Just one sweet potato gives you 400% of the vitamin A you need each day. This helps keep your eyes healthy as well as your immune system, your body's defense against germs. It's also good for your reproductive system and organs like your heart and kidneys.
Purple sweet potatoes
Turns out they may be key in supporting healthy liver detox! A preclinical animal study found that the anthocyanins in purple sweet potato helped fight oxidative stress in the liver, and promoted healthy liver function.
Potatoes and yams technically have modified belowground stems (“stem tubers”) while sweet potatoes have “root tubers.”
Gastrointestinal Health
Along with anti-inflammatory properties, sweet potatoes have plenty of gut-friendly fiber, especially if you eat the skin. They are a mixture of soluble fiber, which can lower cholesterol and balance glucose, and insoluble fiber, which helps keep your bowels healthy and regular.
In addition to being an excellent source of vitamins A and C, sweet potatoes are a good source of fiber, vitamin B-6 and potassium. And like all vegetables, they're relatively low in calories — one-half of a large sweet potato has just 81 calories. Mayo Clinic does not endorse companies or products.
The beta-carotene in sweet potatoes has been shown to fight inflammation, and eating them regularly can help ease joint pain and other symptoms of inflammatory conditions like arthritis. If you're looking for a delicious way to reduce inflammation, add some sweet potatoes to a salad or bake alongside protein!
Additionally, sweet potatoes are rich in dietary fiber, beta carotene, vitamins C and E and manganese, all of which can assist with healthy bowel movements and reduce toxins in the colon.
Sweet Potatoes May Help with Liver Damage from Excessive Alcohol Consumption. Anthocyanins in purple sweet potatoes are also associated with improving liver damage from alcohol abuse, according to a study with mice conducted by the NIH. Sweet Potatoes May Help Regulate Your Blood Sugar.
Deep purple sweet potatoes, which are rich in antioxidant anthocyanins and anti-inflammatory properties, can help in detoxification by removing free radicals including heavy metals from your body.
While both our experts say eating a sweet potato a day is certainly healthy, they don't recommend more than that, since there are plenty of other vegetables to enjoy too. “If you're eating more than one a day, you might want to consider varying up your food choices so you get a variety of nutrients,” Rizzo says.
Of the thousands of vegetables available today, sweet potatoes are considered one of the most nutritious. The orange- (or sometimes purple) fleshed vegetables are loaded with minerals and A, B, and C vitamins. This has led to sweet potatoes being called a superfood by many.
8: Help to improve skin:
Types of sweet potatoes are a rich source of vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, and antioxidants. Vitamin C and vitamin E are essential for skin and hair health. Vitamin C helps in collagen synthesis that is the main structural protein of the skin.
In this observational study conducted in China, consumption of sweet potatoes was associated with a lower risk of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in men, but not in women. This Study Summary was published on May 31 2022.
Cruciferous vegetables, like broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts, contain vital phytonutrients—including flavonoids, carotenoids, sulforaphane, and indoles—to help your liver neutralize chemicals, pesticides, drugs, and carcinogens.
Consuming sweet potatoes in excess can result in Vitamin A toxicity which is manifested in skin rashes and headaches. Due to high fibre content, excess intake of sweet potatoes can result in bloating, stomach pain and diarrhoea.
If your sweet potato is oozing, soft and squishy, discolored, smelly, or have a bunch of sprouts, it's time to toss. If there are only a few sprouts and the sweet potato is still firm you can cut the sprouted portion off, cook and eat right away, or you can plant it!
Boiling sweet potatoes retains more beta-carotene and makes the nutrient more absorbable than other cooking methods such as baking or frying. Up to 92% of the nutrient can be retained by limiting the cook time, such as boiling in a pot with a tightly covered lid for 20 minutes.
Lunch: The best time to eat the sweet potato is to eat at lunch. After eating, calcium in sweet potatoes takes 4-5 hours to absorb into the body, 2 to 5 pm sunlight can promote calcium absorption. In addition, the ability to help the potatoes long enough to work to help you reduce appetite in the evening.