The Goodness of Sweet Potatoes

When I first started looking at sweet potatoes I was trying to figure out the difference between them and regular white potatoes. I was extremely surprised when I found out the difference so I thought I would write about it because I'm sure a lot of people (like me) didn't know how good they are for you!

Of course the first thing I always look for is what's the difference in fat and calories content? Surprisingly enough I found there wasn't a huge difference to them except for the fiber content.

White Potatoes (6 oz) Sweet Potatoes (6 oz)
189 calories 214 calories
.17 grams of fat .19 grams of fat
4.2 grams of fiber 7.1 grams of fiber

White potatoes carry all their vitamins and nutrients in their skins, the part that most of us toss away. Therefore, unless you leave the skins on your white potatoes there is virtually no nutrients in them whatsoever.

When I started reading about all of the vitamins and nutrients in a sweet potatoes and what they could do for you, I decided to start cooking with them instead.

Sweet potatoes themselves have a sweeter taste (hence the name it was given)
They also come from a completely different family than what white potatoes come from.

The white potatoes come from a family which name is Solanceae. Other members of this family include tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, and tomatillas.
The sweet potatoes come from a family which name is Convolvulaceae. The members of this family include the flower called morning glory.
So as you can see they are two totally different types of vegetable even though they share the same name.

Sweet potatoes having high fiber content would make them a more complex carbohydrate, meaning that it would take longer for them to digest in your system leaving you fuller longer.

I also found out that they have a great effect on diabetics as well. Now being a more complex carbohydrate alone will help blood sugar levels because it won't give you a spike in your sugar, like white potatoes will.
Sweet potatoes have 40% soluble fiber, which helps lower blood sugar and cholesterol. They are also rich in carotenoids, orange and yellow pigments that help the body respond to insulin.
They're also loaded with vitamin C, which is an everyday necessity for us. The vitamin C's antioxidants power in the sweet potatoes help arteries from being damaged helps fight heart disease and complications of diabetes.

Recent studies have shown among almost 2000 men that those with diets that were rich in beta-carotene and vitamin C were more likely to survive prostate cancer then ones without it.
The same thing was found in a study of women that it helped reduce the risk of breast cancer by as much as 25%.

Beta-carotene is a nutrient that is converted by the body into vitamin A. It's an antioxidant and may offer some protection against certain cancers and diseases.

Sweet potatoes are also great for people with high blood pressure because it's rich in potassium, which is known for bring blood pressure down.

Amazing that all of this can be found in one vegetable!! So try and substitute sweet potatoes where ever you are using white potatoes. They're a many great recipes out there for sweet potatoes.