It is nearly impossible to scroll through wellness or fitness content these days without stumbling across one or two posts recommending sweet potato and ground beef for weight loss.
In a world dominated by elaborate meal plans, exotic ingredients, and complicated cooking routines, this simple pairing has caught the attention of body transformation enthusiasts looking for a straightforward way to lose weight.
Elizabeth Wafula, a food and nutrition scientist who has been on the sweet potato and ground beef diet since January.
One of them is Elizabeth Wafula, a 37-year-old food and nutrition scientist, whose weight loss journey began with a look in the mirror.
“This was toward the end of December last year, specifically the 27th,” she says. “The person I saw in the mirror was not someone I liked. She had changed in ways that made me uncomfortable both mentally and socially, and she was developing some external symptoms like skin tags around the neck that concerned me enough to want to make changes to the way I was living.”
As the new year began, so did her efforts to become a better, healthier version of herself. “I tried fasting and food portion control, but I was still consuming all kinds of food. And while the fasting worked to some extent, it made me realise that the problem was in the kitchen,” she says. “So I started paying attention to my diet and how best to structure it.”
That’s when she came across the online recommendations. The testimonials of how well the sweet potato and ground beef diet had worked for others were further supported by her own professional understanding of the sweet potato.
Minced meat.
Photo credit: Shutterstock
Having worked with it in her research work, she intimately knew and understood its structure, nutrition, and benefits. She didn’t need much convincing after that.
“I dropped all the inflammatory foods – wheat and sugars in any form, including fruits and honey. I also dropped dairy products and switched from seed oil to ghee, butter, or tallow,” she says. “So then I had to embrace proteins, vegetables, and complex carbohydrates, which include sweet potatoes, arrowroots, and green bananas. So when I came upon this combination of sweet potato and ground beef, I knew that it would support my goals of losing weight and maintaining a long-term healthy lifestyle.”
It’s been around nine months since she made the decision, and Elizabeth has never looked back. Her daily diet now consists of two meals – one after 10 am and another before 7 pm. For both these meals, she eats a medium-sized piece of sweet potato, a reasonable amount of ground beef, and some vegetables. On occasion, she also accompanies the meal with kefir milk.
In terms of preparation, she mostly boils her sweet potatoes, but to change things up, she sometimes chops them up à la fries, dabs some ghee on them, and air-fries them. For the meat, she fries it in ghee, alongside onions, tomatoes, and other condiments. Her side of vegetables is typically prepared in the same manner as the beef, but now and then she’ll have a carrot and beetroot salad, sauerkraut, or an avocado.
Alongside the change in diet, she also strength-trains at least three or four days a week, puts in her 10,000 steps every day, and participates in runs or marathons once in a while.
When she last checked her weight in August, she had lost approximately 21 kg.
But while she appreciates that her meal prep is now quick and easy, she never has to spend time deciding what to eat, and she no longer eats emotionally, she admits that it wasn’t always easy.
“Now I can walk through a bakery and see all the beautiful cakes on display but remain unfazed. Cravings no longer bother me, but it was hard in the beginning, especially because I have children who enjoy all these things, and I was constantly surrounded by them. Today, I can even make chapatis for the whole family and not have any,” she says.
“I kept looking at my long-term goal and reminding myself that what I am after is not just a quick fix,” she says.
Is there anything special about this combination, or is it simply a meal that can fit into a balanced weight-loss diet?
Lisabel Nabwile, a clinical nutritionist and dietician at AAR Healthcare Clinic, Rupaz Fun and Fitness Center, and Metrocare Clinic.
According to Lisabel Nabwile, a clinical nutritionist and dietician at AAR Health Care Clinic, Rupaz Fun and Fitness Center, and Metrocare Clinic, the appeal lies in the complementary nutrients the two foods provide.
“Sweet potatoes are a source of carbohydrates, of course, but they have a high amount of fibre, which is a very good nutrient when it comes to weight loss,” she says.
Keeping the skin on, provided it is washed thoroughly, can add fibre to the meal. And fibre slows digestion, helps with fullness, and can moderate the rise in blood sugar after a meal.
“And then ground beef is a good source of high-quality protein which helps you feel full for longer and preserves your muscle mass as you lose weight,” she says.
But the pairing itself is not a shortcut to shedding kilos. Lisabel emphasises that one needs to be in a calorie deficit to see results. That means that the portion size, preparation method, level of activity, and even the type of ground beef matters.
“Sweet potatoes are healthy, yes, but they are still a source of carbohydrates. And in excess, carbohydrates spike your body’s sugar levels, causing it to preserve or store more fat,” she says. “Ground beef, on the other hand, contains a lot of fat, so if the goal is to lose weight, you first have to go the lean way and get lean ground beef, and also be very specific in terms of the amounts you are consuming.”
