Lokmug: Sweet Potato

I have written an article entitled Padpadli: Casssava which gained the highest tip from the little guy. But lately, my articles seem not to get the attention of the bot.

In that cassava article I have described how country children enjoy and helped their parents with field works. And one of it is preparing the mud beds for planting sweet potato.

Sweet potato is locally called tugi when raw but we call it lokmug when cooked, preferably boiled. It was a staple food of our ancestors before rice was known. When rice was grown, it was only the kadangyan's- those who have plenty of rice paddies or something people called wealthy that were only able to grow them. Aside from cassava, sweet potato and other root crops, they also grew varieties of legumes, corn and the likes.

The sweet potato can be grown on kaingin's or those clearings on mountain sides that's why people on the lower caste with no rice paddies were able to grow them. The lands before were so rich that they need not to use conventional fertilizers. They just plant it and allow it to grow as it is but making sure that weeds doesn't outgrow the crops.

It was said that our village grew the sweetest of tugi. It was like it was intentionally sweetened with sugar because its just too sweet especially when it was gathered a month ago. Yes, sweet potatoes before have long shelf life and shoots start to grow after some time but still good. It becomes sweeter as days pass.

My grandparents told us that it was what they bring with them as baon on the ricefields to do the labor of the kadangyans. They were paid by some bundles of palay for a day of labor. Perhaps it was what the poorer stored to be able to grow their own rice. And maybe, it was the start of how rice had came to be grown generally.

I can remember when we were little, everytime we gather sweet potatoes on one of my grandparent's rice paddies we were able to bring home sacks full of big potatoes the size of a kid's thigh.

But did you know that even with sweet potato alone as their staple food people of long ago die of very old age? They still have clear eye sights just like it was on their youth days, too? They also have sharp memory, but those too old do loss hearing and memory

Yes, because sweet potatoes contain lots of vitamins and minerals which are very essential to our body. It is a root vegetable that belongs to the bindweed or morning glory family. It's young leaves and shoots are edible too. It is also cultivated all over the world and has over 400 variety. Most common ones were color white, yellow, cream, orange, red, and purple.

Aside from cassava, sweet potato can also be made into sabeng, a local beverage which can either be added on veggies or drink like rice wine.

Because it is highly nutritious, thus, termed as super food. It is packed with carbohydrates, fats, proteins, manganese, fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin B6,calcium ,iron, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, thiamin, potassium, panthothenic acid, copper, and niacin.

As a root crop, my son said it is a Go food because of its carbohydrates content. The protein makes it a Grow food and with its vitamins and minerals make it a Glow food. It's just good to know that such food belong tp all of the food groups.

It is not only rich in nutrients but also plays a major role in cleansing and promoting other health benefits in our body.

Antioxidant

This amazing food is a very good antioxidant that cleanses the system and have numerable plant compounds such as beta-carotene, chlorogenic acid, and anthocyanins.

Beta-carotene is an antioxidant carotenoid that our body converts into Vitamin A. This vitamin is responsible in preventing eye problems such that defficiency in it leads to temporary or permanent eye damage and can lead to blindness or macular degeneration. It also helps in strengthening immune function. An example of this is the yellow or orange variety.

Sweet potato is rich in chlorogenic acid-the most abundant polyphenol antioxidant.

Anthocyanins. The deeper- hued a sweet patato is, the higher its anthocyanin level. This include purple, red, and orange variety.

Other health benefits

Other health benefits of this super food includes blood sugar regulation, promotes gut health, reduce cancer risks, promotes healthy heart, and helps avoid getting obese.

Because of its compounds, sweet potato could aid in controlling blood sugar level. It has low GI (glycemic Index) that's why it has low chance of raising one's GI.

Sweet potato has both soluble and insoluble fiber which are very much needed in cleansing our gut, thus promoting gut health.

Its antioxidant contents such as carotenoid from orange variety lower the risk of cancer. The anthocyanins in purple variety lower the chance of colorectal cancer.

LDL or bad cholesterol is responsible in causing heart problems. However, consuming or adding sweet potato in the diet lowers LDL.

The purple sweet potato also has anti-inflammatory content that helps fat cells from growing. And with it, lowers the chance of obesity.

In our place we often prepare sweet potato boiled, fried, or roasted. But it can also be baked or steamed.

Boiling sweet potato is a good method as it raised blood levels of vitamin A in children. It also has better sugar regulation when boiled.

Frying also provides a healthy reaction as sweet potato's beta carotene content is much more absorbed when prepared with other fats or fat-containing foods. However frying sweet potatoes makes it lose its heat- sensitive nutrients. Some sliced it thinly and fry to make chips.

When we were young, when we were gathering sweet potatoes we used to cook it on the burning dried weeds as it is. It is like roasting. It needs to be tend to not get it burned. It's much flavorful which we enjoyed as a snack.

Other methods of cooking sweet potato are baking and steaming. Steaming is also a good method so as not to damage water soluble nutrients.

In the lowlands, I saw and cooked sweet potato with other vegetables. They have the tastless white, yellow or orange variety. The recipe includes sauteing garlic and onion in oil. Then add the peeled and cubed sweet potato, together with malunggay stick-like fruits.And season it with the popular fish sauce-bagoong. Lastly, garnish with malunggay leaves.

This food is also excellent either pureed or mashed and can be made into tarts, pies and hopia..

Since it is cultivated all over the world that you can find it in any food stalls it is good to add it in your diet and benefit from the nutrients it offers. I, as one who grew up with sweet potatoes never did realize this food's health benefits until I have read an article about it in a magazine during highschool days. It is something to crave for because of its distinct deliciousness.

I was not very familiar with the sweet potato's variety and names in our place but we used to grow the white, yellow, orange, cream, red and little of the deep purple variety. Sadly, due to global warming and climate change and perhaps the way of cultivation- soil prone to conventional fertilizers that these varieties barely survived until they were totally lost. Yet, thankfully a new variety was introduced some years back which can withstand and survive our current environmental situation. It is a good variety because it is purple colored with white-creamy flesh at the center. However, unlike the ones we used to grow, it has shorter shelf life. It will be infested with worms if it stayed a little longer than a month or two.

With the said numerous health benefits of this tuber did it make our forefathers strong and healthy.

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