Discover Why This High Carb Food is Amazing for Your Fat Loss
I know that seems counter intuitive when you are on a low carb diet. But there is a reason for this being true. Read on to learn more.
Carbs seems to be a term that is widely used nowadays. But as you often find, the food industry has bastardized its true meaning in order to make their rather unhealthy products appear much healthier. This false advertising is primarily due to the fact that there is no legal definition of the term "net carbs".
This then started me on a journey to find the truth and to verify that what my belief of what was a net carb was actually the true meaning. After doing much "googling" it became clear to me that I needed to seek professional advice before writing it in this email and possibly disseminating incorrect information so I rang a dietician friend of mine.
Even after speaking with her for a while, it became even more clear that due to a lack of a legal definition, any food manufacturer could nearly write anything on their packaging as long as it was basically half true. And if the text appears out of the Nutritional Facts Table, then it seems as though the FDA have no control over that at all. In then end we came to the conclusion that the best and most effective definition of a net carb was the following:
Net Carbs equals
Total Carbohydrates
minus Fiber
minus Sugar Alcohols
(if applicable)
I have been following this way of eating for a while so I have got used to doing these sums in my head. But to make this process a bit clearer here is an example of how to calculate net carbs.
Now that I have got that little bit of math out of the way, how does this help when it comes to defeating those carb cravings we all get? Why can we indulge in this one particular high carb food every so often? And of course, what is this magic carb craving killer? Without further a do, my goto carb craving killer is - drum roll please - Sweet Potato!
There seems to be a great deal of confusion as to the what is a sweet potato and what is a yam and whether or not they the same vegetable. Once again this can be attributed to marketing by the food industry.
Apparently sweet potato growers in the Southern US wanted to distinguish their potatoes from the ordinary, everyday white potato so they used the African word yam and the name stuck.
Top Image - A true Sweet Potato ~ Bottom - Yam
You can read more about sweet potato vs yams by pressing on the link here.
How does that help us with our initial question about why you can indulge in a high carb food such as sweet potatoes every so often? Simply because sweet potatoes contain a great deal of fiber. In fact on average sweet potatoes contain 30% more fiber than regular white potatoes. And fiber is great for weight loss!
Fiber makes you feel fuller for longer, it improves your body's response to insulin and of course it helps clear your bowels. All of these factors only go to serve you better in your efforts to lose body fat.
Interestingly enough, White Potatoes have a GI of 111 and Sweet Potatoes have a GI of 94. Yes you can have a GI over 100 as 100 is just the base level of the whole scale, that being the GI of glucose at 100. If you can't remember how the higher GI number affects your fat burning ability, simply re read the email with the Beef & Broccoli recipe.
Below is a comparison of the nutrient value of both white potatoes and sweet potatoes. The table quite clearly indicates that sweet potatoes are more nutrient dense than white potatoes and physiologically the better potato to consume for your body.
NUTRIENTS Per 100g / 3.5oz | WHITE POTATO | SWEET POTATO |
|---|---|---|
Calories | 92 | 90 |
Protein | 2 grams | 2 grams |
Fat | 0.15 grams | 0.15 grams |
Carbs | 21 grams | 21 grams |
Fiber | 2.1 grams | 3.3 grams |
Sugar Alcohols | 4.2 grams | 6.5 grams |
Using the information in the above table, you can easily see that Sweet Potatoes has around 60% more fiber than ordinary white potatoes. That's really great when you are counting Net Carbs and wonderful for your carb carvings too.
Sweet Potatoes also have many more Vitamins and Minerals when compared to ordinary White Potatoes.
NUTRIENTS Per 100g / 3.5oz | WHITE POTATO | SWEET POTATO |
|---|---|---|
Vitamin A | 0.1% RDI | 107% RDI |
Vitamin b6 | 12% RDI | 17% RDI |
Vitamin C | 14% RDI | 22% RDI |
Potassium | 17% RDI | 10% RDI |
Calcium | 1% RDI | 3% RDI |
Magnesium | 6% RDI | 6% RDI |
Using the information in the above two tables, it is easy to calculate the net carbs of both the sweet potato and the white potato. The math for these two equations is below.
Using both the Net Carb figures from the table above, you can quickly determine that Sweet Potatoes contain on average 25% less Net Carbs than White Potatoes. Sweet Potatoes are also better for your BGL and insulin levels than White Potatoes, great for your fat burning ability and a much more nutrient dense option.
As you can see from the above two tables and the net carb calculations, sweet potatoes come out a clear winner when you are considering which potato variety is better for you and your diet.
Now that you know just how good sweet potatoes are for you, why not try them in your next meal? I seriously love the meal of pan seared salmon served with sweet potato mash and steamed broccoli. Here is the link to the page on my website that has all the recipes and videos on it. Enjoy!
