Yacón: The HEALTHY sugar alternative!

It’s true! This sugar alternative, yacón, helps keep a healthy gut and regulates blood sugar levels. Read all about the super-tuber that even the Incas admired.

Origin and production

The yacón plant grows roughly 20 centimeter-long tubers that have a sweet taste and a crisp consistency, which is why it’s also called the ground apple.

Today, yacón thrives especially well in the subtropical Andes of Colombia and Argentina. Since the plant is very adaptable, cultivation has also been successful outside of South America, like in the U.S. for example. This reduces the carbon footprint of the superfood enormously.

Health

What makes yacón a healthy sugar alternative is its very low glycemic index (GI). The GI indicates how fast and high a person’s blood sugar is affected by certain foods. By comparison, the GI of household sugar is between 56 and 75, while coconut sugar is at 35.

What makes yacón a healthy natural sweetener? Yacon is primarily made of fructose, which is largely present in the form of fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) and inulin. Unlike conventional sugar, FOS and inulin are indigestible, which means there aren’t any spikes in blood sugar levels. Unprocessed FOS and inulin reach the intestines and encourage healthy bowel function, which is why yacón is also recommended to help with constipation.

Moreover, yacón sweetener helps feed the good bacteria in your gut. These bacteria serve as a natural prebiotic for your intestinal flora. Yacon also contains healthy minerals like iron, calcium, and potassium, as well as antioxidants.

Use

You can eat the tuber raw (peeled), or it can be boiled, stewed or roasted. Yacón syrup and powder are also commercially available.

Yacón comes in dried disks too! They make tasty snacks, or suited for making a sweet stock to sweeten drinks or desserts. To do so, douse the dried yacón disks with boiling water, let them soak for a couple of hours. Later, remove the disks and the sweetened water remains.