The sweet potato, commonly known as sweet potato, is a plant cultivated almost worldwide whose root is edible. It supports extreme environmental changes well and does not need any insecticides or pesticides, so its cultivation is booming.
This vegetable is rich in starch, vitamins, fibers, and minerals ( potassium being the most abundant). It is mainly consumed roasted, fried, or pureed, as well as in stews with meat. Although its most widespread use is in desserts, it can also be introduced to prepare salads. Besides being appreciated for its mild and sweet taste, the sweet potato has healing and palliative properties.
Sweet potato nutrition facts
One medium sweet potato has an impressive nutritional profile, including 2 grams (g) of protein, 24 g of carbohydrates, 4 g of fiber, and 0 g of fat in 103 calories. It also contains nutrients such as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, vitamin A, and vitamin A
Benefits of Sweet Potato
- Due to its high content of vitamin A, sweet potatoes are beneficial for your eyesight, helping treat diseases such as cataracts or glaucoma.
- Like any good source of antioxidants, this food is great for your cardiovascular health thanks to its flavonoids and carotenes. Helps to control cholesterol level, being highly recommended for hypertensive.
- Stabilizes glucose levels in the blood, so it is also a suitable food for people with diabetes.
- It is very rich in cofercol, a perfect antioxidant vitamin for the skin (wrinkles, psoriasis, wound healing, dermatitis ...).
- Its consumption is recommended to pregnant women due to its high contribution of folic acid (essential for the fetus's proper development) and its ability to prevent stretch marks on the skin.
- It can activate your memory due to the effect it has on the circulatory system. Its flavonoids promote intellectual performance.
- Its polyphenol content (especially in the varieties of violet or purple meat) can reduce inflammation in osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis cases.
- It is considered an anti-cancer food. It prevents colon cancer thanks to its high fiber content. It can also protect against breast cancer; thanks to its carotenes, it stimulates women's immune system.
- Help reduce stomach pain, nausea, and diarrhea, eating it boiled or making an infusion with its leaves.
- The sweet potato contains a lot of iron, making it ideal for consumption in vegetarian diets and people with iron deficiency.
How to use sweet potato in the kitchen
The sweet potato is a tuber-like the potato, and how the latter has starch that is not digested by our body if it is not cooked. To make the most of the antioxidants in this vegetable, it is best to steam it or boil it in a pot with boiling water and covered not to lose carotenes or other nutrients.
Thus, we can boil it, steam it, bake it or roast it and prepare a variety of dishes with it, from a tasty puree with or without egg, to more sophisticated dishes such as red lentil dahl with sweet potato coating, sweet potato buns, or sweet potato, sweet potato stuffed with chickpeas and tomato or sweet potato cakes.
Other options are adding the sweet potato to a pasta sauce, risotto to a vegan brownie, or making a tasty glazed sweet potato skewer with this vegetable, ideal for those who are not lovers of the kitchen.
The sweet potato is a vegetable that admits many possibilities in the kitchen because of its flavor and aroma. Therefore, we cannot fail to take advantage of its properties and benefits for the organism's health.
You must be logged in to post a comment.