Health benefits of Sweet potato and its leave.
Sweet potato and its leave nutritional value
Sweet potato, not only is just sweet to your taste buds but also good for your cardiovascular health. This starchy root vegetable is rich source of flavonoid anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber that are essential for optimal health.
Botanically, this starch-rich tuber belongs to the family of Convolvulaceae, and named botanically as Ipomoea batatas.
It is grown throughout the tropical and warm temperate regions. The crop requires just sufficient water and attention for their cultivation. The tuberous root features oblong/elongated shape with tapering ends and has smooth outer skin whose color ranges from red, purple, brown, and white, depending up on the variety.
Sweet potato
Sweet potatoes should not be confused with yams, another starchy root commonly grown in Western Africa. Yams are indeed larger in size that can grow up to 120 pounds in weight and 2 meters in length. Yams are the tropical crops and never grow where the temperature dips below 68 degrees F. Important differentiating features that distinguish sweet potatoes from yams are:
Sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) are dicotyledonous, relatively smaller and possess very thin peel.
Whereas, yams are monocotyledons, larger, features thick, rough, dark brown to pink skin depending up on the cultivar type.
Internally, it has starchy flesh which, depending upon the pigment concentration, ranges from white through yellow, orange, and purple.
Boniatos, also known as Cuban sweet-potatoes, feature dry, starchy flesh underneath the reddish-brown skin. They have mildly sweet flavor and coked in a similar way like potatoes.
Sweet potato leaves (top greens) are also edible. In fact, the greens contain more nutrients and dietary fiber than some of the green-leafy vegetables.
Health benefits of Sweet potato
Sweet potato is one of the average calorie starch foods (provide just 90 calories/100 g vs. 70 calories/100 g of potato). The tuber, however, contains no saturated fats or cholesterol and is rich source of dietary fiber, anti-oxidants, vitamins, and minerals.
Its calorie content mainly comes from starch, a complex carbohydrate. Sweet potato has higher amylose to the amylopectin ratio than potato. Amylose raises the blood sugar levels slowly on comparison to simple sugars and therefore, recommended as a healthy food supplement even in diabetes.
The tuber is an excellent source of flavonoid phenolic compounds such as beta-carotene and vitamin A (100 g tuber provides 14187 IU of vitamin A and 8509 µg of β-carotene). The value is one of the highest among the root-vegetables categories. These compounds are powerful natural antioxidants. Vitamin A is also required by the body to maintain integrity of healthy mucus membranes and skin. It is a vital nutrient for acuity of vision. Consumption of natural vegetables and fruits rich in flavonoids helps to protect from lung and oral cavity cancers.
The total antioxidant strength of raw sweet potato measured in terms of oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) is 902 µmol TE/100 g.
The tubers are packed with many essential vitamins such as pantothenic acid (vitamin B-5), pyridoxine (vitamin B-6), and thiamin (vitamin B-1), niacin, and riboflavin. These vitamins are essential in the sense that body requires them from external sources to replenish. These vitamins function as co-factors for various enzymes during metabolism.
Sweet potato provides a good amount of vital minerals such as iron, calcium, magnesium, manganese, and potassium that are very essential for enzyme, protein, and carbohydrate metabolism.
Sweet potato leaves are indeed more nutritious than the tuber itself. Weight per weight, 100 g of fresh leaves contain more iron, vitamin C, folates, vitamin K, and potassium but less sodium than the tuber.
Although sweet potato leaves are being eaten in some parts of the world, the root that is the toast of sweet potato lovers. In the store, buy fresh tubers with intact smooth skin and firm to woody consistency. Go for organic varieties for best taste and nutrition levels.
Avoid soft, flabby, or wilted roots. As in potatoes, sprouting would make them lose flavor and less desirable.
Wash them in clean running water to remove sand and soil. They should be stored in a cool, dark, and well-ventilated place.
Fresh sweet potatoes can be eaten raw.
Baking in water with a pinch of salt would give rich taste to them. Peel the skin before eating.
Camote, sweet potato known in the Latin world, is used extensively in the Mexican cuisine.
Camote cue, where in the tuber deep-fried and caramelized with brown sugar, is a popular street food in the Philippines.
It sweet flesh used in soups, curries, stews, and in confectionary to make cakes, pie...etc.
The tuber also used to prepare different kinds of baby foods.
Sweet potato chips are enjoyed as favorite snacks.
Safety profile
Sweet potatoes contain oxalic acid, a naturally occurring substance found in some vegetables that may crystallize as oxalate stones in the urinary tract in some people.
It is, therefore, individuals with known history of oxalate urinary tract stones may have to avoid eating them. Adequate intake of water is therefore advised to maintain normal urine output in these individuals to minimize stone risk. (Medical disclaimer).
