It’s winter – and time to focus on winter vegetables! These include sweet potatoes, butternut squash, pumpkin, carrots, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts. But let’s look at sweet potatoes in particular. Sweet potatoes are a very simple food, they are a relatively cheap food, they are a nutritious food, and they are an “easy-to-prepare” food. And the health benefits of eating sweet potatoes are huge! The other winter vegetables are also easy to prepare, and very nutritious.
Sometimes it feels like we’re playing a “broken record” listing all the benefits of all these different simple, healthy, and budget-friendly foods. They’re “good for the heart, good for the digestive system, full of antioxidants,” etc. Sweet potatoes are no different! But each food has its own God-planned mixture of nutrients and micronutrients, trace elements, etc., planned just for our health and well-being! This is why eating foods in the least processed form bestows the greatest health value…at least in my opinion!
The Health Benefits
- High nutrient value. Sweet potatoes shine in the beta-carotene department! Beta-carotene is very closely related to Vitamin A, which promotes good eyesight, radiant skin and protection for the immune system. This is but one of the many vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that sweet potatoes contain. They are rich in Vitamin C, with all of its numerous health benefits, and also potassium and fiber.
- Sweet potatoes are great for weight management. The reason for this is that sweet potatoes contain a lot of fiber, which helps you feel full longer. At 86 calories per 100 g (approx 4 oz), they aren’t really all that high in calories.
- Sweet potatoes help protect the immune system. This is very much due to the Vitamin C content of sweet potatoes.
- Sweet potatoes are good for your heart. Sweet potatoes help regulate blood pressure. The relatively high potassium levels in sweet potatoes can potentially help prevent stroke and other cardiovascular diseases. Getting enough potassium in your diet is critical, and sweet potatoes are a tasty way to do just that!
- Sweet potatoes are great for digestion. It’s the fiber, people – the fiber! Getting enough sweet potato fiber in your diet can help prevent a myriad of digestive issues, like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), constipation, and – of course – colon cancers.
- Sweet potatoes help control blood sugar. Yes, they are called “sweet” potatoes, because they taste sweet, but actually, they have a low glycemic index, which makes them a great choice for diabetics or people who for whatever reason want to control their blood sugar. The fiber is part of the reason for this effect.
- Sweet potatoes have anti-inflammatory properties. Inflammation is behind many medical problems, including some cancers, heart disease, and arthritis.
How Should You Eat Your Sweet Potatoes?
I wouldn’t be surprised that many people have no other experience with sweet potatoes other than eating them in their very sweet form as candied yams – maybe as a holiday dish. That was me for many years, I didn’t know there was another way! I actually didn’t care for them in that form. And it stands to reason that the addition of huge amounts of sugar to sweet potatoes would cause them to lose some of the health value mentioned above – for example, blood sugar regulation.
In the interest of the simple theme of this blog – how about simply boiling, microwaving, or baking them, and eating them like boiled, microwaved or baked white potatoes? They are great with olive oil (the healthiest choice), some type of butter, and a little salt (if desired) – and/or sour cream! That’s a very simple way to get the nutritional value of the sweet potato, inexpensively. You might surprise yourself with how tasty and delicious they are, just plain!
Just as an aside – sweet potatoes are extremely easy to prepare in a crock pot!
Other Ways to Use Sweet Potatoes
I’ve seen cookie recipes that use sweet potato as a base. There are sweet potato soups, sweet potato cakes, and hey – what about sweet potato fries? You didn’t hear me say that – anything deep-fried is open to serious question – but they DO taste really good!
Then there’s sweet potato stuffing, squash and sweet potato, rosemary and sweet potato, sweet potato curry, sweet potato yogurt (!), and sweet potato and eggs.
So use your imagination! Sweet potato goes very well with a host of foods. No, I don’t have a lot of recipes, but you don’t have to look very far to find them. Just don’t add a lot of ingredients to your sweet potato recipes that cancel out the health benefits, like a lot of added sugar, for example.
Easy to Store
Sweet potatoes don’t require a freezer or refrigerator – and their shelf life is long. You can count on a couple weeks to a month non-refrigerated, and if you do indeed refrigerate them, up to 3 months.
Budget-Wise
Sweet potatoes are often on sale. At least that’s been our experience! But even when they’re not on sale, they are quite inexpensive. A couple dollars’ worth gives you a lot of eating! One large sweet potato will fill a very large hole in your stomach – or maybe even a couple stomachs! – for not really all that much. Since they have a long shelf life, you can easily take advantage of sales.
Finally…
There’s a lot to recommend sweet potatoes in the health department, especially if you can “keep it simple.” Very much a “staff of life” food, sweet potatoes can easily be a mainstay of your diet. Eat them regularly, as the superfood that they are.
If you have any questions or comments about the use or benefits of sweet potatoes, feel free to share them in the space below.
