Sweet Potato Not My Friend In Abundance?

[Emstar1892]

So the store near me sells plain sweet potatoes fried in coconut oil. It's delicious, and cheap, though I have to admit that I've been buying it almost daily for the last ten days or so, and munching on it all day.

Anyway towards the end I felt a bit weird...foggy and ill, and my face went puffy and throat felt swollen. I stopped eating them Thursday and am now back to normal!

So they're fine in small amounts, but can anyone explain the reaction?? I know peat is anti beta-carotene but I'm not sure why, is his reasoning related to my reaction?

 

[jaguar43]

So the store near me sells plain sweet potatoes fried in coconut oil. It's delicious, and cheap, though I have to admit that I've been buying it almost daily for the last ten days or so, and munching on it all day.

Anyway towards the end I felt a bit weird...foggy and ill, and my face went puffy and throat felt swollen. I stopped eating them Thursday and am now back to normal!

So they're fine in small amounts, but can anyone explain the reaction?? I know peat is anti beta-carotene but I'm not sure why, is his reasoning related to my reaction?

Sounds like it could have cause intestinal irritation. Or you are allergic. Puffy face and throat are classic signs of an allergy to a certain substance. Have you tried regular potatoes chips cooked in coconut oil ? They may be more digestible and less allergic.

 

[DaveFoster]

Peat doesn't endorse sweet potatoes. He doesn't even favor white potatoes over fruit.

It's because beta-carotene steals b-vitamins in its conversion into retinol (usable vitamin A).

 

[thegiantess]

Peat doesn't endorse sweet potatoes. He doesn't even favor white potatoes over fruit.

It's because beta-carotene steals b-vitamins in its conversion into retinol (usable vitamin A).

Huh. I didn't know that! I have a friend who has hashimotos. She basically lives off sweet potato, which just makes her orange color worse. I've told her about what is making her turn orange and suggested giving up sweet potatoes might lessen the hue. But this is another reason for avoiding them. The last thing she needs is a b deficiency.

 

[Westside PUFAs]

One of the longest lived cultures consumed a daily diet of 70% sweet potato: Okinawa longevity diet high in Vitamin A (from beta-carotene) | Ray Peat Forum

So they're fine in small amounts, but can anyone explain the reaction??

No, I can't. In order to do that, I would need to know the following, your:

Age
Height
True weight
Gender of birth
Current blood labs taken from you when fasted for at least 12 hours
All pharmaceutical medications you currently take
All pharmaceutical medications you have taken in the past including any birth control
All dietary supplements including "natural" hormones you currently take
All dietary supplements including "natural" hormones you have taken in the past
Activity on a weekly basis
Approximate location in the world
Quality of the air you breathe
What kind of water you drink
How much sunlight you receive directly on your skin and on which parts of the body
Level of life stress
Level of sexual satisfaction
How many hours you sleep per night
How often you wake up during sleep
What hours to sleep from and to, as in normal or late like 3am-noon
What products you put on your skin like make up, soap, and other chemicals

You're talking about fried sweet potato. Fried foods are not optimal no matter what oil they are cooked in. Frying creates toxins. The fried sweet potato you speak of may be refried in a rancid oil which that business' typically do to save money especially on something expensive like coconut oil.

I know peat is anti beta-carotene but I'm not sure why, is his reasoning related to my reaction?

Not true. I cut a Peat quote on beta-carotene here, like many things, it's an optimal healthy metabolism that can handle carotene just fine:

Another similar quote: Most fruits contain some carotene, and with vitamin B12 and good thyroid function, that will be turned into vitamin A." - Ray Peat

Peat doesn't endorse sweet potatoes. He doesn't even favor white potatoes over fruit.

It's because beta-carotene steals b-vitamins in its conversion into retinol (usable vitamin A).

Endorse? Are sweet potato running for office now? Do you have a source for that claim of b-vitamins and retinol?

 

[Brian]

So the store near me sells plain sweet potatoes fried in coconut oil. It's delicious, and cheap, though I have to admit that I've been buying it almost daily for the last ten days or so, and munching on it all day.

Anyway towards the end I felt a bit weird...foggy and ill, and my face went puffy and throat felt swollen. I stopped eating them Thursday and am now back to normal!

So they're fine in small amounts, but can anyone explain the reaction?? I know peat is anti beta-carotene but I'm not sure why, is his reasoning related to my reaction?

You need thyroid hormone and ample B12 to convert beta carotene to retinol. It's best to limit it to a reasonable amount until you are sure these are available to complete the conversion to retinol. White sweet potatoes are an obvious way to avoid the excess carotene.

I'll second Westside's suggestion that they are likely fried in a cheap oil, but I'm still not sure why you would have a reaction to that.

 

[Such_Saturation]

When did he ever mention anything other than white well cooked potatoes?

