Potatoes and sweet potatoes may share a name, but they actually come from very different plant families. Here's what you need to know about the health differences between potatoes and sweet potatoes and the best ways to eat them.
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The nutritional content of potatoes and sweet potatoes
Both potatoes and sweet potatoes are rich in nutrients, including many different vitamins and minerals. Here's how they compare in their nutritional content:
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Which one is healthier?
While both types of potatoes can be a healthy part of your diet, sweet potatoes are higher in nutrients like vitamin A that may offer extra benefits for your overall health.
There are many similarities between potatoes and sweet potatoes. They have roughly the same amount of calories, carbohydrates, and protein —and they are both good sources of vitamin B6, magnesium, and potassium.
Plus, both potatoes and sweet potatoes also contain resistant starch, a type of starch that is digested more slowly and has many health benefits.
Still, there are a few key differences that give sweet potatoes the edge when it comes to your health. Here's why:
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Sweet potatoes are lower on the glycemic index
An important area where potatoes and sweet potatoes differ is in their glycemic index (GI), a scale from 0 to 100 that rates how quickly a food will cause your blood sugar to rise.
A boiled potato has a high GI around 78, while a boiled sweet potato has an intermediate GI of 63. This means that potatoes break down more quickly into sugar in your digestive tract, causing your blood sugar to spike.
These measures are important because eating foods with a generally lower glycemic index may help lower your blood sugar and manage your weight.
Many of the nutrients in potatoes and sweet potatoes contain compounds that act as antioxidants, which protect the cells in your body against oxidative stress. This is important because oxidative stress is linked to heart disease, cancer, and brain diseases like Alzheimer's.
Sweet potatoes have higher levels of key vitamins that act as antioxidants, including vitamin A and vitamin C. Sweet potatoes also contain antioxidant plant pigments that aren't present in regular potatoes – for example, orange sweet potatoes are high in beta-carotene and purple sweet potatoes have more anthocyanins.
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How to fit both types of potatoes into a healthy diet
In general, most preparation methods for potatoes and sweet potatoes are healthy, including baking, microwaving, boiling, or steaming, says Adelia C. Bovell-Benjamin, Ph.D., a professor of food and nutritional sciences at Tuskegee University. All of these methods preserve much of the nutritional value of both types of potatoes, says Bovell-Benjamin.
Eating potatoes with the skin on may also provide extra nutrients like fiber, iron, and potassium, but for sweet potatoes, the skin may be too tough to eat.
Frying any type of food is generally a less healthy option, as it adds extra calories and fat, but for potatoes, frying may be especially bad. A 2017 study found that, while eating potatoes has no negative health effects, eating fried potatoes at least twice a week more than doubled the risk of death.
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Insider's takeaway
Both potatoes and sweet potatoes are healthy foods that can fit well into most diets. However, if you are looking for extra health benefits like regulating blood sugar and more vitamin A and antioxidants, sweet potatoes are a better option. There are many healthy ways you can cook potatoes and sweet potatoes, but try to avoid fried potatoes as much as possible.
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Madeline Kennedy
Madeline Kennedy is a health writer for Insider covering a wide range of topics including reproductive and sexual health, mental health, nutrition, and infectious disease. Before joining Insider, Madeline worked as a health news writer for Reuters, and a domestic violence therapist. She has a master's degree in social work from UPenn and is interested in the intersection of health and social justice.
Though they can both be part of a healthy diet, sweet potatoes are generally healthier than regular potatoes, partly because of their incredibly high vitamin A content. Sweet potatoes are also lower on the glycemic index, meaning that they are less likely than regular potatoes to make your blood sugar spike.
Sweet potatoes are often touted as being healthier than white potatoes, but in reality, both types can be highly nutritious. While regular and sweet potatoes are comparable in their calorie, protein, and carb content, white potatoes provide more potassium, whereas sweet potatoes are incredibly high in vitamin A.
All potatoes can fit into a healthy diet, but purple potatoes, red potatoes, and sweet potatoes—which are often grouped with potatoes—stand out due to their high amounts of protective plant compounds and essential nutrients.
Eating a sweet potato post-workout is ideal as they contain copper, which can help replenish energy levels and protect the cardiovascular, nervous and skeletal system. It also strengthens the tendons needed to lift weights. Just one cup of baked sweet potato contains 36% of your daily copper needs.
They're high in fiber and antioxidants, which protect your body from free radical damage and promote a healthy gut and brain. They're also incredibly rich in beta carotene, which is converted to vitamin A to support good vision and your immune system.
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.
Sweet potatoes have more fiber and nutrients which are useful for our bodies. Rice is a cereal that has less fiber and vitamins because its upper beneficial peel is the vest for the whitening process.
Sweet potatoes with orange flesh are richest in beta-carotene. Sweet potatoes with purple flesh are richer in anthocyanins. Beta-carotene and anthocyanins are naturally occurring plant “phyto” chemicals that give vegetables their bright colors.
Blueberries take the title of healthiest fruit. Blueberries' stunning hue comes from their anthocyanins — an antioxidant believed to be responsible for their numerous health benefits. Long-term studies suggest that including blueberries in your regular lineup may lower the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
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.
Sweet potatoes have a variety of nutrients, according to The Nutrition Source. For starters, they contain beta carotene — which the human body converts into vitamin A, an antioxidant that promotes healthy brain function, healthy skin, and good vision. Vitamin A also supports heart, kidney, and lung function.
Sweet potatoes are not just great for boosting your metabolism but are also high in vitamin B which helps burn fat within the body. Sweet potatoes are versatile when it comes to preparation and are high in fibre which helps feel fuller for longer periods of time thus helping you with weight management.
In terms of micronutrients, boiled sweet potatoes come out on top in terms of vitamin C, magnesium, calcium, iron and phosphorus while the regular potato wins when it comes to potassium, Vitamin B1 and folic acid. Next up, we compared a baked sweet potato with a baked white potato.
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!
The bottom line. Sweet potatoes can have a low, medium, or high glycemic index depending on how they're cooked and prepared. Boiled sweet potatoes affect blood sugar levels far less than other varieties, such as fried, roasted, or baked versions. Longer boiling times reduce the GI further.
While both are high in vitamins and minerals sweet potato has the highest level of beta carotene and Vitamin A among root vegetables both of which are powerful natural antioxidants. Brown rice is also a great source of selenium which in addition to fiber has been shown to reduce the risk of colon cancer.
CSPI ranked the sweet potato number one in nutrition of all vegetables. With a score of 184, the sweet potato outscored the next highest vegetable by more than 100 points. Points were given for content of dietary fiber, naturally occurring sugars and complex carbohydrates, protein, vitamins A and C, iron and calcium.
Orange sweet potatoes are positively packed with beta-carotene ,which is responsible for the orange flesh. White sweet potatoes only have 6 micrograms of beta-carotene compared to an orange sweet potato's load of more than 8,500 micrograms. Stop treating the squash like a tuber and start thinking of it like a melon.
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