Do you often crave something sweet but don’t know what to have that’s s both healthy and not loaded with bad-for-you sugar or other sweeteners?
When you yearn for something sweet, I recommend that you eat part of a yummy, nutritionally powerful sweet potato or yam.
But, when you indulge, make sure these starchy vegetables are totally naked.
Naked means don’t add any sugar on top.
Don’t ruin your healthy sweet potato by adding any sweet stuff on top like brown sugar or marshmallows.
But feel free to add such spices as cinnamon (my favorite to use), cloves, allspice, nutmeg or cardamom.
You also don’t want to destroy your perfectly healthy dish by adding any allegedly “healthy sweeteners” either. In other words, skip unhealthy agave. (That’s right. Pass up on the agave. Although you may have heard otherwise, agave is not healthy. It’s a big health-food hoax. as I’ve shared here before.)
Some of My Favorite Sweet Potato Dishes
Right now, my three favorite Naked Sweet Potato Treats are:
- Cacao-Chia, Comfort Mousse. This is a yummy comfort food, which allows you to feel like you’re splurging when you’re not. You don’t need to imbibe in a sugar-packed chocolate mousse, which is so cool! Stay tuned for my recipe.
- Sweet Comfort Potato Fries. Also scrumptious, especially when you hanker for some greasy, fried, high-glycemic French fries. Recipe of this coming up, too.
- Thick Cacao-Chia-Flax Shake. This is something I often have in the morning or as a snack. I always add sugar-free protein powder to it to give it more of a nutritional boost. Just cook a couple of yams or sweet potatoes in advance,
refrigerate them and then add small, cold pieces as needed to your healthy shake. Please note that if you have blood sugar issues, you want to watch your portion size. Also, please make sure to add some protein.
Yummy and Nutritionally Dense
Here are some reasons why sweet potatoes are an excellent. For instance, sweet potatoes are:
- High in fiber (half of which is soluble).
- High in heart-healthy potassium.
- Rich in powerful antioxidants, especially beta-carotene (vitamin A).
- High in manganese, a trace mineral that helps metabolize carbohydrates and supports healthy blood sugar levels.
- Rich in vitamins C and E, potent antioxidant vitamins that play an important role in disease
prevention and longevity. - Low in calories. (A bare, medium-sized sweet potato has only 103 calories).
Special thanks to Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., author of The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth; NaturalNews and Danna Norek of AuraSensory.com; and Eat Great Be Great; for their juicy information.
Now comes an important request. Share your Naked Sweet Potato Recipes. Please make sure that your recipe(s) are sugar-free, dairy-free, gluten-free, with no added sweeteners.
The person with the most creative recipe wins a copy of my book, Beyond Sugar Shock, which helps you to release your sugar habit.