Sweet potato and its leave nutritional value
Sweet potato, not only is just sweet to your taste buds but also good for your cardiovascular health. This starchy root vegetable is rich source of flavonoid anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber that are essential for optimal health.
Botanically, this starch-rich tuber belongs to the family of Convolvulaceae, and named botanically as Ipomoea batatas.
It is grown throughout the tropical and warm temperate regions. The crop requires just sufficient water and attention for their cultivation. The tuberous root features oblong/elongated shape with tapering ends and has smooth outer skin whose color ranges from red, purple, brown, and white, depending up on the variety.
Sweet potato
Sweet potatoes should not be confused with yams, another starchy root commonly grown in Western Africa. Yams are indeed larger in size that can grow up to 120 pounds in weight and 2 meters in length. Yams are the tropical crops and never grow where the temperature dips below 68 degrees F. Important differentiating features that distinguish sweet potatoes from yams are:
Sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) are dicotyledonous, relatively smaller and possess very thin peel.
Whereas, yams are monocotyledons, larger, features thick, rough, dark brown to pink skin depending up on the cultivar type.
Internally, it has starchy flesh which, depending upon the pigment concentration, ranges from white through yellow, orange, and purple.
Boniatos, also known as Cuban sweet-potatoes, feature dry, starchy flesh underneath the reddish-brown skin. They have mildly sweet flavor and coked in a similar way like potatoes.
Sweet potato leaves (top greens) are also edible. In fact, the greens contain more nutrients and dietary fiber than some of the green-leafy vegetables.
Health benefits of Sweet potato
Sweet potato is one of the average calorie starch foods (provide just 90 calories/100 g vs. 70 calories/100 g of potato). The tuber, however, contains no saturated fats or cholesterol and is rich source of dietary fiber, anti-oxidants, vitamins, and minerals.
Its calorie content mainly comes from starch, a complex carbohydrate. Sweet potato has higher amylose to the amylopectin ratio than potato. Amylose raises the blood sugar levels slowly on comparison to simple sugars and therefore, recommended as a healthy food supplement even in diabetes.
The tuber is an excellent source of flavonoid phenolic compounds such as beta-carotene and vitamin A (100 g tuber provides 14187 IU of vitamin A and 8509 µg of β-carotene). The value is one of the highest among the root-vegetables categories. These compounds are powerful natural antioxidants. Vitamin A is also required by the body to maintain integrity of healthy mucus membranes and skin. It is a vital nutrient for acuity of vision. Consumption of natural vegetables and fruits rich in flavonoids helps to protect from lung and oral cavity cancers.
The total antioxidant strength of raw sweet potato measured in terms of oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) is 902 µmol TE/100 g.
The tubers are packed with many essential vitamins such as pantothenic acid (vitamin B-5), pyridoxine (vitamin B-6), and thiamin (vitamin B-1), niacin, and riboflavin. These vitamins are essential in the sense that body requires them from external sources to replenish. These vitamins function as co-factors for various enzymes during metabolism.
Sweet potato provides a good amount of vital minerals such as iron, calcium, magnesium, manganese, and potassium that are very essential for enzyme, protein, and carbohydrate metabolism.
Sweet potato leaves are indeed more nutritious than the tuber itself. Weight per weight, 100 g of fresh leaves contain more iron, vitamin C, folates, vitamin K, and potassium but less sodium than the tuber.
Although sweet potato leaves are being eaten in some parts of the world, the root that is the toast of sweet potato lovers. In the store, buy fresh tubers with intact smooth skin and firm to woody consistency. Go for organic varieties for best taste and nutrition levels.
Avoid soft, flabby, or wilted roots. As in potatoes, sprouting would make them lose flavor and less desirable.
Wash them in clean running water to remove sand and soil. They should be stored in a cool, dark, and well-ventilated place.
Fresh sweet potatoes can be eaten raw.
Baking in water with a pinch of salt would give rich taste to them. Peel the skin before eating.
Camote, sweet potato known in the Latin world, is used extensively in the Mexican cuisine.
Camote cue, where in the tuber deep-fried and caramelized with brown sugar, is a popular street food in the Philippines.
It sweet flesh used in soups, curries, stews, and in confectionary to make cakes, pie...etc.
The tuber also used to prepare different kinds of baby foods.
Sweet potato chips are enjoyed as favorite snacks.
Safety profile
Sweet potatoes contain oxalic acid, a naturally occurring substance found in some vegetables that may crystallize as oxalate stones in the urinary tract in some people.
It is, therefore, individuals with known history of oxalate urinary tract stones may have to avoid eating them. Adequate intake of water is therefore advised to maintain normal urine output in these individuals to minimize stone risk. (Medical disclaimer).
