Blog | 4 benefits of sweet potatoes (2024)

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Blog | 4 benefits of sweet potatoes? ›

Sweet potatoes are a healthy root vegetable chock full of antioxidants that protect your cells from damage. Plus, the nutrients in sweet potatoes are excellent for your gut, eyes, immune system, and more. Sweet potatoes are rich in vitamins and minerals, including vitamin A, vitamin C, potassium, fiber, and zinc.

Sweet potatoes are a healthy root vegetable chock full of antioxidants that protect your cells from damage. Plus, the nutrients in sweet potatoes are excellent for your gut, eyes, immune system, and more. Sweet potatoes are rich in vitamins and minerals, including vitamin A, vitamin C, potassium, fiber, and zinc.

Fun Facts About Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are high in beta carotene, vitamins E and C, iron, potassium and vitamin B6. Sweet potato roots are harvested 90 to 120 days after transplanting. North Carolina's official vegetable is the sweet potato. February is National Sweet Potato Month.

Just one sweet potato gives you 102% 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.

If you enjoy sweet potatoes, you can absolutely enjoy them daily. However, eating multiple sweet potatoes every day could cause a harmless condition called carotenodermia, where your skin turns yellow-orange. You may also want to be cautious about your sweet potato intake if you have a history of kidney stones.

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.

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.

Sweet potatoes contain high amounts of oxalates that may increase the risk of calcium-oxalate kidney stones. Sweet potatoes contain beta-carotene, and their excessive consumption can lead to hypervitaminosis A (vitamin A toxicity), in which excess vitamin A accumulates in the liver.

Sweet Potato

Sweet potatoes keep you feeling fuller for longer. They also help balance your blood sugar levels which enhances the functioning of your brain. The humble sweet potato offers your brain a good dose of antioxidants. Especially one called anthocyanin, which may have beneficial memory enhancing effects¹.

Sweet potatoes maintain the level of vitamin A in your body. Vitamin A is important for the lungs to keep them healthy. If there is any kind of deficiency, it may cause respiratory disease. The nutrients present in sweet potatoes work to run the functioning of your lungs properly.

When should you not eat sweet potatoes? ›

How to tell if sweet potatoes have gone bad. If your sweet potato is soft in spots, smells rotten, or oozes a mysterious liquid, that potato should be discarded. Another sign that sweet potatoes have taken a turn for the worse is if they start growing stalky purplish sprouts.

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.

You can eat sweet potatoes whole or peeled and the leaves of the plant are edible, too. Although, they may both be called 'potatoes', sweet and regular white potatoes are not related.

Sweet potatoes contain the “good” kind of carbs – often called “complex carbohydrates.” Complex carbohydrates are considered healthier than simple carbohydrates. They take longer to digest and create more lasting energy.

Sweet potatoes are the perfect example of a carbohydrate that's high-nutrient and low in sugar, sodium and saturated fat. It's exactly what diabetes experts recommend fill up one-quarter of your plate at mealtimes.

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!

Sweet potatoes are an excellent source of Vitamin A, which may protect skin from the sun, helping to prevent sun burn, dryness and wrinkles. It also may help to bring a nice glowing tint to your skin! Sweet potatoes are also a good source of Vitamin C, which creates collagen.