Let's eat KAMOTE!

Seriously, my Rheumatologist, Dr. Esther Penserga, keeps on telling me everytime I had check-up to eat kamote, especially when my system is "LOW-BAT" term sa lupus when we feel sick. I also shared that advice when I meet people who suffers from joint pains like I do, "sabi kasi ng doctor ko", that's what I tell them.

NOW! I have a black and white fact forwarded by another doctor (ortho surgeon) about KAMOTE . . so guys, let's eat KAMOTE! and pas on this info. . .

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The underrated kamote can save our country
AS I WRECK THIS CHAIR
By William M. Esposo
(Thursday, April 17, 2008)

Too many wrong instructions have been programmed into the Filipino psyche. If we want to move forward, we must unlearn those things that bring us down. Our counterproductive mindsets prevent us from sustaining whatever beachheads we have accomplished.We are among the hardest to convince when it comes to retooling ourselves and adopting scientifically-validated new methods. We're afraid to venture beyond our comfort zone.


We are a nation blessed with tremendous natural resources and yet many Filipinos suffer from hunger and malnutrition. While it's true that the nation's wealth is cornered by only a few Filipinos, we must not lose sight of the fact that a good part of our malnutrition problem is also self-inflicted.

Rampant malnutrition could have been significantly checked had the government taken time to promote food alternatives that could even provide better nutrition than the usually consumed staples such as rice. Ignorance, not just lack of money, causes malnutrition.


Captive to our comfort zone, our people either do not know their food options or simply refuse to consider the other foods that are available to them. The underrated kamote illustrates my point. Do you know that kamote far exceeds the nutrition and health values of rice? Here are the benefits of substituting rice with kamote:


1. Kamote is more filling and suppresses hunger pangs longer. It is also cheaper than rice.


2. Unlike rice, kamote is so easy to grow. It grows in backyards with or without fertilizers. Local government executives can provide their poor communities with idle government land for planting kamote which the entire community can share.


3. Unlike rice which needs to be eaten with a dish, kamote tastes good and can be eaten by itself. Thus, substituting rice with kamote saves money for other needs.


4. Rice cannot match the nutritional values of kamote. Because rice converts to sugar in the body, the Philippines registers as a top producer of diabetics in the world. The poor tends to load up on rice and less on the dish which are more expensive. That makes them vulnerable to diabetes, an ailment known in developed countries as a rich man's disease.


5. The nutritional values of a 3 oz baked kamote are:

· calories 90,

· fat 0 g,

· saturated fat 0 g,

· cholesterol 0 mg,

· carbohydrate 21 g,

· protein 2 g,

· dietary fiber 3 g,

· sodium 36 mg,

· vitamin A 19,218 IU,

· folic acid 6 micrograms,

· pantothenic acid 1 mg,

· vitamin B6 1 mg,

· vitamin C 20 mg,

· vitamin E 1 mg,

· calcium 38 mg,

· manganese 1 mg,

· carotenoids 11,552 mcg, potassium 475 mg and

· magnesium 45 mg.





Compare that to a 100 g serving of white rice with:

· calories 361 kcal,

· water 10.2 g,

· total fat 0.8 g,

· dietary fiber 0.6 g,

· calcium 8 mg,

· phosphorous 87 mg,

· potassium 111 mg,

· sodium 31 mg,

· vitamin B1 0.07 mg,

· vitamin B2 0.02 mg,

· niacin 1.8 g,

· protein 6 g and

· carbohydrates 82 g.




6. Too much rice consumption can make you sick but kamote can bring you to health and keep away some health problems. These have been proved medically. In a medical documentary I watched recently on KBS World (the South Korean TV Network), I was awed by the results of the research the Koreans conducted on the nutritional and medicinal benefits of kamote (which they refer to as sweet potato).


Few Filipinos realize that South Korean doctors are among the finest in the world. The Korean doctors have accomplished many key breakthroughs in the field of medicine. It was a Korean doctor working in Germany who was able to develop the successful liver transplantation protocol (and the Germans almost placed him in jail for having experimented at home with live animals).

The Korean doctors enjoy the benefit of knowing both the Eastern and the Western methods to tackling diseases.


In that Korean medical documentary I watched (which I followed through the English subtitles), they presented the research findings on people with established health problems who were placed on a kamote/sweet potato diet.


Believe it or not — kamote lowers hypertension, bad cholesterol and even blood sugar when eaten as SUBSTITUTE TO RICE! The purple sweet potato (kamote) is particularly effective for lowering hypertension. Not only that, the Korean medical documentary credits the sweet potato (kamote) as high fiber and is one of the best foods that one can eat to prevent cancer! For those who are only impressed by US doctors, listen to this: the North Carolina Stroke Association, American Cancer Society, and the American Heart Association have all endorsed the sweet potato for its disease prevention and healing qualities.


The Americans, the South Koreans — both progressive nations — have raised the kamote to a high pedestal. Many of them even call the kamote a "super food that heals."

And just how do we Filipinos regard the kamote? Remember how we like to call a loser as one who is nangangamote (Filipino term for lagging behind)? Truly, unless we unlearn many things, we will, as a nation, always be nangangamote.

Sunny Days

"The Lord turns my darkness into light."

—2 Samuel 22:29

"April showers bring May flowers."


This saying reminds us of sunny days to come, and helps us get through the stormy transition from winter to spring. So, too, does prayer help us weather the storms in our lives. As we spend time in God’s presence and read His holy word, we remember His promise to us that we can do all things through Him. We are also reminded that He loves each one of us so much that He sent His son to take our sins upon Himself.

Kcat's dream to make her wish come true . . .

Two years wasn't a long wait for kcat since she totally lost her hearing. It was the worst part of our life that she could no longer hear us . . . a silent world for our daughter. But we never loses hope that one day she would be able to hear the world again. I strongly believed that MIRACLES DO HAPPEN and I know IT DID!

Kcat's wish to hear us all again would soon come. Come April 8, 2008 at 7 am in the morning Kcat will finally have her Cochlear Implantation at the Manila Doctors Hospital. With the help of God and all the people that God sent who supported in our fund drive and in this journey of our life, we will be able to make it. Nothing is really impossible if we hold on to HIM, perseverance and trust in your faith, HE will do the rest. Sa inyong lahat MARAMING MARAMING SALAMAT PO!

Your continuous support in our fund drive would be very much appreaciated to sustain Kcat's medical needs. Kcat's hEAR shirts are still available and soon she will come out with her other inspirational designs. You can avail the shirts during her confinement at Madocs.


Please be with us in prayers for the long term success of the implantation. Kcat's hearing problem is only one of those many defects that NF2 has caused her. But still, we believe that everything will work out well soon one at a time always in God's time.

AGAIN AND AGAIN, from the bottom of our heart . . .MARAMING MARAMING SALAMAT SA INYONG LAHAT!YOUR PRAYERS HELPED US MOVED THE MOUNTAINS.

GOD BLESS US ALL!!!