The sweet potato (Ipomoea cantatas) is nutritious and delicious root vegetables. Sweet potatoes when cooked, it results in mild, starchy and sweet flavour when baked or boiled, it becomes soft and creamy and when it is fried or roasted at high heat, it becomes crisp and caramelized. Sweet potatoes are packed with many medicinal benefits. Sweet potatoes have cancer-fighting properties; it supports healthy vision while it enhances brain function.
Here are five amazing health benefits that you can gain if you include sweet potatoes in your regular diet:
Sweet potatoes can also help manage diabetes
The rich fiber and magnesium in sweet potato are beneficial for diabetes management because they can lower blood sugar levels. Around 10-15% of the fiber in sweet potato has soluble fibres such as pectin, it is effective in reducing food consumption and spikes in blood sugar. This is because it helps in promoting insulin sensitivity and then regulating the amount of sugar in the blood.
Sweet potatoes can help manage stress levels
Sweet potatoes are rich in magnesium. One of the most important advantages of magnesium is that it helps to reduce stress and anxiety. A study found that Magnesium can reduce insomnia in older individuals. Thus, sweet potatoes are one of the important foods to be included in our diet. Sweet potatoes can replenish the body’s magnesium levels and help lessen the symptoms of depression and anxiety-related behaviours and insomnia in individuals.
Sweet potatoes can help prevent cancer
Sweet potatoes are packed with carotenoids such as beta-carotene, which plays a significant role in protecting men from becoming afflicted with prostate cancer. In addition, sweet potatoes have also been shown of limiting the growth of breast, gastric, colorectal cancers. Thus you should have sweet potatoes often.
Sweet potatoes can help improve hair and skin
The presence of Vitamin A, C, and E helps in the promotion of proper skin and hair health. Eating sweet potatoes will be enough to glow your skin and hence you will not need to spend huge money on effective products to make your skin glow. The vitamins in sweet potatoes are useful in repairing skin that is damaged due to exposure to UV light. The vitamins also help to slow down the cell ageing process in the skin and help to retain a youthful look for longer.
Sweet potatoes can help in weight management
As sweet potatoes are rich in fermentable fibres, they can help in reducing the overall weight of an individual. So, this is another reason to include sweet potatoes in your diet. It will result in an increase in fiber intake, which will, in turn, lead to lower body weight.
Ms Kalinga