Make Your Food Work for You Series! This week Sweet Potatoes!

Genesis 1:11

Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so.

God gave us perfect foods for our bodies.  He created them for us.  All the foods that He created have health benefits for our bodies.  They are fuel as well as they help to strengthen us.  I am going to post many foods in then next few weeks and tell you how great they are for your body and how to prepare and eat them.  Did you know you are much better off to feed your body the nutrients and minerals that it needs from food rather than a man-made supplemental pill?  Well, if you didn't before, now you know.  Let's start looking at food as a necessity and fuel instead of  a social event, reward, or treat. 

This week, I am going to tell you about the sweet potato.  When I was growing up, my grandparents ate them all the time.  My papaw had one named after him in Scott County, VA called the Frazier Sweet Potato.  I am not sure how all this plant stuff works, but he crossed two plants and made a new one and they named it after him and sold it over there.

Note:  Potatoes are on the dirty dozen list so buy organic or grow your own.

Benefits of Sweet Potatoes

1. Clear Skin:  Did you know they help your skin stay clear, smooth and young-looking?  The reason: Crayola-colored orange in sweet potatoes comes from beta-carotene, an antioxidant that converts to vitamin A in your body and switches on DNA that's in charge of producing new skin cells and shedding old ones.  The deeper the color the higher the beta-carotene content is in the potato.
2. As an anti-oxidant: Sweet potatoes have been found to contain a high amount of anti-oxidant, making it suitable in combating inflammatory problems like asthma, arthritis, gout, etc.
3. Diabetes: This fibrous root is suitable for diabetics' consumption and it is a very good blood sugar regulator. It helps to stabilize and lower insulin resistance.  Diabetics can eat sweet potatoes without worry as they have a low glycemic index. The glycemic index of a food reflects the food's effects on a person's blood glucose level. Fast glucose absorption, a rise in blood sugar and its resulting dive happens with high-glycemic foods and is not desirable. It's better for the body to slowly absorb any gluclose, sustain a moderate rise in sugar levels and experience a gradual return to the regular level. Since white potatoes, rice and flour have a high glycemic rating, diabetics will benefit from eating sweet potatoes instead.
4. They are high in vitamin B6:  Vitamin B6 helps reduce the chemical homocysteine in our bodies. Homocysteine has been linked with degenerative diseases, including the prevention of heart attacks.
5. They are a good source of vitamin C:  While most people know that vitamin C is important to help ward off cold and flu viruses, few people are aware that this crucial vitamin plays an important role in bone and tooth formation, digestion, and blood cell formation. It helps accelerate wound healing, produces collagen which helps maintain skin’s youthful elasticity, and is essen­tial to helping us cope with stress. It even appears to help protect our body against toxins that may be linked to cancer.
6. They contain Vitamin D: which is critical for immune system and overall health at this time of year. Both a vitamin and a hormone, vitamin D is primarily made in our bodies as a result of getting adequate sunlight. You may have heard about seasonal affective disorder (or SAD, as it is also called), which is linked to inadequate sunlight and therefore a vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D plays an important role in our energy levels, moods, and helps to build healthy bones, heart, nerves, skin, and teeth, and it supports the thyroid gland.
7. Sweet potatoes are a good source of mag­nesium: which is the relaxation and anti-stress mineral. Magnesium is necessary for healthy artery, blood, bone, heart, muscle, and nerve function, yet experts estimate that approximately 80 percent of the popula­tion in North America may be deficient in this important mineral.
8. Sweet potatoes contain iron: Most people are aware that we need the mineral iron to have adequate energy, but iron plays other important roles in our body, including red and white blood cell production, resistance to stress, proper im­mune functioning, and the metabolizing of protein, among other things.
9. High in Fiber: Sweet potatoes contain almost twice as much fiber as other types of potatoes. Contributing close to 7 grams of fiber per serving, they make an excellent starchy addition to any meal. The high fiber content gives them a "slow burning" quality. This basically means their caloric energy is used more slowly and efficiently than a low-fiber carbohydrate.
10. An Anti-inflammatory and an antioxidant rich food
    The storage root proteins of this vegetable are observed to have potent antioxidant properties. In one study, these proteins had about a third of the antioxidant activity of glutathione - one of the body's most impressive internally produced antioxidants. Antioxidants protect the body from oxidative damage induced by free radicals.

How To Make The Perfect Sweet Potato

Ingredients:
Large organic sweet potato ( potatoes are on the dirty dozen and can have 37 different pesticides)
Organic butter
truvia
cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400. Line foil on the bottom rack of your oven to allow potatoes to drip. Wash the potatoes and place them directly on the top rack of the oven. Bake for at least 1 hour. Test them with a fork if needed. A fork should stick in them like they do butter and they skin will pull away from the potato. Add butter, sprinkle with truvia and cinnamon. YUMMY and HEALTHY!!

foil on the bottom rack (yes my oven is dirty, it gets lots of action)

The potatoes are place directly on the rack above the one with foil

Finished product..with truvia, cinnamon, and butter

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 large sweet potato
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• Pinch of salt
• Pinch of cayenne pepper

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 450°F. Peel potato and cut into wedges. Toss wedges with oil, salt and cayenne pepper. Spread the potato wedges out on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until golden brown and tender, turning occasionally, about 20 minutes total. Makes 2 servings. 







Brandy Kisner
Health & Wellness Coordinator