Consuming sweet potatoes provides many health benefits, you know! Come on, take a look at the various benefits below!
sweet potatoes can be used as a substitute for rice. Therefore, many food menus are made from sweet potatoes. A simple example is steamed sweet potatoes.
Apart from being filling, sweet potatoes also contain various nutrients that the body needs, such as vitamin A, vitamin C, iron, vitamin B, and other important minerals. In terms of nutritional content, sweet potatoes provide many benefits if consumed in the right way.
Here are the various benefits of yellow and purple sweet potatoes that you need to know:
1. Maintain a balance of good bacteria in the intestines
The fiber in sweet potatoes helps prevent intestinal health by supporting the growth of good bacteria in the digestive tract.
Good bacteria in the intestine play an important role in breaking down toxins from food, training the immune system, and making certain vitamins that the body needs.
2. Maintain eye health
You can maintain eye health by eating nutritious foods, such as sweet potatoes. “The high content of beta-carotene and vitamin A in sweet potatoes can help maintain eye health, prevent vision problems, and maintain eye brightness,”.
3. Provides Energy
There is a reason why sweet potatoes can be used as a substitute for rice. The fiber in sweet potatoes can keep your stomach full for longer and suppress the desire to snack on unhealthy foods.
Besides that “The complex carbohydrates in sweet potatoes provide sustainable energy.” The benefits of boiled or steamed sweet potatoes can support you to be active every day.
4. Strengthens the Immune System
Flu, colds, and coughs are very contagious, you know! Fortunately, the body has an immune system that can fight infections. To strengthen your immune system, you need foods that contain vitamin C, such as sweet potatoes.
“Vitamin C acts as an antioxidant and helps improve the body’s immune system optimally. This helps fight infections and diseases that attack the body.
5. Streamline your diet
When on a diet, the choice of food consumed must be carefully considered. The reason is, that certain types of food can contain high calories. In fact, generally when dieting you need to reduce 500 calories from your daily calorie count.
Well, the calories in 100 grams of sweet potato are 86 calories. Meanwhile, boiled sweet potatoes contain 76 calories.
When compared to potatoes, sweet potatoes have a lower number of calories. These benefits of sweet potatoes can help you carry out your diet smoothly.
6. Improves brain function
Free radicals can attack cells in the brain. If damage occurs, brain function can decrease.
Anthocyanins in sweet potatoes have the ability to prevent damage and reduce inflammation in brain cells due to free radicals.
Regular consumption of sweet potatoes has an impact on brain performance and memory in mice, according to a study in the journal Dementia and Neuropsychologia.
7. Optimizes Nerve Function in the Body
The nervous system in your body is tasked with receiving, processing and transmitting stimuli from all organs. In order for its function to run well, you need foods rich in vitamin B complex.
“Sweet potatoes could be an option because they contain complete B vitamins, such as vitamin B6, vitamin B5 and vitamin B1. “All the B vitamins from sweet potatoes provide good benefits for supporting nerve function.
8. Healthy Food for Diabetes Sufferers
Diabetes can cause disturbing symptoms and weaken the function of vital organs in the body. So that the condition does not get worse, patients need to keep their blood sugar levels stable.
Sweet potatoes can be a healthy food for people with diabetes because they are low in calories. Apart from that, the glycemic index of sweet potatoes is also low. This prevents a rapid rise in blood sugar.
9. Potentially Prevents Cancer
Sweet potatoes are rich in antioxidant compounds, one of which is anthocyanin which helps reduce the risk of various types of cancer.
So you see, your body’s cells can be damaged by free radicals. Cell damage can be a factor in the development of cancer.
With antioxidants that fight free radicals, it certainly protects body cells from damage. It is through this mechanism that consuming foods rich in antioxidants can help prevent cancer.
10. Reduces the risk of heart disease
Sweet potatoes contain beta-carotene which can reduce inflammation. This is because beta-carotene is an antioxidant that can fight free radical damage.
Regularly consuming foods rich in antioxidants, such as sweet potatoes, provides protective benefits for the body from heart attacks and congestive heart failure. Moreover, sweet potatoes are also high in potassium, a mineral that can keep blood pressure stable.
11. Prevent Constipation
Apart from maintaining the balance of bacteria in the intestines, sweet potato fiber also provides benefits, namely preventing constipation.
Fiber can help keep the stool texture soft with the help of water. That way, feces can easily pass through the large intestine and be excreted from the body. On the other hand, if you lack fiber, constipation is very likely to occur.
12. Supports healthy skin and hair
Vitamin C from sweet potatoes can stimulate the production of collagen, which is a protein found in hair and skin.
Optimal collagen production coupled with vitamin A can help prevent dry hair. Apart from that, collagen can also slow down the aging process of the skin.
13. Prevent Ulcer Recurrence
An increase in stomach acid can cause symptoms of nausea, vomiting, flatulence, heartburn, and constant belching. Consuming foods rich in fiber is known to prevent an increase in stomach acid.
Sweet potatoes, which are high-fiber foods, provide benefits for preventing the recurrence of stomach acid disorders.