 

[DaveFoster]

Another similar quote: Most fruits contain some carotene, and with vitamin B12 and good thyroid function, that will be turned into vitamin A." - Ray Peat



Endorse? Are sweet potato running for office now? Do you have a source for that claim of b-vitamins and retinol?

C*****.

 

[Such_Saturation]

 

[goodandevil]

One of the longest lived cultures consumed a daily diet of 70% sweet potato: Okinawa longevity diet high in Vitamin A (from beta-carotene) | Ray Peat Forum



No, I can't. In order to do that, I would need to know the following, your:

Age
Height
True weight
G


Yes, especially levels of sexual satisfaction! Very important.

One of the longest lived cultures consumed a daily diet of 70% sweet potato: Okinawa longevity diet high in Vitamin A (from beta-carotene) | Ray Peat Forum



No, I can't. In order to do that, I would need to know the following, your:

Age
Height
True weight
Gender of birth
Current blood labs taken from you when fasted for at least 12 hours
All pharmaceutical medications you currently take
All pharmaceutical medications you have taken in the past including any birth control
All dietary supplements including "natural" hormones you currently take
All dietary supplements including "natural" hormones you have taken in the past
Activity on a weekly basis
Approximate location in the world
Quality of the air you breathe
What kind of water you drink
How much sunlight you receive directly on your skin and on which parts of the body
Level of life stress
Level of sexual satisfaction
How many hours you sleep per night
How often you wake up during sleep
What hours to sleep from and to, as in normal or late like 3am-noon
What products you put on your skin like make up, soap, and other chemicals

You're talking about fried sweet potato. Fried foods are not optimal no matter what oil they are cooked in. Frying creates toxins. The fried sweet potato you speak of may be refried in a rancid oil which that business' typically do to save money especially on something expensive like coconut oil.



Not true. I cut a Peat quote on beta-carotene here, like many things, it's an optimal healthy metabolism that can handle carotene just fine:

Another similar quote: Most fruits contain some carotene, and with vitamin B12 and good thyroid function, that will be turned into vitamin A." - Ray Peat



Endorse? Are sweet potato running for office now? Do you have a source for that claim of b-vitamins and retinol?

Yes, especially levels of sexual satisfaction. Very important! Tell Dr. Kellog, enquiring minds want to know.

 

[Richiebogie]

The long lived Okinawans of the 1950s ate large amounts of a purple fleshed sweet potato.

How does this differ from the yellow sweet potato?

Did they roast/steam it underground in banana leaves and over coals?

 

[Emstar1892]

Thanks guys! And just for clarity this is a posh store in Notting Hill where the sweet potatoes are organic and cooked in raw organic virgin coconut oil each morning, so I'm doubting rancidity.

Also, I think referrals to okinawa in today's nutrition debates are slightly dubious - given that they are isolated it's much more likely they've developed to metabolise beta carotene in large amounts - a substance which, where I live, wasn't even consumed by my grandparents! Not saying it's wrong to do so but I'm not going to blindly eat something in excess because a couple thousand people in an untouched tropical tribe are still alive despite it!

It sounds like the thyroid and b12 thing is the most likely to be honest. Just had amother test done and free t4 and free t3 have now sunk to below normal ranges tsh still 2.4 though

 

[Emstar1892]

For reference cronometer.com clocks it as 65589 ui for the past couple of weeks. I wonder how long it will take to get it all out of my body!

 

[BobbyDukes]

I suppose the sweet potato is cooked. So that immediately makes the carotene more bioavailable (if what Peat says about carrots is true). Plus the coconut oil (being a fat carrier) could increase absorbtion further.

Some fruits also contain a lot of carotene (mangos, our beloved oranges, watermelon, etc), but if they are eaten raw (like a raw carrot), the carotene absorption is reduced? That would be my guess.

 

[Richiebogie]

The purple-fleshed Okinawan sweet potato probably has little beta carotene as per beetroot.

It would be funny if it turned out it was a sugary vegetable (not starchy) like beetroot too, wouldn't it, Westside PUFAs?

 

[Such_Saturation]

Starch is causing overgrowth.

 

[Emstar1892]

Of...

 

[Such_Saturation]

I don't know... probably bacteria! Foggy and ill is serotonin, swollen neck is histamine, does your nose stuff up too?

 

[Emstar1892]

Hmm. Maybe you're right!

Having looked up beta carotene and hypothyroidism though, Im pretty sure that's what's happened. The yellow callouses are there and my liver feels congested (confirmed by a forehead breakout which never happens!). That would also explain why im converting less free t3 despite carb and calorie increase. Also, the last few days I've been fully clothed in front of a heater still freezing, pulse is back to 36, you get the picture...luckily the neck pain is going away though. It was like a deep ache when I turned my head, bad enough to keep me awake!

 

[Such_Saturation]

Hmm that's a good point, I think vitamin E and C could be good for that carotene issue.