Carb of the Month - Sweet Potato

When I was a child , I hated sweet potatoes. Back then, we had the purple variety rather than the golden orange ones you mostly see in the stores today and I wasn't a fan. Now I quite like them and much prefer them to regular white potato.

When it comes to Diabetes, well.... a potato is still a potato. We used to recommend that people swap over their regular potato for sweet as we thought it had a much lower GI (glycaemic index). But with most things GI, it isn't quite as simple as that. Things that change a GI include - variety, cooking methods, whether the potato is cooled/reheated and also what the potato is eaten with.

In fact, a boiled sweet potato (boiled for 8 minutes), the GI can be from 60-70. Some varieties of baked sweet potatoes have GI's in the 80's and 90's. So, not as great a swap as we used to think.

So carb of the month : breakdown

Sweet Potato - average 130g (orange variety)

Carbs : 26g

Fibre: 3g

GI (cubed, peeled, boiled): 60 (av)

What else does it offer?:

Protein 1.6g

Vitamin A, C, B Vitamins, Magnesium and Zinc

Colour/taste (personal)