Yacon is a product grown in South America in Andean countries like Peru being used around the world by diabetics, people managing blood sugar-related conditions, and anyone who needs a sugar substitute.
It’s been reported by Peruvians and others who have used it for many years to help avoid constipation, keep glucose and cholesterol levels at a normal range, promote healthy bacteria development as a pre-biotic (bifido bacteria and lacto-bacilus) that stimulates the immune system, improve calcium assimilation preventing osteoporosis, and support diabetics and weight watchers with it’s minimal impact on blood sugar levels.
The root is reported to taste like a cross between an apple and watermelon, and is crisp and sweet. It’s available by import and is beginning to show up on the shelves in some health food stores in the U.S., though I found it hard to find in the Lower Hudson Valley, NY and Northern, NJ areas where I live. I traveled around or called five health food stores, and only two had the product. Both were sold out. The syrups I’ve used had a molasses consistency, and I feel it has it’s own unique flavor.
Yacon is sold in a number of different forms to suit people’s preferences: honey, syrup, dried slices, powdered, raw extract, marmalade, jelly, juice, tea, and capsules. It can be used in any way you would normally use sugar products that are unhealthy for you. I first discovered it in a village in Peru called Ollantaytambo three years ago. A small shop sold it as "Miel de Yacon" (Yacon’s Honey) in 250 grams in a jar. I fell in love with it for the taste, and the health benefits. I don’t have diabetes but it runs on both sides of my family. You know what they say: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
The yacon is unique because it’s carbohydrates are stored as inulin and oligofructanes (FOS) a polymer mainly composed of fructose and glucose. Most other tubers and roots store carbohydrates as starch. The sugar it produces is not absorbed by the body–not assimilated or digested in the intestine, and it has only one-fourth the calories in regular sugar. It’s considered a Low Glycemic Index food.
Some of the nutritional components are minerals like potassium, iron, magnesium, sodium, calcium and copper; and high vitamin contents such as thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), and niacin (B6).
The only issue I have with the product is the high cost for it that does not make it accessible to everyone who needs it. I’ve purchased two sizes of the syrup here in the United States: one onliine (12 ounces, $23.95, plus shipping) and one in a store (6.6 ounces, $8.00).