Sweet Potato Health Benefits – The sweet potato is one of the healthiest foods, so the health benefits of this foods is tremendous. You like to eat sweet potatoes, continue your habit because it is not only cheap and readily available in traditional markets.
However, the sweet potato also saves a myriad of health benefits for us. The following are 7 health benefits of Sweet Potato.
Sweet Potato Nutritional Value
Sweet potatoes can be said to be the favorite food of Asians such as Indonesia, Malaysia and others. It is not only sweet in taste but also very easy to prepare for a variety of foods. So, it’s only natural that sweet potato processed foods have so many variants.
Well, before we look at what are the health benefits of sweet potatoes, let’s take a look at the nutritional value contained in these sweet potatoes. This is the nutrient for every 100 grams of sweet potato.
- Water 61.9 grams
- Protein: 1.6 grams
- Energy: 151 calories
- Riboflavin (Vitamin B2): 0.08 mg
- Fat: 0.3 grams
- Phosphorus: 74 grams
- Fiber: 0.7 grams
- Total carotene: 1,208 micrograms (mcg)
- Copper: 0.30 mg
- Iron: 0.7 grams
- Carbohydrates: 35.4 grams
- Sodium: 92 milligrams (mg)
- Potassium: 565.6 mg
- Calcium: 29 grams
- Niacin: 0.7 mg
- Zinc: 0.5 mg
- Ascorbic acid (Vitamin C): 11 mg
- Thiamine (Vitamin B1): 0.13 mg
Sweet Potato Health Benefits
1. Sweet potato contains B6 Vitamin
The content of B6 vitamin in sweet potato helps remove chemicals ‘homocysteine’ of the body. Homocysteine is a hazardous substance that link to degenerative diseases, like heart disorder.
2. Potato is the source of vitamin C
Everyone knows that vitamin C is an essential component of the body’s needs. The benefits of Vitamin C also have a major role in bone health, in the form of teeth and digestive health.
Vitamin C also has important useful to boost immunity, like speeding up the wounds healing and keep healthy skin from free radicals and keep the body always young. Not only that but benefits of vitamin C is also good to ward off toxins that enter the body, such as toxins that cause cancer.
3. Sweet potatoes contain vitamin D
Vitamin D is essential for the body to boost immunity and keep the body healthy. As we know, vitamin D formed in a body as a result of the sunlight absorption.
Vitamin D is one of handler control for the body’s energy, mood, helps form healthy bones, healthy heart, healthy nerves, skin, and teeth, and it help the thyroid gland.
4. Contain iron
Iron has a huge number in sweet potato. Many people know that our body needs the iron to produce enough energy.
Not only that, iron has a capacity of producing red blood cells, white blood cells, stem the occurrence of stress, boost immunity. Not only that but also helps the absorption of protein into the body.
5. Contains magnesium
Magnesium is anti-stress mineral. Sweet potato health benefits are tremendous because it contain much magnesium in it. The useful of magnesium is build a healthy artery, blood, bone, heart, muscle, maintain nerve function.
6. Source of potassium
The Sweet Potato health benefits because it contains potassium. High potassium content in sweet potatoes makes this meal very necessary for health.
Potassium is an electrolyte that controls nerve signals and rate of the heart. Same to other electrolytes, potassium also has an important function in maintaining the activity of the kidney, muscle contraction, and prevent swelling.
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7. Has a sweet taste and ideal to consume
Sugar content in sweet potatoes will be discharged slowly into the bloodstream, so it does not cause a bunch of blood sugar or diabetes.
These are seven sweet potato health benefits you should to know. The sweet potato is a spreading plant that can grow easily. So the sweet potato price in the market is also poor, and readily available.
If you’ve never eaten this healthy food, immediately tried, sweet potatoes can also be a substitute for your morning breakfast.
8. Control blood sugar
For diabetics, sweet potato is not a food to be afraid of because it belongs to the type of food with a low glycemic index. That is, consuming sweet potatoes does not cause a spike in blood sugar because these fiber-rich foods are digested slowly.
