The purple sweet potato: The latest in a long line of potential ‘Superfoods’

The purple sweet potato, the latest food item presented to the general public as a potential superfood. The potato’s colouring contained the chemical anthocyanin, which is known to lower the risk of cancer and could even possibly slow down certain types of the disease. The colour is the important part because the purple colour is responsible for the amount of anthocyanin in the potato. Scientists have already used two strands of anthocyanin to treat colon cancer and found that the pigment slowed down the growth of cancerous cells. Anthocyanin, which produces red, blue or purple colours in different types of food, can also be found in blueberries, red grapes and red cabbage, however the specially grown purple sweet potato has a higher concentration of the chemical than any other species of potato. Dr Weiqun Wang, who was also involved in testing the potato, has said that the new purple sweet potato tasted sweeter than other potatoes but was still perfectly edible. According to Wang, “It’s good not only for cancer prevention but other benefits like antioxidants as well.”SWEET POTATO (Kamote)far exceeds the nutrition and health values of rice.

Here are the benefits of substituting rice with kamote:

1. Sweet potato is more filling and suppresses hunger pangs longer. It is also cheaper than rice.

2. Unlike rice, it is easy to grow. It grows in backyards with or without fertilizers. Local government executives can provide their poor communities with idle government land for planting kamote which the entire community can share.

3. Unlike rice which needs to be eaten with a dish, Sweet Potato tastes good and can be eaten by itself. Thus, substituting rice with sweet potato saves money for other needs.

4. Rice cannot match the nutritional values of potato. Because rice converts to sugar in the body, the Philippines registers as a top producer of diabetics in the world. The poor tends to load up on rice and less on the dish which are more expensive. That makes them vulnerable to diabetes, an ailment known in developed countries as a rich man’s disease.

5. The nutritional values of a 3 oz. bakedsweet potatoare: calories 90, fat 0 g, saturated fat 0 g, cholesterol 0 mg, carbohydrate 21 g, protein 2 g, dietary fiber 3 g, sodium 36 mg

6. Too much rice consumption can make you sick, but sweet potato (kamote) can bring you to health and keep away some health problems. These have been proved medically.

Sweet Potato (kamote) lowers hypertension, bad cholesterol and even blood sugar when eaten as as a substitute to rice! (Wonder if they mean white rice or brown rice as well....) The purple sweet potato (kamote) is particularly effective for lowering hypertension.

The Korean medical documentary credits the sweet potato (kamote) as high fiber and is one of the best foods that one can eat to prevent cancer!

Source: From an e-mail and this webpage.