I can eat small amounts of sweet potato by itself just fine. When I eat larger amounts combined with meat, I get digestive issues (read: gas) within 30 minutes or so. I have no other digestive issues and am otherwise in great health.

I think it may have something to do with the raffinose in sweet potatoes, which is the same gas-causing oligosaccharide found in beans and broccoli. Maybe when I eat large amounts combined with meat, more of the raffinose or undigested starch makes it to the colon for fermentation. I don't have this problem with regular ol' potatoes. Perhaps the lower amount of fiber and lack of raffinose allows for a much quicker and more efficient digestion in the small intestine. They do have a higher glycemic load, which I think could be a good thing in this case.

Could it be the salicylate content? I know sweet potatoes have a high concentration of salicylate and shouldn't be eaten by those with a salicylate sensitivity.

My symptoms are much like those Phoenix described. I don't get truly ill from tubers, it's more discomfort and turbulence. White potatoes are even worse than sweet for me.

Yesterday Paul Jaminet's post mentioned that migraine may involve difficulty processing glucose properly in the brain and I was struck by that because prior to ancestral eating I had severe migraine and unlike so many on PH I don't seem to thrive on starch. All those others praise tubers as a great source of glucose. I, in fact, do better on non-starchy vegetables (except rutabagas if they're considered starchy) and a moderate level of fruit. I also have a strong preference for green apples rather than ripe (starchy) and very ripe bananas rather than firm (starchy.)

I hope Paul will expand on his comment in future posts as I'd really been wondering why so many people raved about starch and I just couldn't seem to thrive on it. I've never really liked rice or oats although I certainly liked wheat when I ate SHAD (supposedly healthy American diet.)

I have a severe intolerance for wheat, also discovered since I began ancestral eating, but otherwise I seem to have rapid and comfortable digestion.

So far, everyone gets some 'gas' from eating sweet potatoes, depending on quantity and/or what it is eaten with.

I have on what I call a heavy carb day eaten 3-4 450+gram sweet potatoes by themselves or with various other things like meat,eggs,spinach, onions (my staples) and yes, they have made me fart a bit, but nothing horrible.

I remember eating SAD or military food and I could clear a room, absolutely not true while eating Paleo.

Further proof that the 99.999% can consume sweet potatoes without any abnormal issues.

Intolerance? Maybe. I cannot STAND the taste of sweet potatoes or yams in any preparation.

I get terrible bloating and painful gas when I eat more than a little bit of sweet potato. No prob with regular potato. Raffinose?

The schools are now serving sweet potatoe fries. We love them, but we are discovering they are interupting our studies! Another excuse to get out of class and fart in the hall.

Sweet potatoes are not for people who are FODMAP´s intolerant.

Do a course of oregano-clove-coconut oil 2x a day for 6 weeks to level out your bacteria. Then take some good probiotocs like Dr. Ohirra's etc daily. Eat taters regularly in small amounts and slowly increase. You're tolerance will increase.

Next, try to eat starches on an empty stomach FIRST, and COMPLETELY, give it a few minutes after you finish, then eat your meat and veggies. Meat and starch digestion needs different pH levels and digestive conditions, and different enzymes. Separate them and problems will be drastically reduced.

Starch alone can cause blood sugar spikes. Meat-fat-starch eaten together can cause digestive issues. Eating them separately, in order of required digestion time with the shortest time/fastest passing food first, but in close time-proximity to each other, mediates both issues. This is what I've found.

Same for me, whenever I have sweet potatoes i'm er-irregular- for over 24 hours. And if I eat too many, it's the opposite.... hahah so I avoid them. Regular potatoes i'm fine with though it's very weird.

After zero carb for a year, I started eating veg again, particularly sweet potatoes. I went 4 months eating 2 LARGE sweet potatoes a day. Very discomfort. But the reality is, with eating more starches and fibres, some gas will be produced from gut flora! It's just a fact. I used to consider my self sensitive to carbs, but trained my body otherwise.

My daughter has a sweet potato intolerance. About an hour after eating even a tiny amount of them she will projectile vomit for about 3 hours. She is almost 3 years old and hasn't had them for about two years. Our pediatrician suggested re-introducing them to her at age 3...not looking forward to that! Has anyone else done this? Re-introduced with successful results?