Sweet potatoes are incredible. They are a fascinating vegetable in every sense – how they taste, what they can be used for, what they do for our health and they have even played a crucial role in major historical events.
We’re dedicating this blog to explore everything you need to know about sweet potatoes – and we should get this out of the way early on: they’re not even potatoes, they’re roots (rather than tubers). There’s one fact already, and we’re just getting started…!
Where do Sweet Potatoes come from?
The earliest evidence of the ‘domestication’ of sweet potatoes comes from central America in around 2500 BC – and its popularity grew rapidly throughout South America and the Caribbean soon after. Judging from the frequency that it was depicted on archaeological finds in the area, sweet potatoes were of great importance to people at the time. Aztec, Inca and Mayan civilisations all grew and consumed sweet potatoes.
Here’s where it gets really interesting. The common conception that we’re taught in schools was that it was the Europeans, led by Christopher Columbus, that were the first to ‘discover’ America. But the sweet potato casts some considerable doubt on that…
In fact, sweet potatoes found in Polynesia have been carbon dated back to around the thirteenth century – hundreds of years before Columbus sailed across the Atlantic. It’s thought that people from one of these hundreds of islands in Oceania may have made the trip over to South America, and took a sweet potato cutting to cultivate at home. Everything we thought we knew about the history of that time could have been completely undermined by a sweet potato!
The Europeans were integral in spreading it across the world, though. Columbus presented it to the Spanish king when he first returned from America. It was called a ‘patata’, which is where we get the word ‘potato’ from – which is quite ironic really, given that a sweet potato isn’t a potato, but there you go.
Is a Sweet Potato a yam?
I think we should address this now, because this has confused many people. Sweet potatoes and yams are different things entirely – a yam is a tuber, so has more in common with a regular potato. Yams are generally more starchy and drier than the softer sweet potatoes, plus they are darker in colour on the outside, and paler in the middle.
The confusion between the two is that Americans often call sweet potatoes ‘yams’. This dates back to a time when the main type of sweet potatoes that they produced were firm, and when soft ones were introduced, they wanted to differentiate between the two varieties. The African slaves that worked on the farms already called the soft sweet potatoes ‘yams’ because they resembled the yams that they knew from home, so the name stuck. These days, if they are labelled as ‘Yams’, the US Department of Agriculture requires them to include the words ‘Sweet Potato’ as well.
Are Sweet Potatoes popular in the UK?
Sweet potatoes are more popular than ever in the UK. The UK is the biggest consumer market for sweet potatoes in Europe – we’ve really taken to them. Go out for a meal these days and you’re bound to see sweet potatoes pop up somewhere on the menu.
Why are Sweet Potatoes so popular?
What has caused this surge in popularity? Well, we’re getting more familiar with just how versatile they are, as we experiment with different ways of cooking them. Plus, there are a whole load of health benefits to eating sweet potatoes, so we can use them as a healthy alternative to conventional potatoes, or even meat in some instances.
I’m sure everyone has tried sweet potato fries, but what about Sweet Potato Burgers, Sweet Potato Steaks or Sweet Potato Tacos?
Are Sweet Potatoes a ‘Superfood’?
Sweet potatoes are really good for you. They are considered a superfood because the health benefits of eating sweet potatoes are huge – they are a nutritional powerhouse. Here is a brief overview of what they can do for us:
Vision health
Sweet potatoes are incredibly high in beta-carotene, which your body converts to vitamin A, crucial for the health of your eyes. One medium sweet potato provides over 100% of your daily vitamin A needs, potentially reducing the risk of macular degeneration and night blindness.
Immune system boost
Vitamin C, also abundant in sweet potatoes, contributes to a robust immune system by fighting free radicals and promoting the production of white blood cells. One cup of sweet potato (or 200g) will provide you with 44% of your recommended daily amount of vitamin C.
Blood sugar
Despite their naturally sweet taste, sweet potatoes have a low glycaemic index, meaning they release sugar into the bloodstream slowly. This helps prevent blood sugar spikes and crashes, or in other words, you have healthy blood sugar management. It also means that you don’t feel an energy crash just after eating them. It’s win win – sweet tasting, but without the sugar.
Gut health
It’s our old friend gut health again! You get a high dose of fibre in sweet potatoes, which aids our digestion and, just as importantly, gives a little boost to the friendly bacteria in our gut. As we have discussed elsewhere, when we look after our guts, our entire health (both physical and mental) gets a boost.
Heart health
Sweet potatoes are really good for our hearts. Potassium, another mineral that you’ll find a lot of in sweet potatoes, helps us to regulate our blood pressure and may reduce the risk of heart disease. Additionally, sweet potatoes contain anthocyanins (particularly in purple varieties), which have anti-inflammatory properties that benefit heart health.
Does Sweet Potato make a good soup?
Sweet potato is a great ingredient to add into a soup, for all the reasons listed above. Roast them up and add them to a host of other vegetables and you’ve got yourself a delicious and nutritious lunch or dinner.
Or maybe let us do the hard work for you? Our Three Amigos soup is rammed full of sweet potato, red pepper and chilli – it’s the perfect balance of ingredients that not only make an incredible soup that packs a punch, but also has so many health benefits. You’ll feel great after every bowl.