Nutritious: Potatoes provide the body with an essential source of fuel and energy, which you need even when dieting.
According to a study in the British Journal of Nutrition, potatoes are wrongly classified as high on the Glycemic Index, which ranks carbohydrates from one to 100 according to how quickly they are broken down during digestion into basic glucose. Pure glucose scores 100. The lower the rank, the longer it takes for the food to be absorbed, and the longer we feel satiated after eating it.
This is why a diet of low GI foods is recommended to those wanting to lose weight.
However, the research revealed that the GI of potatoes varies depending on the type, where it is grown and the preparation methods.
For example, the GI may be medium to low when potatoes are eaten cooled, rather than hot, and when boiled and consumed whole, rather than mashed.
Potatoes provide the body with an essential source of fuel and energy, which you need even when dieting. As a rich carbohydrate source, they help to fuel all reactions in the body which you need for movement, thinking, digestion and cellular renewal.
VITAMIN BOOSTER
Potatoes were eaten by 19th Century English and Spanish sailors to fend off scurvy. Surprisingly rich in immune-boosting Vitamin C, a medium potato (150g) with the skin provides 27mg, almost half of the recommended daily intake.
Potatoes are also a rich source of Vitamin B, folate and minerals such as potassium, magnesium and iron. Potatoes are underground tubers, meaning that they store all the vitamins and minerals needed for growing new potato plants in spring.
Rather than being bland and starchy, they're actually full of nutrients.
Super food: One new potato contains just 26 calories
BLOOD PRESSURE
Researchers at the Institute for Food Research in Norwich have found blood-pressure lowering molecules in potatoes called kukoamines.
Traditional Chinese Medicine uses a plant, Lycium chinense - which also contains kukoamines - as a tea to lower blood pressure.
While the precise quantity of potatoes you'd need to eat for a therapeutic effect has still to be measured, it is thought that a few good servings of potatoes a day would have some blood-pressure lowering activity.
CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE
The Agricultural Research Service in Navarre, America, has identified 60 different kinds of phytochemicals and vitamins in potato skins.
Many of these were flavonoids, which help protect against cardiovascular-disease by lowering levels of bad LDL-cholesterol and keeping arteries fat-free.
The B vitamins in potatoes also protect arteries. Vitamin B6, found in potatoes, reduces levels of a molecule called homocysteine which is involved in inflammation and the furring up of arteries. High homocysteine levels are associated with a significantly increased risk of heart attack and stroke.
GUT HEALTH
A single baked potato will provide nearly 12 per cent of the daily recommended amount of fibre, giving similar levels to whole grain breads, pastas and cereals.
High levels of dietary fibre and 'bulking agents' support healthy digestion and regular bowel movements, while giving a protective effect from colon cancer.
While most potato fibre is found in the skin, some of the starch in potatoes is indigestible.
Instead it passes through the gut intact, adding bulk. If you suffer from sluggish bowel movements, eat cooked potatoes that have been cooled. The cooling process increases the amount of indigestible starch from seven per cent to 13 per cent.
STRESS
Potatoes are exceedingly rich in Vitamin B6, a substance needed for cellular renewal, a healthy nervous system and a balanced mood. Just 100g of baked potato contains 21 per cent of the daily value of the vitamin.
It is used to make neurotransmitters --substances that deliver messages from one cell to the next.
Neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine are needed for the regulation of mood and Vitamin B6 is needed to make them.
It is also used to make adrenaline, hormones that help us respond to stress, and GABA, a substance linked to relaxation and a feeling of wellbeing.
Healthy: A single baked potato will provide nearly 12 per cent of the daily recommended amount of fibre.
PICK YOUR POTATOES WISELY
Earlier this year, a new breed of potato - Vivaldi - was developed in Lincolnshire by the company Naturally Best and is now sold in Sainsbury's. The white and salad potatoes contain at least 26 per cent less carbohydrate and 33 per cent fewer calories than other varieties.
The health benefits do not impair the taste. Vivaldi has been dubbed the 'butterless baker' for its creamy texture and flavour, making it less likely you'll want to smother it in butter.
Floury potatoes can become light and fluffy when cooked and are high in starch.
They tend to have a high GI therefore, as starch has a profound effect on blood glucose levels. This can be lowered to a medium GI by mashing them and adding olive oil-based spread or skimmed milk.
Waxy potatoes, such as new potatoes like Charlotte and Nicola, are medium GI foods. They are high in moisture and sugar, but low in starch, hence they will have a more minor effect on blood sugar levels.
You can further combine new potatoes with salad oil or protein to balance out sugar levels as opposed to raising them.
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