Sweet potatoes are supposed to be the healthiest potato, but what if we don't like sweet potatoes? Keep reading to learn how to keep your plate healthy, while still enjoying those white potatoes.
Okay I admit it. I LOVE white potatoes even though I know sweet potatoes are a healthier choice. I grew up eating my flame broiled steak with a fluffy baked potato on the side. My mother would make a beautiful potato-apple salad for us to eat on warm sunny evenings, and every Thanksgiving and Christmas heaps of mashed potato slathered in brown gravy filled our plates. These beautiful memories form the backbone of my enjoyment and cannot be replaced overnight.
Yet nutritionists tell us sweet potatoes are the better choice when it comes to eating potatoes. Well I’m here to show you the nutritional differences between the two spuds and a way for people to still enjoy their white potatoes- guilt free!
Note: Fruits and vegetables actually contain carotenoids which are then partially converted to Vitamin A within the body. For simplicity we will refer to it all as Vitamin A.
When we compare our beloved white potato to the sweet potato there are surprisingly few nutritional differences. However the sweet potato is by far the heavy weight champ for Vitamin A, containing a whopping 14,187 IU compared with a meager 8 IU in the white potato. Sweet potatoes contain approximately 3 times the amount of Calcium as its white cousin- however 30μg is still fairly insignificant containing only 2% of our RDΙ.
While sweet potatoes are very high Vitamin A, white potatoes are actually higher in potassium, vitamin C, and lutein. Sweet potatoes have a bit higher fiber content with all other differences close to negligible. Before coming to any broad conclusions, the glycemic index (GI) needs comparison as we know low GI foods are preferable in our diet.
The Glycemic Index is a scale ranging from 0-100 with 100 being the extreme top end of the Glycemic Index spectrum. Pure white refined sugar would have a GI of 100. When analyzing diet the glycemic index GI needs evaluation as high GI foods trigger an unhealthy spike in blood glucose levels followed by a rapid decline. Ingesting high GI meals on a regular basis raises the risk for developing Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and some cancers. Low GI foods take more time to digest thereby increasing blood glucose levels more slowly which is much gentler on the body.
Low Glycemic Foods: 0-55 GI Medium Glycemic Foods: 56-69 GI High Glycemic Foods: 70-100 GI
Preparation matters when it comes to the glycemic index of potatoes, and a baked white potato has a high GI score of 84 compared to a baked sweet potato with a medium score of 64. However steaming potatoes can lower the GI score by a point or two. (See NASM Nutrition by Stacey Penney)
The good news is that we can combine low glycemic foods with our high GI potato to effectively lower the glycemic index of our serving (See Christ Woolsten's article on Diabetes). This is easily achieved by adding vegetables to our plate, as the majority of vegetables have a low glycemic index.
Courtesy of Low Glycemic Index Lab
Foods combine in our stomach which means we shouldn't zero in on a foods individual GI score unless it is consumed alone. The stomach doesn't care about the source of its contents. This provides us with a wonderful opportunity to simply combine high GI foods with low GI foods- effectively slowing the absorption rate of glucose into the blood stream.
Instead of avoiding high GI foods- simply consume low GI vegetables alongside
This same principle applies to vitamins and nutrients. If we'd like to enjoy a food low in vitamins and/or minerals we can! By consuming a complementary nutritious choice along with the less healthy food, we balance the health equation. This is because the stomach doesn't care about the source of its contents. From the digestive perspective a cup of white potato plus 2 large carrots is absorbed virtually the same way as a large sweet potato.
The white potato does not need to be blacklisted from our diet
We can conclude there’s nothing inherently wrong or bad with white potatoes and question whether swapping white potatoes for sweet potatoes is warranted given such minor differences. Replacing time honored white potato dishes with sweet potatoes is fine for people who really love the flavor and texture of sweet potatoes. For those who do not, there are alternatives!
Sautéed Spinach Recipe courtesy Healthy Recipes Blogs.
We can understand dietitians advising people to consume the healthiest foods, but many people are resistant to swapping out their favorite foods due to upbringing, traditions, and differing tastes. For example East Indians love to use white potatoes for their samosas, and sweet potatoes would change this traditional flavor dramatically. Food enjoyment is a complex subject and positive memories associated with certain flavors most certainly affect our gustatory experience. We cannot simply swap out foods expecting to trigger the same taste memories and enjoyment.
It's well known that restrictive diets fail in the longterm which highlights an important point- adding to our plate is much easier than denying ourselves particular foods. A compromise that won’t sacrifice nutrition is quite manageable if we simply,
add vitamin equivalent vegetables along side our white potato to achieve balance
Honey Roasted Carrots- recipe courtesy of Salt and Lavender.
