Disclaimer

This blog is the first in a planned series on food as a path to health. Wherever possible, I have given expert references to back up what I have stated. Nevertheless, I must start with a disclaimer.

I am not a medical practitioner. The suggestions proffered through this blog are not a substitute for competent professional medical advice. Their sole purpose is to share what I have learned, so that others might be inspired to commence their own, personally crafted journeys to health and wellness through food, after seeking proper professional guidance.

We live in an age of food allergies. Even if you feel inspired to try the path I have trod, you must clear, with your own personal physician, the unfamiliar foods you are here inspired to consume. I do not assume any liability for problems arising from your ignoring this warning. Caveat lector!

How my quest began

It all started in late 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, while I was in hospital as the attendant¹ to my wife, who was scheduled for surgery.

To while away the boredom, I tuned in to a BBC documentary channel on the TV in the hospital room. The featured programme happened to be on the longevity of the people of Okinawa.² The documentary was utterly engrossing. Its primary thesis was that the purple sweet potato—a foundational part of Okinawan diet—was a major contributor to the well-being and longevity of Okinawans.

I cannot now find a link to that BBC documentary. But there is a short clip entitled “Can this purple vegetable be the secret to a long life?” [1] that summarizes the facts on “why the people from the island of Okinawa off Japan, live longer than anywhere else in the world and far fewer elderly suffer dementia.” [1].

While not all of us might desire to live to a hundred years or beyond, I think everyone would desire to live their lives without physical or mental deficits, until the end. And that was how my quest for physical and mental health/wellness through superfoods [2–4] began.

The Purple Sweet Potato

The sweet potato is a humble and underrated vegetable that does not even show itself. It is a tuber that grows underground. Contrary to its name its average glycemic index is X: lower than the normal potato whose glycemic index is Y.

The sweet potatoes available at produce markets in Coimbatore, where I live, has a pink skin and off-white flesh. It is different from the Okinawa purple sweet potato. And, unfortunately, it is the only variety at local produce markets.

The purple sweet potato has traditionally been available in countries like Malaysia and Singapore. Its skin is a ruddy purple, and its flesh is a uniform purple.

There is a copious literature cataloguing the benefits of purple sweet potatoes [5–8]. If you did a search of PubMed on he benefits of purple sweet potato, you would come up with dozens o papers in support of that claim. So, why no purple sweet potatoes in Coimbatore?

Odisha Purple Sweet Potatoes

The Orange Sweet Potato

Acknowledgements

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References

•  health (1)
•  longevity (1)
•  Okinawa (1)
•  orange sweet potatoes (1)
•  purple sweet potatoes (1)