The amazing benefits of sweet potatoes

Sweet potatoes not only have high nutritional value but also have disease prevention and treatment properties and are one of the foods that help prevent heart attacks, strokes, stabilize blood sugar, anti-aging and enhance immunity. Let’s learn about the outstanding health benefits of sweet potatoes with DJF.

1. Origin of sweet potatoes

Sweet potatoes are not only an important crop providing food for humans, but also a source of food for the livestock industry. On the other hand, sweet potatoes are also a food crop, raw materials for industrial processing plants to create products of high economic value.

Sweet potatoes originated from the tropical regions of America. Most archaeological, linguistic and historical evidence shows that America is the origin of the sweet potato plant (Central or South America).

Today, sweet potatoes are widely grown in tropical and warm temperate regions with enough water to support their growth. Sweet potatoes are grown for their tubers, which can be eaten instead of rice.

2. Uses of sweet potatoes

Sweet potatoes are not only readily available, easy to find, inexpensive, and delicious, they also have many great benefits for your health. Here are some of the benefits of sweet potatoes that you can refer to:

2.1. Helps lose weight

Sweet potatoes are a starchy food, but in fact, the starch in sweet potatoes is only half that of potatoes and one-third that of rice. Therefore, this is a good source of starch for you to add to your weight loss menu.

2.2. Supports blood sugar control

All varieties have sweet-tasting tubers, whether more or less. Despite their sweet taste, sweet potatoes are actually a great food for people with diabetes, with studies showing that they help stabilize blood sugar levels and reduce insulin resistance.

2.3. Improve Digestive Health

The fiber and antioxidants in sweet potatoes are beneficial for gut health. Many laxatives are now available that are made from fiber. This means that consuming sweet potatoes can increase your fiber intake to promote proper digestion. Additionally, the high fiber content of sweet potatoes can also help prevent constipation in both children and adults.

2.4. Provide a Great Source of Micronutrients

Rich in Vitamin B6

Vitamin B6 helps reduce homocysteine ​​​​levels in our bodies. High levels of homocysteine ​​​​are associated with degenerative diseases, including heart attacks and strokes.

Rich source of vitamin C

Sweet potatoes are a rich source of vitamin C, which helps prevent colds and flu viruses. At the same time, vitamin C is also essential for bones and teeth, good for the digestive system and the formation of blood cells. In addition, vitamin C also contributes to wound healing, creating collagen to keep the skin youthful, reducing stress and protecting the body from toxins that have a high risk of causing cancer.

Rich in vitamin D

Vitamin D in sweet potatoes has the effect of supporting the immune system and improving overall health. Vitamin D helps keep the bones, cardiovascular system, nervous system, teeth, skin and thyroid healthy.

Rich in iron

Iron in sweet potatoes provides energy for the body, reduces stress, promotes the production of red blood cells, white blood cells, enhances immunity and protein metabolism.

A great source of magnesium

Magnesium is not only an important mineral for stress relief, but it is also key to healthy musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, and neurological function.

Rich in potassium

Potassium is one of the important electrolytes that helps regulate heart rate and nerve signals. Like other electrolytes, potassium performs many essential functions, including reducing muscle contractions, reducing swelling, and protecting and controlling kidney function.

2.5. Cancer prevention

Different varieties of sweet potatoes provide different antioxidants such as anthocyanins that help protect against certain types of cancer. Anthocyanins are abundant in purple sweet potatoes. Clinical studies have shown evidence that they slow the growth of certain types of cancer cells, including colon and breast cancers.

2.6. Vision enhancement

The orange color of sweet potatoes is a sign of the tuber’s very high carotenoid content. Carotene group helps increase eyesight, boost the immune system, fight oxidation and prevent aging.

3. How to use sweet potatoes

Some ways to process sweet potatoes in the treatment of some diseases such as:

Treat constipation

Eat boiled potatoes alone or process them into some dishes such as cooking fresh or dried sweet potato porridge with sesame and a little cinnamon; cakes made from sweet potatoes with sesame or coconut; dried sweet potato powder with finely ground sesame, stir and drink every morning, …

Weight loss

Choose new potatoes, do not choose sprouted potatoes, wash thoroughly before processing then boil or steam, you should eat the skin because the skin contains a lot of fiber and antioxidants, which is good for the skin. Prioritize choosing white sweet potatoes, limit eating yellow sweet potatoes and honey potatoes because the sugar content is high, not beneficial for your weight loss.

Treat anorexia in children

Feed your baby with red-yellow sweet potato powder mixed with flour and milk.

Treatment of mastitis

Peel and mash white sweet potatoes and apply to the breast. You can combine them with crushed garlic to apply.

4. Notes when using sweet potatoes

Although sweet potatoes are considered very good for the body, you should limit eating them when your body is in the following cases:

People with kidney disease

People with kidney disease should absolutely avoid eating sweet potatoes because they contain a lot of fiber, potassium, vitamins… When the kidneys are weak, the ability to remove potassium is not good, causing many harmful effects on the heart.

People with stomach diseases

Eating sweet potatoes on an empty stomach will stimulate the secretion of stomach acid, which can easily lead to stomach pain and stomach ulcers. Especially for people with chronic stomach pain, eating sweet potatoes on an empty stomach will make the condition worse.