A. Kelly Kane, MS, RD, director of nutrition and business operations at the Frances Stern Nutrition Center at Tufts Medical Center, responds: “Sweet potatoes have some potential nutritional advantages over ordinary white potatoes. They are much higher in beta-carotene, for example. Sweet potatoes also tend to be higher in fiber than white potatoes, especially if you eat the skin. So sweet potatoes are a great alternative to white potatoes and are a healthier choice.
“Potatoes tend to raise blood sugar more quickly than non-starchy vegetables, such as broccoli and cauliflower. For that reason, sweet potatoes should serve as a starch in meals, replacing foods such as rice or pasta. That can be a confusing message for some people because potatoes are a vegetable (which Americans don’t eat enough of), but it should be perceived as the starch in your meal because the body will metabolize it like a starchy grain.”