5 things to know about sweet potatoes

Sweet potatoes are a popular food that many people love, but the harm of eating sweet potatoes in the wrong way is a must to know.

Sweet potatoes help to prevent many diseases

Due to its rich nutritional composition, sweet potato has a good effect on preventing oxidation and inflammatory, supporting cardiovascular system, preventing the growth and formation of cancer cells from free radicals.

Sweet potatoes contain vitamin C and D, helping strengthen the body's resistance. In addition, sweet potatoes provide much needed energy for people who are sick, weak or who have flu. Sweet potatoes are also the best source of beta-carotene that helps the body produce leukocytes, which prevent flu viruses from entering the body.


Sweet potatoes support weight loss

Sweet potatoes are rich in fiber, and after entering the intestinal tract they can clean the waste inside, because sweet potatoes help to gather the toxins and waste together to excrete it in the most convenient way.

Sweet potatoes are also rich in vitamins, which can create new cells and promote metabolism in the intestines.

How to cook and eat sweet potatoes

There are many ways to eat sweet potatoes: you can steam, bake or make soup... You should only eat thoroughly cooked sweet potatoes, because the starchy of sweet potatoes will be difficult to digest without being processed at high temperatures.

Sweet potatoes contain oxidase, which can easily produce large amounts of carbon dioxide in the digestive tract, so if you eat too much sweet potatoes your body will be prone to flatulence, hiccups.


Sweet potatoes lack protein and fat, so they need to be eaten along with vegetables, fruits and protein-rich foods so that they do not lose nutritional balance.

The best time to eat sweet potatoes

The most important thing to remember is to eat sweet potatoes at lunch time. Because calcium of sweet potatoes needs 4-5 hours in the body to be completely absorbed, while sunlight in the afternoon will promote the ideal absorption of calcium. Having sweet potatoes at noon, calcium in sweet potatoes can be completely absorbed before dinner, and will not affect the absorption of calcium in other foods that we have for dinner.

In contrast, people eating sweet potatoes in the evening are more likely to have acid reflux, especially those who are sick or the elderly with poor digestive system, as they will cause abdominal distress. In addition, at night, the metabolism occurs poorly, leading to insomnia.

The longer sweet potatoes last, the sweeter they are

Why old sweet potatoes are sweeter than fresh sweet potatoes from the garden? Firstly, the amount of water in the sweet potatoes is reduced by evaporation, which increases their sugar concentration. Secondly, in this process, water is involved in hydrolysis with starch in sweet potato, hydrolyzed starch turns into sugars, raising the sugar content in sweet potatoes.


By: Anna Bennett