Not only to prevent sugar spikes, but the fiber that is so much in sweet potatoes is an important nutrient in controlling diabetes. This is because research states that people who consume a lot of fiber will have a small risk of this disease.
That is why adults who have turned 19 years old are advised to consume sweet potatoes every day, this will help you get more fiber in your daily diet.
9. Reduces the risk of cancer
Sweet potato is an anti-cancer food because it is rich in antioxidants. Research in 2018 states that anthocyanins are a type of antioxidant present in sweet potatoes, which have great benefits for the body because they are able to slow down the growth of cancer cells.
So, do not be surprised if consuming sweet potatoes regularly can reduce the risk of several types of cancer such as prostate cancer, colon cancer, and even breast cancer.
Sweet potato peel extract also contains anti-cancer properties that can increase health benefits. This you can get when you consume it regularly.
10. Improve eye health
The health benefits of sweet potatoes also play a role in healthy eyes. Beta-carotene is a type of substance that affects eye health and is found in sweet potatoes. No half-hearted, sweet potato skin contains many times the beta-carotene for the needs of adults.
Well, when a person consumes beta-carotene, the body will convert it into vitamin A and will form light-detecting receptors in the eye organs.
More: Best Tricks To Make Your Deep Set Eyes Look Stunning
Vitamin A is a type of vital vitamin for the eyes, vitamin deficiency can even cause blindness. So eating sweet potatoes which are rich in beta carotene is the best alternative to supply vitamin A to the body.
So, it can be said that eating sweet potatoes has amazing health benefits for eye health.
Sweet Potato Benefits for Men
In addition to the benefits of sweet potatoes in general, there are several benefits in particular such as benefits for men and women. Here we will discuss some of the benefits of sweet potatoes for men.
11. Improves insulin sensitivity
Insulin is an important substance produced by the body whose benefits are to regulate blood sugar. So someone who does not function insulin or lacks its production will experience degenerative problems such as type 2 diabetes. So, at that time our bodies cannot or are less effective in regulating blood sugar. This causes a person to experience hypoglycemia (low blood sugar levels) or hyperglycemia (high blood sugar levels).
Consuming sweet potatoes is known to have great benefits for the body in increasing insulin sensitivity. So by diligently eating sweet potatoes in medium doses, a person can maintain the stability of his blood sugar. So, the benefits of sweet potatoes for diabetics are enormous and this must be acknowledged.
12. Benefits of sweet potatoes to regulate blood pressure
The benefits of sweet potatoes for men not only increase insulin sensitivity but can also keep blood pressure stable. Dangerous high blood pressure can even cause a stroke, while low blood pressure is also dangerous and sometimes can even cause a person to lose consciousness. So a person’s blood pressure must always be kept stable. Sweet potatoes are healthy foods that can work in maintaining stable blood pressure.
It is said that foods that are good for blood pressure are foods that are low in salt and foods rich in potassium. Sweet potatoes are one of the many potassium-rich foods. So consuming sweet potato regularly can improve blood pressure.
13. Sweet potatoes can protect the eyes
The benefits of sweet potatoes for men also help eye health. Sweet potatoes are foods that are rich in retinol or vitamin A. This is very important for eye health. The benefit of retinol is that it improves vision.
Vitamin A also functions as an antioxidant that is useful in preventing free radicals from damaging the eyes.
>> Check out more: Right Eye Twitching Spiritual Meaning and Health Science
14. Benefits of sweet potatoes for immunity
The immune system is made up of cells and molecules and is within the limits of the body. It keeps the body safe from toxins that enter the body. If the body’s cells have problems and experience infection, it will be weak in maintaining the body’s defenses. In this condition, sweet potatoes are useful for maintaining the stability of cells so that the body’s defenses are maintained.
Eating 90mg of vitamin C has been linked to good immunity. Sweet potato is a tuber food that is rich in vitamin C, this benefit is to prevent damage to collagen and help absorb iron, so a person will avoid anemia.
