Our Ins/Outs for 2024

1.     Fiber – We hope 2024 is the year that more Americans increase their fiber intake! Sweetpotatoes provide about 4 grams of fiber per medium sweetpotato with skin. Fiber is important for much more than digestion. The health benefits of fiber are abundant!

a.     Gut Motility – Fiber can help speed things through the gut and is a common recommendation for preventing constipation, or greatly improving side effects.

b.     Fullness – Fiber-rich foods, like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans and legumes, can generally be filling while providing less calories. Filling up on fiber-rich foods can also help with moderating body weight.

c.     Insulin Sensitivity – Fiber helps slow the rise in blood sugar and can help the body better respond to insulin releases to lower blood sugar.

d.     Gut Microbiome – Fiber-rich foods help to flourish the gut with good bacteria, which can help with mental health, immune health, digestion, and more. Your gut health definitely impacts your overall health!

2.     Antioxidants – Antioxidants give sweetpotatoes their bright orange or deep purple hues. Sweetpotatoes have natural antioxidants, like Vitamins C and E, carotenoids and several micronutrients. Antioxidants are helpful for reducing the damaging effects of free radicals that we are exposed to in our daily lives. They can help with many aspects of overall health, such as reducing inflammation, immunity, lung function and more.

3.     Easy recipes – The majority of Americans are overworked and already stressed about their paychecks and the cost of living. Expensive meals with several niche ingredients aren’t going to work for the average family. Our database has hundreds of easy sweetpotato recipes that you can search for by the ingredients you have on hand, time, meal type, season and more.

4.     Budget-Friendly Ingredients – Many people are trying to reduce their costs at the grocery store to save more. Fortunately, our favorite superfood is one of the most affordable options around! A medium sweetpotato can be found for $1.00 or less, and you can often buy them in bulk through many supermarkets. Sweetpotatoes pair well with nearly any food, and can be an economic way to add more nutrition to nearly any meal.

5.     Slowing down – Living life in a constant rush isn’t good for our health. It spikes our blood pressure and cortisol levels, to name a few, and can impact hunger, fullness, appetite, sleep and more. While stress is a natural part of life, how we perceive it is what affects us. If we are constantly in a state of stress, our health will suffer.  Try to take time to slow down without screens, enjoy a book, eat a meal in silence, or take a leisurely walk.

6.     Drinking more water – Many consumers opt for dry January and reducing alcohol, and along these same lines, seek better hydration. Yet many of us fall short on our hydration (and hence, electrolyte) needs. Make this year count by focusing on drinking enough water or liquids. Hydration helps with nutrient absorption, energy levels, hunger cravings, heart health and much more! A sweetpotato mango smoothie also counts for hydration – it doesn’t have to just be water!

1.     Fad Diets – While the new year is a time for many diets to pray on consumers, the majority of research shows that most diets don’t work beyond the year mark. The long term results are lacking since most diets aren’t teaching you lifestyle habits. People usually get on and then get off diets. Instead, embracing a varied diet with wholesome foods that you like will get you further. Start small by trying to add a fruit or veggie to breakfast, and work your way up.

2.     One-size-fits-all recipes – We’re all different, so of course, we have differing needs for nutrition, different likes, and different cultural recipes. There is no one-size-fits-all. Our beloved sweetpotatoes fit into nearly any dietary lifestyle (paleo, gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, Mediterranean) and are enjoyed in many different cultural staples. A good food to always keep on hand!

3.     Guilt around food – Do you have friends that make you feel guilty when you indulge in a food you like? How do you feel after that experience? Feeling guilty after eating is not a good feeling and shouldn’t be something we beat ourselves up over! There is room to enjoy a treat occasionally, and why not make it a sweetpotato treat while you’re at it? Some of our favorite sweetpotato desserts include sweetpotato peanut butter pie, sweetpotato cranberry oatmeal cookies or sweetpotato snack cake.