Jacksonville's Neighborhood Garden

The Doctor's Office

I am especially happy to see the super foods yams and apples in this weeks produce bag!

Yams in the US are (most often) actually sweet potatoes. Historically Americans distinguished the firmer, northern sweet potato from the softer southern sweet potato by referring to the latter as a yam. Technically, however, yams are a different plant species that you may find as a chunk of root wrapped in plastic in your produce aisle.  But more importantly yams (sweet potatoes) are one of the healthiest foods we can eat, and should be a staple in most diets.  Yams are low in sodium, and extremely low (almost nonexistent) in saturated fat and cholesterol.  Yams are extremely rich in vitamin C, manganese and provide over 700% of daily recommended allowance for Vitamin A through it's precursor beta-carotene.  Yams are a good source of fiber, B6, potassium, copper and folate among other nutrients as well.  If you're interested in great looking skin, enjoy plenty of yams as the anti-oxidant capacity along with the beta-carotene is especially good at producing that healthy glow!

What about the apple?  Everyone has heard that an apple a day keeps the doctor away, but the apple seems so common in this day and age of super berries and exotic fruits.  But it turns out there's good reason for all the folk lore about apples.  Apples should be considered a super fruit due to their high content of fiber and phenols.  Apples are among the top 10 fruits for anti-oxidant capacity, and when you break it down by cost, apples move into the top 5 biggest anti-oxidant bang for your buck.  Especially good news this week is that Braeburn Apples are among the tops in anti-oxidant capacity when comparing the different types of apples.