In the case of white potatoes, we need to supplement our plate with vitamin A rich foods to equate our white potato serving with a sweet potato serving. Dairy, eggs, and meats contain Vitamin A but ideally we’d like our replacement source to be vegetable based because that’s what we’re trading and they’re also high in healthy fiber. Fruit can be used if need be, but staying within the vegetable realm will better ensure our sugar intake isn’t too high.
1 cup baked Sweet potato=1096 μg Vitamin A
=0.85 cup of cooked Butternut Squash
=0.82 cups of cooked carrot
=1.16 cups of cooked Spinach
=5.1 oz of Tuna fillet (non-veg/fruit)
=5.35 C of raw lettuce
=5.54 C of cooked Red Bell Peppers
=9.13 C of cooked Broccoli
=8.24 C of Grapefruit
=3.67 C of Cantaloupe
Unrealistic amount to consume in one sitting
Originally I envisioned just throwing a couple of baby carrots beside the baked potato, and voila! It would be as simple as that. As we can see, it takes almost 2 large sized carrots of 7.5”- 8.5” long to get the Vitamin A equivalence of one sweet potato. This approximately equals 10-12 baby carrots, which involves quite a bit more chewing than I originally guessed.
There isn’t a huge variety of Vitamin A rich vegetables to choose from without consuming ridiculous heaps of food but the reasonable ones have been listed above. Will a person actually eat 5 cups of lettuce, or 5.5 cups of cooked red bell peppers in one sitting? Not likely. However eating close to a cup of cooked carrot, or butternut squash in a soup seems more reasonable. With the right seasoning a cup of cooked spinach isn’t out of the question as a side dish, but is nearing the top of normal portion size.
There is a sweet spot in the daily recommended amount of Vitamin A a person needs in the prevention of bone fractures, which is particularly important for the elderly. The recommended dose of Vitamin A is 3,000 (900 μg) for men and 2,330 IU (700 μg) for women that is ideal for bone and overall health. In the downloadable printable available when you subscribe, I’ve averaged the RDI to 800 μg for simplicity.
Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin and should be consumed along with dietary fat so as to be effectively absorbed. Excess vitamin A is able to be stored in our fat for many months, and one must be careful not to consume too much. It can build up in other bodily tissues causing issues such as hair loss, nausea, and jaundice. Rich vitamin A sources such as liver and fish oils should generally be avoided to prevent overdose. At the other end of the spectrum, Vitamin A deficiency is very rare in the developed world but does cause night blindness. Read more at Vitamin A and Your Bones.
Why We Need Vitamin A
Vitamin A is an important nutrient involved in proper reproductive function and healthy growth and development of the embryo and fetus. Vitamin A is also required for healthy skin, immune system functioning, and vision. Plant sourced Vitamin A can also reduce ones risk for certain cancers such as bladder, cervical, and lung cancer and Hodgkin’s lymphoma. More information in Health line Article- 6 Benefits of Vitamin A .
Healthy Sources of Vitamin A
Including healthy sources of vitamin A in our meals is a must if we are to enjoy the physical benefits. Don’t like the taste of sweet potatoes? That’s okay! Simply include raw carrots, or baby carrots on your plate with your standard white potato. Or make a Carrot-Raisin salad to go with the meal. Cook some spinach and drizzle with olive oil and salt for a tasty side dish. Heck, you can make a tasty pumpkin pie to finish the meal and get a whopping boost of vitamin A while eating just one slice of dessert!
Natasha's Kitchen has a wonderful carrot soup recipe that's worth checking out.
There are so many ways to get our required intake of vitamin A and sweet potato doesn’t need to be our designated source. If we truly don’t enjoy them, it is okay to let our sweet potato guilt go and simply indulge in another Vitamin A rich veggie. The key is knowing WHAT vegetables are rich in Vitamin A and HOW MUCH of them to eat . That’s why I’ve included a handy dandy printable available for FREE download when you subscribe.
Enjoy those white potatoes in your favorite dishes and stop feeling guilty for it. Let’s agree that Potato salad just wouldn’t taste as good using sweet potatoes. How about a heap of mashed sweet potato drowned in gravy? Sorry, but gravy and white potatoes go hand in hand like peanut better and jelly.
Gravy Recipe courtesy of The Stay at Home Chef.
Learning to make healthy choices can be confusing and food guilt isn’t helpful. There are many great alternatives- and adding to our plates is as easy as it gets. Just don’t forget to ADD the important colors- yellow, orange, red and dark leafy greens along side those white potatoes. Print out the download and paste it in your kitchen for easy reference. We all can add healthy foods to supplement our plate ensuring white potatoes stay part of our healthy diet.
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