
- #Are sweet potatoes healthier than regular potatoes skin#
- #Are sweet potatoes healthier than regular potatoes free#
Sweet potatoes also help to stabilize blood sugar, and help the body become more sensitive to insulin. Sweet potatoes also contain about 35-40% of your necessary vitamin C for the day, manganese, vitamin B6, potassium, copper, niacin, thiamine and magnesium. Eat sweet potatoes with butter to help this transformation work best. Sweet potatoes contain a lot of nutrients (which is why they are so popular) including a massive amount of beta-carotene, the nutrient that our bodies turn into vitamin A. Most all yams in a grocery store are actually sweet potatoes. In the United States, yams and sweet potatoes are often used interchangeably. In my grocery store, I see the dark, reddish skinned sweet potatoes are called “garnet yams”, but they are not really real yams either. The darker-skinned orange sweet potato variety was only recently introduced in the U.S., and in order to differentiate them from the original sweet potatoes, they were called “yams”. How did yams and sweet potatoes get confused here in America? When African slaves came to the United States, they called our sweet potato “nyami”, or “yam” in English, because it resembled the yam from Africa. If you tried to cook them whole, they tend to explode, leaving a big mess! Yams are not usually eaten baked however, if they are baked they must be peeled before cooking. Sweet potatoes are often pureed and used in recipes like soups and desserts.Īnd of course, sweet potatoes are a staple on the Thanksgiving table, sometimes served as sweet potato casserole with marshmallows (please don’t!) or made into a sweet potato pie.Īfrican yams are usually boiled and mashed into a starchy paste called “Fufu”. They are also a great alternative to French fries, and an alternative to regular mashed potatoes. Sweet potatoes have become much more common and popular in the past ten or so years, and are often served baked, mashed, roasted. Sweet potatoes, yams, and regular white potatoes are actually all from different plant families and not related. and in Europe are classified as russet potatoes, red potatoes, white potatoes, yellow potatoes (or Yukon Gold) and purple potatoes. While there are literally thousands of different types of potatoes in the world, in general the types of potatoes we see here in the U.S. White potatoes come from the Solanaceae family, which is related to tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant and considered part of the “nightshade” group of vegetables. White potatoes are something we are all pretty familiar with. Yams are not a common item to find in your grocery store, in fact, they are often difficult to find, except perhaps in an international market or ethnic food store. Yams are not sweet and smooth like sweet potatoes, they are more dry and starchy tasting. The inside flesh is white, yellow, purple or pinkish.
#Are sweet potatoes healthier than regular potatoes skin#
Yams are more cylindrical, and have rough brown, almost tree-bark like skin that is very difficult to peel.


Size can vary from that of a small potato to up to 5 feet (1.5 meters). Compared to sweet potatoes, yams can grow very large. Yams have some distinct characteristics, and if you ever saw them, you would probably not confuse them with sweet potatoes. Yams originated in Africa and Asia and there are about 600 different varieties of yams.

However, they come from a completely different family and are actually part of the lily family. Sweet potatoes are also usually softer and sweeter when cooked than either yams or regular white potatoes. Sweet potato’s flesh inside also varies from white to orange or reddish orange, to purple-colored.

Sweet potatoes are usually longer and tapered at the ends with smooth colored skin, and can range in color from tan, to yellow, to orange, red, or purple.
#Are sweet potatoes healthier than regular potatoes free#
Sweet potatoes generally come from either Central or South America.Īdd power-packed superfood veggies to every meal with these easy cauliflower recipes.Ĭlick here to get your FREE copy of our Cauliflower Recipe Guide! They are a member of the morning glory family, and not related to either yams or white potatoes. Well for starters, sweet potatoes are the orange or reddish colored root vegetable you see at the grocery store. Is there a difference? And how do they compare with regular white potatoes? Some people call them “yams” and others call them “sweet potatoes”.
