Sweet Potato Power: Smart Carbs: Paleo and Personalized

by Ashley Tudor

If you want to look good, perform at your peak and be in tip-top shape, you must choose smart fuel for your body, not the processed "food" found on the shelves of every supermarket. Many have turned to Paleo and a low carb way of life to avoid the effects of these food impostors we were never designed to eat. Low carb diets, however, can leave you feeling as though you don't have enough gas in the tank.

Low carbs need to be smart carbs. Lucky for us, nature has given us the nutritious, delicious sweet potato. This super food gives all the benefits of other high energy foods with more nutrition and without spiking blood sugar. Plus, this humble tuber tastes great and is easily incorporated into your diet in seriously good ways.

Sweet Potato Power gives you the tools to run your own tests to determine the diet rules that work specifically for you and your unique biology. Through self experimentation you can cut through diet mumbo jumbo, and let science and your numbers speak for themselves to answer questions such as:
How many carbs should I eat to make me look, feel and perform at my best?
What foods spike my blood sugar the most and make me fat?
How do I eliminate craving?
How can I avoid mental fogs and post-lunch energy slumps?
How can I optimize my carbs with my athletic pursuits?
How can I get fit without getting fat?
What exercise is best for my body?
How can my kids become the most delightful version of themselves?
How can my doctor be a well-care provider instead of a sick-care provider?

Understanding a bit of science and incorporating new tools in your arsenal will make you an active participant in your health. Applying what you learn brings you closer to the ideal version of you. All of this and easy sweet potato recipes so you can incorporate this power food into your everyday life—making Sweet Potato Power a force to be reckoned with!

Genres: Nonfiction, Nutrition, Food, Health, Cookbooks, Diets, Cooking

288 pages, Paperback

First published March 27, 2012

Reviews

[Dave Bolton · Rating 4 out of 5]

First, ignore the title. This book was mainly useful for outlining the self-testing that is available to an individual -- from determining cortisol levels to how to use a glucometer. There is a bunch about sweet potatoes, and I will start adding them into my diet, but the testing stuff was far more useful.

[Jason Britt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fantastic educational and reference book. Ashley Tudor clearly explains the scientific and physiological reasoning behind paleo diets. I'm not yet ready for a strict paleo diet or extensive testing, though I now watch my carb intake and consume more healthy fats. This book will be a solid resource for some time.

[Douglas Winn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read the usual required reading for the paleo/primal community(Sisson,Wolfe,Devany etc...) and while the others were good, I liked this book the best of what I have read so far. Great, easy to implement information. The other books showed me the light about ditching conventional wisdom regarding health and illness and changing my diet based on ancestral foods. This book stepped it up a notch and got me off my butt, motivating me to actually monitor and self experiment in order to really figure out how to optimize my health. Recipes in this book are killer also. Sweet Potato brownies DO taste like cake!:)

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well organized, but didn't add much to my existing knowledge-base. This would be an excellent first paleo book, but not reference book worthy

[Meghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great resource and recipes, more of a 3.85 than 4.0, though.

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

cant wait to try the recipes. lots of great tips for blood sugar and diet modifications

[david kurimsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book. I have only used it as a recipe book, although the first half is devoted to nutrition science, weight loss and how sweet potatoes fit into all that.

[Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has good recipes, but I don't think the first section on health is accurate. She seems to be a proponent of the carbohydrate hypothesis (e.g. carbs cause modern disease) which I just don't think is right. She talks about monitoring blood sugar for otherwise healthy people (monitoring for diabetics makes sense).

The recipes were good, though a few I wouldn't recommend (the brownies are not worth eating). The savory recipes were better (the sweet potato linguine with sage and butter is quite yummy).

[Polina · Rating 3 out of 5]

The books seems oddly mistitled. Majority is in fact a Paleo diet primer but with a very important distinction - there is a comprehensive chapter on multiple self and doctor administered tests one can undertake to help one hone their diet and hormonal levels. Highly valuable in the current trend of n=1 diets and lifestyle design advise and lacking in other sources. I found most recipes over the top complicated but there is a good handful that can be simplified or followed as is. Overall a good addition to a Paleo library for the unique information and recipes it provides.

[Grace Davlos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! Really breaks everything down in the most simple and applicable way I have seen yet. A great compliment to reading other related books with a slightly different point of view. Everyone in my life is sick of me talking about this book.

[Renee · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you are new to learning about how nutrition and calories affect your body this book will work for you but I am not new to this. I was expecting this book to be more about sweet potatoes and cooking them but it only had about 35 recipes. Maybe the book should have just been titled Smart Carbs.

[Marsha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of great info about the "safe starch" and soemthing I'm trying to incorporate into my bag 'o tricks for healthier eating! I even bought this one it was so good.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent on the basics of good carbs, blood sugar control and the glories of the sweet potato. Made a great sweet potato/ summer squash patty we now eat with breakfast!

[David Reber · Rating 4 out of 5]

The power of the sweet potato revealed. George Washington Carver would be proud.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

interesting science and delightful recipes