a good source of vitamins, fiber, and are low on the glycemic index. They are considered a complex carbohydrate, thus are burned more slowly than simple carbs. Here is a synopsis:

SWEET POTATO NUTRITION

Sweet Potato Ranks Number One In Nutrition

According to nutritionists at the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), the single most important dietary change for most people, including children, would be to replace fatty foods with foods ri*****omplex carbohydrates, such as sweet potatoes.

CSPI ranked the sweet potato number one in nutrition of all vegetables. With a score of 184, the sweet potato outscored the next highest vegetable by more than 100 points. Points were given for content of dietary fiber, naturally occurring sugars and complex carbohydrates, protein, vitamins A and C, iron and calcium. Points were deducted for fat content (especially saturated fat), sodium, cholesterol, added refined sugars and caffeine. The higher the score, the more nutritious the food.

Sweet potato baked 184
Potato, baked 83
Spinach 76
Kale 55
Mixed Vegetables 52
Broccoli 52
Winter Squash, Baked 44
Brussels Sprouts 37
Cabbage, Raw 34
Green Peas 33
Carrot 30
Okra 30
Corn on the Cob 27
Tomato 27
Green Pepper 26
Cauliflower 25
Artichoke 24
Romaine Lettuce 24
The Center for Science in the Public Interest, Washington D.C. copyright 1992


The reasons the sweet potato took first place? Dietary fiber, naturally occurring sugars, complex carbohydrates, protein, vitamins A and C, iron and calcium. The sweet potato received a score of 184; the vegetable ranked in second place was more than 100 points behind with a score of 83.

The numbers for the nutritional sweet potato speak for themselves: almost twice the recommended daily allowance of vitamin A, 42 percent of the recommendation for vitamin C, four times the RDA for beta carotene, and, when eaten with the skin, sweet potatoes have more fiber than oatmeal. All these benefits with only about 130 to 160 calories!

Sweet Potato Nutrition Facts  (for one medium size sweet potato)

Calories 130
Fat 0.39 g
Protein 2.15 g
Net Carbs 31.56 g
Dietary Fiber 3.9 g
Calcium 28.6 mg
Sodium 16.9 mg
Potassium 265.2 mg
Folate 18.2 mcg
Vitamin C 29.51 mg
Vitamin A 26081.9 IU
Source: US Department of Agriculture

Among root vegetables, sweet potatoes offer the lowest glycemic index rating. That’s because the sweet potato digests slowly, causing a gradual rise in blood sugar so you feel satisfied longer. It’s time to move sweet potatoes to the "good" carb list. Many of the most popular diets these days have already.


http://www.foodreference.com/html/sweet-pot-nutrition.html

Again, in moderation, sweet potatoes can be a good addition to ones diet, and are a better choice than regular potatoes. I love sweet potatoes or yams, but haven't eaten any during the weight loss phase. Perhaps, when I get to maintenance, they will an occasional treat.

Thank you for posting this information!

~Rana

Well I don't think the CSPI  sounds very "scientific" .  Replacing "fatty foods with those ri*****omplex carbohydrate" is what got MILLIONS of people fat during the "low fat "craze!