Confused with sweet potatoes and yams

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Francl27
Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
in Food and Nutrition
And I have no idea how to log it.

My grocery store sells the white but sweet potatoes as sweet potatoes, and the orange ones as yams. When you check MFP though, yams have 30% more calories than sweet potatoes... but it seems that the 'yams' I buy are not real yams and I should still log them as sweet potatoes?

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/difference-yams-sweet-potatoes/#axzz3PTpPIHtO

I've been logging them as yams for ages.

So confused.

Replies

  • cotewalter
    cotewalter Posts: 111 Member
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    How often are you eating them that it makes a difference? Interesting subject that I now want to research it further. :o
  • CorlissaEats
    CorlissaEats Posts: 493 Member
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    Grocery stores in Canada are confused too. I log the white ones as yams, and the orange ones as sweet potatoes. There is an entry for 'white yam (not sweet potato)' that seems to be somewhat accurate so I often use that one since I buy the white ones.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
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    Here is a great article describing the difference.

    ncsweetpotatoes.com/sweet-potatoes-101/difference-between-yam-and-sweet-potato/
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    cgarcia4268 wrote: »
    http://www.ncsweetpotatoes.com/sweet-potatoes-101/difference-between-yam-and-sweet-potato/

    Hope this helps!

    Yes this is the best article I've found yet, lol. Thanks. Happily logging them as sweet potatoes now!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
    edited January 2015
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    images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQpRvYs9DFcGjIx2Yf7Glvl-LBGFctvVcrjFgd7rN2BjoHAHO6H4A

    Sweet-potatoes1-e1353003659214.jpg
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
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    cgarcia4268 wrote: »
    http://www.ncsweetpotatoes.com/sweet-potatoes-101/difference-between-yam-and-sweet-potato/

    Hope this helps!
    earlnabby wrote: »
    Here is a great article describing the difference.

    ncsweetpotatoes.com/sweet-potatoes-101/difference-between-yam-and-sweet-potato/

    Jinx!!
  • cotewalter
    cotewalter Posts: 111 Member
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    cgarcia4268 wrote: »
    http://www.ncsweetpotatoes.com/sweet-potatoes-101/difference-between-yam-and-sweet-potato/

    Hope this helps!
    Very interesting!! Who knew? :p
  • PwrLftr82
    PwrLftr82 Posts: 945 Member
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    Okay, I'm MORE confused now because these are contradictory!
  • williams969
    williams969 Posts: 2,528 Member
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    Look at the outside/skin. Sweet potatoes will have a smoother, edible skin (similar to potatoes, with "eyes"). Yams will be darker, bark like (and dark, like a tree almost) textured on the outside. If in doubt, cut it open. Yams have typically white or purple flesh; sweet potatoes will always be orange.

    Two most common types in American markets:

    picmonkeycollage2.jpg
  • jhoyett
    jhoyett Posts: 92 Member
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    Bahaha! My sister is a sweet potato junkie and we had this conversation a few weeks ago. I'm not sure why we (Americans) started calling SPs yams, but I'm pretty sure what you're eating is a SP!
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,135 Member
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    I always thought yams and sweet potatoes were different names for the same thing.
    gu83blfk7fc9.gif
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQpRvYs9DFcGjIx2Yf7Glvl-LBGFctvVcrjFgd7rN2BjoHAHO6H4A

    Sweet-potatoes1-e1353003659214.jpg

    Now this is exactly why it's confusing, lol. The bottom right is what I have. And it looks like a sweet potato.
  • williams969
    williams969 Posts: 2,528 Member
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    Francl27 wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQpRvYs9DFcGjIx2Yf7Glvl-LBGFctvVcrjFgd7rN2BjoHAHO6H4A

    Sweet-potatoes1-e1353003659214.jpg

    Now this is exactly why it's confusing, lol. The bottom right is what I have. And it looks like a sweet potato.

    Because it is. Everything in that picture is a sweet potato.
  • williams969
    williams969 Posts: 2,528 Member
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    OMG. A Google image search for "Yam" yields 99% pictures of...sweet potatoes, lol.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
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    williams969 wrote: »
    OMG. A Google image search for "Yam" yields 99% pictures of...sweet potatoes, lol.

    yeah- it's amusing- once you see a real yam- with that barking texture- you'll never be confused again.
  • lemon629
    lemon629 Posts: 501 Member
    edited January 2015
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    williams969 wrote: »
    Look at the outside/skin. Sweet potatoes will have a smoother, edible skin (similar to potatoes, with "eyes"). Yams will be darker, bark like (and dark, like a tree almost) textured on the outside. If in doubt, cut it open. Yams have typically white or purple flesh; sweet potatoes will always be orange.

    Two most common types in American markets:

    picmonkeycollage2.jpg

    The picture on the right is of a yam. You probably won't see these too often, probably just in specialty international markets. I regularly shop in a gourmet grocery store and have never seen yams there.

    Sweet potatoes are not always orange. Some are white, some are yellow.

    True yams are white on the inside with a rough bark-like peel. Other than the shape, they don't look that much alike, and the flavor and texture is very different from sweet potatoes. Yams and sweet potatoes are not even in the same plant family.

    The "yams" and the sweet potatoes in your store are the same thing, just different varieties.


    From the Library of Congress web site:

    Why the confusion?
    In the United States, firm varieties of sweet potatoes were produced before soft varieties. When soft varieties were first grown commercially, there was a need to differentiate between the two. African slaves had already been calling the ‘soft’ sweet potatoes ‘yams’ because they resembled the yams in Africa. Thus, ‘soft’ sweet potatoes were referred to as ‘yams’ to distinguish them from the ‘firm’ varieties.

    Today the U.S. Department of Agriculture requires labels with the term ‘yam’ to be accompanied by the term ‘sweet potato.’ Unless you specifically search for yams, which are usually found in an international market, you are probably eating sweet potatoes!

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