15. Reduces the risk of cancer
Furthermore, the benefits of sweet potatoes for men is to prevent or reduce the risk of men getting cancer.
Cancer is a disease caused by damaged body cells or a tumor occurs in the body’s system. Tumors act to disrupt bodily functions, and in some cases can cause death in sufferers. This dangerous condition occurs when a person is exposed to chemicals or radiation. One of the foods that can help reduce the risk is sweet potatoes with high antioxidant content.
See also: Top 5 Alternative Cancer Therapies
Among the cancers that can be prevented with sweet potatoes are prostate cancer, lung cancer. Antioxidants are important substances that are useful in eliminating free radicals (which cause cell damage).
16. Benefits of sweet potato for digestion
The high fiber content in sweet potatoes is predicted to be useful for digestive health. This can prevent constipation and bloating as long as consumption is not excessive. If fiber is supplied in excess, it can actually make you more gassy and have problems with digestion.
Sweet Potato Benefits for Women
In addition to the benefits of sweet potatoes for men as we have seen just now, there are also a number of benefits of sweet potatoes for women. Whatever it is, let’s check it dot. You can fry or steam it, you will still get the benefits of sweet potatoes.
17. Reduce stress
Sweet potato is a magnesium-rich food whose benefits are lowering the risk of stress. If a person is stressed, it can develop into anxiety and more serious mental problems.
Consuming sweet potatoes regularly can be beneficial to supply magnesium and this will relieve and reduce stress.
18. Prevents inflammation in the body
One of the benefits of sweet potatoes for women is to help prevent inflammation that appears in the body. The content of various vitamins in sweet potatoes is good in terms of preventing inflammation.
Among the vitamins in sweet potatoes is colin, colin is useful in protecting the body from inflammation that can occur due to the entry of various foreign objects into the body system. Inflammation is at the root of the problem in many cases of disease. Inflammation can develop into breast cancer, and others.
Not only colin, but this root food also contains anthocyanins which also protect the body from inflammation.
19. Good for healthy skin and hair
Apparently, sweet potatoes also include foods that are good for hair and skin. So we recommend that you include sweet potatoes in your daily diet. Sweet potato is a storehouse of vitamins A, C, and vitamin E. All of these vitamins are useful for the health of your skin and hair.
So, one of the benefits of sweet potatoes for the skin is to beautify your skin, prevent wrinkles due to premature aging. Its antioxidant content can help prevent or reduce the bad effects of free radicals that make skin age prematurely.
Sweet Potatoes Benefits for Weight Loss
Sweet potatoes are one of the foods rich in fiber and low in calories as well. The calorie content is of course in accordance with the size. For its size, 8 ounces of sweet potato is considered a medium size, and 12 ounces of potatoes is considered a large size. For a large sweet potato, this packs 250 calories and 60 grams of carbohydrates. So quoted from womenshealthmag.com.
Sweet potatoes are rich in fiber and vitamin C and other nutrients
When it comes to carbohydrates, we know that they are associated with weight loss. Fiber-rich foods are important in providing a feeling of fullness and making it easy for us to lose weight.
The fiber and glucose in sweet potatoes are said to provide continuous energy so that it stops hunger. It is good in weight loss program.
See too; Everything You Need to Know about White Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes contain more antioxidants than regular sweet potatoes and are slightly lower in calories.
Sweet potatoes can be consumed by boiling or by roasting. It equally suppresses hunger, meaning it creates a prolonged feeling of fullness. Sweet potatoes are also a source of beta carotene, vitamin C, potassium, which support the immune system.
The best way to prepare sweet potatoes is to steam them, bake, or roast them. but consuming sweet potatoes in fried form doesn’t seem like a good idea for weight loss. Frying sweet potatoes only adds a lot of calories, instead of losing weight, you actually gain weight. Oil will increase the number of calories of sweet potatoes so it is not suitable if you want to lose weight by consuming fried sweet potatoes.
