caroline radway <[log in to unmask]> asked:
>>So what's the verdict on sweet potato?  they do it at the salad bar at work
and occasionally I will have a little bit - how bad on a scale of 1-10???
It is absolutely delicious...

My reply:
Don't expect to get a unanimous verdict here.  There are many different
philosophies held by subscribers to this list.  Some shun sweet potatoes but
eat bacon or sausage that contains nitrates and nitrites.  If they are
canned, sugared, or doused with any mystery sauces or condiments, I would
avoid the sweet potatoes in the salad bar.  If they were merely dry roasted
or baked, they could be a healthy and enjoyable addition to your salad.

On a scale of 1 to 10 you would have to compare the sweet potatoes to
something else to come up with a relative value.  If you ask me, you are
better off eating a sweet potato than a white potato, bread, pasta, rice,
cookies, cakes, pastries, french fries, corn chips, potato chips, chocolate
bars, processed, fast food fish or chicken, or soda pop.  By this
comparison, I would not consider sweet potatoes "bad" at all.

If you are endeavoring to stick to a ketogenic diet, they would be off
limits, unless you are doing a cyclic ketogenic diet, which includes
periodic high carb days.

On a 60-gram a day carb diet, one small to medium tuber could use up a lot
of your daily carb/vegetable allotment.  But on a moderate carb paleo diet,
they might merely stand in for fruit in a meal, for example with a serving
of fish or chicken, and salad.

If you are sticking to a raw foods paleo diet, you might not eat them.
Grated and eaten raw they don't have the same appeal.   If they give you gas
or bloating, you would probably want to eat them infrequently, if at all.
It all depends upon your goals and the parameters you set for yourself in
applying paleo principles, which are not black or white, nor are they etched
in stone for all to read.

Some modern HGs include tubers in their diets, along with roots.  In the
context of foods that nourish and foods that deplete or deprive a body of
nutrients, I would consider sweet potatoes a food that nourishes.  One
4-ounce sweet potato contains 27 grams of digestible carbohydrate, the same
amount found in one medium banana or a medium apple.

I enjoy sweet potatoes from time to time, particularly Japanese sweet
potatoes or Jersey Sweets, also called white sweet potatoes, which I much
prefer over Red garnet and jewel "yams" (which are actually "sweet
potatoes").  I don't consider them a "cheat;"  I consider them a nourishing,
whole food, that appeals to me and tastes good at various times, and which I
may avoid at other times, due to lack of interest or seasonal changes.  I
view them as a wholesome treat, not an "evil" or "forbidden fruit."

Btw:  I know others on this list may disagree.  That is to be expected on a
list of so many people.  I do not wish to get into any arguments over whose
paleo rules rule the roost.   If eating sweet potatoes satisfies you and
they cause you no troubles, then eat the sweet potatoes and enjoy-- without
guilt!  There are far "worse" things one might eat. Sweet potatoes are very
nutritious vegetables, and very delicious when properly harvested, stored,
and prepared.

Cheers,
Rachel

You will have to decide for yourself