Sweet potato vs Yam Truth

So many people use sweet potato in their Paleo diet. Why are they called yams if they are orange? Confuse the public why dont you!!!! Its strange because if you look in the canned food isle you'll see canned yams which should be called canned sweet potatoes. Not many people eat yams because they have thick scaly skin and are hard to peel.

Confused????
The confusion started several decades ago when orange flesh sweet potatoes were introduced into the southern United States, producers and shippers desired to distinguish them from the more traditional white flesh types. The African word "nyami" referring to the starchy, edible root of the Dioscorea genus of plants was adopted in its English form, "yam".

Nutritional facts vary and will make you change the way you cook with sweet potatoes and yams.

http://www.ncsweetpotatoes.com/nutrition/sweet-potato-vs-yam.html

http://mobile.associatedcontent.com/article/1464598/yam_vs_sweet_potato_nutrition_health.html

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_potato?wasRedirected=true

http://homecooking.about.com/od/howtocookvegetables/a/sweetpotatodiff.htm

Here is an example, both are sweet potatoes.



This is a yam. Weird scaly and hairy.