Sweet potatoes have long been a popular veggie across the world. As an increasing number of people have come to know of the multiple health benefits of sweet potatoes, their use has soared further. In fact, these vegetables have become so popular among Americans that an entire annual contest (Yambilee) has been devoted to them!
Sweet potatoes have plenty of Vitamin A, Vitamin B, Vitamin C, manganese, fiber, potassium, and even iron. A medium-sized sweet potato contains more than your daily requirement of vitamin A. It also fulfills nearly a third of your vitamin C needs, almost 15 percent of your daily dietary fiber requirement, and 10 percent of your body’s potassium requirement.
The Five Main Benefits Of Sweet Potatoes
Here are a few reasons why you should add sweet potatoes to your diet.
1. Regulate Blood Sugar Levels
Commonly used foods like rice, flour, and potatoes have high glycemic indices i.e. upon eating these items, the glucose in them is rapidly absorbed by the body, causing spurts and dips in blood sugar. Such sudden changes in blood sugar levels are unhealthy.
In such cases, the low glycemic index of sweet potatoes benefits your body, as the glucose gets absorbed at relatively slower rates. This is one of the key benefits of sweet potatoes that helps with faster weight reduction and also helps diabetics maintain healthy blood sugar levels. No wonder people from all over the world eat sweet potatoes, and you should too!
2. Strengthen The Immune System
Eating these tubers strengthens the immune system greatly, as they’re rich in immunological modifiers like beta-carotene, iron, and phosphorus.
3. Prevent Emphysema
Also, here’s some news for cigarette smokers. Consuming sweet potatoes can counter the Vitamin A deficiency that’s caused by smoking, which then helps prevent emphysema and saves your life. Of course, quitting smoking is always the best option for many reasons!
4. Improve Digestion
As sweet potatoes contain much more cellulose than ordinary potatoes, they improve digestion. They are also rich in starch and contribute around 7 gm of fiber per serving, much more than any other types of potatoes. This helps in maintaining good bowel health.
5. Prevent Cancer
Sweet potatoes are rich in antioxidants such as vitamin C and beta-carotene, which flush out the free radicals that cause cancer. As a result, when you eat sweet potatoes, the antioxidants present in them reverse the damage caused by free radicals on your DNA and protect you from cancer.
6. Fight Against Inflammations
These tubers also have high anti-inflammatory properties, which makes them an effective food option to fight inflammations, particularly for people suffering from asthma and arthritis.
What’s more, the vegetable is much healthier (and a wee bit tastier) than the regular potato. Use it to rustle up a variety of dishes and enjoy all the health benefits of sweet potatoes!