As we enter the fall season, it’s a good time to dig into a tasty sweet potato! These orange, white, and/or purple beauties are packed with delicious flavor. Serve them baked, mashed, or sliced into fries, it doesn’t matter: bend a sweet potato into any shape and you’ll still have a good time clearing it off your plate. Sweet potatoes are more than a delightful dish: they’re also quite good for you! Sweet potatoes are a superfood rich in beneficial nutrients and other properties that can help keep you healthy.
Nutrient Rich
What qualifies something as a “superfood”? It’s all in the little things— the nutrients, to be exact. Superfoods are densely packed with a high amount of vitamins and minerals. Sweet potatoes have more than enough nutrients to be considered a superfood:
- Vitamin A
- Calcium
- Vitamin C
- Iron
- Magnesium
- Zinc
- Potassium
- Thiamin
- B Vitamins
- Phosphorus
- Choline
- Selenium
- Folate
- Vitamin K
Protects Eyesight
Looking to add a staple to your diet that protects your eyesight? Sweet potatoes are chockfull of substances that can protect your eye and retinal health. The high Vitamin A content helps safeguard against macular degeneration while also protecting the retina from damage by free radicals. Sweet potatoes also contain antioxidants and anthocyanins that have anti-inflammatory properties for your eyes and have the added benefit of reducing the risk of developing dry eye syndrome.
Good for Your Gut
If you’re having issues with your digestion or find yourself struggling in the bathroom, adding sweet potatoes to your diet could help mitigate those issues. Sweet potatoes contain quite a bit of fiber (both soluble and insoluble), which work to both bolster your gut bacteria while also keeping things moving down there. In addition to the fiber, the antioxidant content in sweet potatoes also can be a boon for your gut wealth: studies have found that these antioxidants promote the growth of healthy gut bacteria. Greater amounts of these beneficial gut bacteria can lead to lower risk of developing conditions like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
Anticancer
Studies have found that sweet potatoes have anticancer benefits. Sweet potatoes contain phytochemicals, which are plant-based compounds that help protect plants from bacteria, viruses, invasive fungi, and parasites. These phytochemicals can help reduce the risk of developing breast cancer, gastric cancer, and colon adenocarcinoma.
Diabetic Friendly
Sweet potatoes can be a safe and healthy snack for people dealing with diabetic issues. Part of the reason why is that sweet potatoes have a low glycemic index. What that means is that they cause a less drastic rise in your blood sugar compared to other starches. Purple sweet potatoes are also rich in phenolic acids, which can help with insulin sensitivity.
Heart Healthy
One of the major healthy benefits of sweet potatoes is that they can reduce your bad cholesterol levels. Sweet potatoes can also lower your blood pressure, which puts less physical stress on your heart. Another beneficial aspect of sweet potatoes is that they contain peptides which make you feel more full when you eat, which helps promote weight loss.
Article by Austin Brietta
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