Sweet Potatoes

Do you know the difference between Yams and Sweet Potatoes? Don't feel bad, most people do not.

Sweet potatoes are brighter in color and are what most people buy in the US. Spruce.ca has pictures of each. Trust me, you are used to eating sweet potatoes! In fact according to SeedsofKnowledge.com, yams are rarely sold in the US at all.

Yams look more like a (white) potatoe and have more sugar than sweet potatoes.

Not confused yet? Ok, then consider that there are two kinds of sweet potatoes (orange skinned--the norm, and a drier, yellow-skinned variety). Many consider the yellow colored variety to be a yam, but officially, NO. To make matters worse, most Americans (including our stores on occassion and canned sweet potato manufacturers) use the names interchangeably.

The best description of how the confusion started is from the North Carolina Department of Agriculture--short version--when slaves came to America, people misunderstood what they were calling the sweet potato.

Want a little more history?

• Sweet potatoes have been around for "an estimated 4000 years!sweet potato has an exciting history over 4,000 years old? It has been used for food since prehistoric times in tropical America and on some South Pacific Islands. At one time, sweet potatoes were an important component of the Aztec diet." http://members.aol.com/TexTater/texas.html
• Sweet potatoes are part of the morning glory family.
• In colonial South, the term "potato" generally referred to the sweet potato. What we know as a potato was often called the "Irish" potato. (Which is strange given the so-called Irish Potato was native to South America!)
• Thomas Jefferson was a big fan of the "potato" (i.e sweet potato) and considered the pumpkin a substitue if potatoes were in short supply
  

References:
http://www.ncsweetpotatoes.com/
http://www.seedsofknowledge.com/yams.html

History of Allegany

Congrats to the Town and Village of Allegany on their new web site! Very nice. I especailly am glad to see a history page!

Green Tea may prevent spread of some cancers

I have long been a backer of green tea, so I confess I might have been biased when I saw this story and had to jump on it. I urge you to read the actual paper and decide for yourself!

A new study has found that Green Tea may reduce risk of prostate cancer's spread. The story from ScienceBlog

The polyphenols present in green tea help prevent the spread of prostate cancer by targeting molecular pathways that shut down the proliferation and spread of tumor cells, as well as inhibiting the growth of tumor nurturing blood vessels, according to research published in the December 1 issue of Cancer Research.

BTW: Isn't blogging awesome? I have to say that the Science Blog is one of my favorites! It really allows me to stay quite current on Nutritional Information. However, be warned, there are many pop-ups.

The vitamin controversy

More confusion enters the mix on vitamin and antioxidant supplementation. If you remember the last we had heard, vitamin E supplementation was deemed as potentially damaging. Before that we saw a study that suggested vitamin
popping may be useless. So what study do you believe? Good question!?!?!

It could be that there are more things at play here. For instance, vitamin supplements may be good for some and neutral (or worse) for others. That is the tack that a new paper in the Journal of American Medical Association. The conclusion?

Low-dose antioxidant supplementation may reduce the risk of cancer among men, but not in women. According to the new research, antioxidants including beta carotene, ascorbic acid, vitamin E, selenium, and zinc may prevent some of the harmful effects caused by free radicals -- reactive molecules produced by metabolism in the body. It has also been suggested that a low dietary intake of antioxidants increases the incidence of cancer and cardiovascular disease.

So antioxidant supplements seem good for men, but the study found no impact on women's health. Why? again a good question. Note the last sentence of the abstract--it suggests at least one reason for the findings. Namely that already are getting the necessary antioxidants from their diet. So eat your fruits and veggies!!

GREAT NEWS! OJ might help fight cancers!

What great news!

Science Blog - Citrus shows promise for certain childhood cancer:

"Orange juice and cancer don't mix. In fact, the popular citrus drink could become a cocktail to prevent or stop the deadly disease in humans. Research by Texas Agriculture Experiment Station scientists has shown that citrus compounds called limonoids targeted and stopped neuroblastoma cells in the lab. They now hope to learn the reasons for the stop-action behavior and eventually try the citrus concoction in humans."

Drink more OJ!!!! I truly believe it is the best drink there is. It goes great with virtually anything.

I am not sure why I like it so much, but I can drink it all day! I have it 4 or 5 times a day and 64 ounces a day is close to the norm through most of the warmer months.

Even better? A fresh-squeezed mix of Grapefruit, Orange, and Tangerines! In fact, I think I may have some today.

Smoking is bad for the brain

If your lungs, heart, pocket book, skin, teeth, etc were not enough, there is now another reason to quit smoking!

Smoking has been shown to be bad for your brain!BBC NEWS Health
Smoking 'is bad for your brain':

Researchers from the Universities of Aberdeen and Edinburgh looked at how the cognitive abilities of smokers and non-smokers changed over time. They found smokers performed significantly worse in five separate tests. The research, part of the Scottish Mental Health Survey, is published in New Scientist magazine.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4078841.stm

And yes they controlled for the "chicken or the egg" problem!