Skip to main content

7 REASONS TO EAT SWEET POTATOES

Source: Wikipedia

Sweet potatoes are really good for our body. It's sweet, nutritious and packed with many benefits. It is consumed by many and it's affordable by people of all class.

Some of  the benefits of this sweet and  cheap food include:

1.  EYE HEALTH

Sweet potatoes  are high in carotenoids like beta carotene and other carotenoids, which is the precursor to vitamin A in your body.  Vitamin A helps strengthen our eyesight and boost our immunity to disease.

2.  HEART HEALTH

Sweet potatoes are good source of potassium, which is an important electrolytes that help regulate heartbeat and nerve signals. Like the other electrolytes, potassium performs many essential functions, some of which include relaxing muscle contractions, reducing swelling, and protecting and controlling the activity of the kidneys.

3.  REMOVES HOMOCYSTEINE

Sweet potatoes are high in vitamin B6 (Pyridoxal phosphate), which  helps reduce the chemical homocysteine in our bodies. Homocysteine has been linked with degenerative diseases, including heart attacks.

4.  SOURCE OF VITAMIN D

Sweet potatoes are also good source of vitamin D, which is essential for immune system.  Vitamin D is both a hormone and a vitamin.

Vitamin D is important for calcium absorption which is good for strong and healthy bones. Vitamin D also  plays an important role in our energy levels, moods, and helps to build healthy heart, nerves, skin, and it supports the thyroid gland.

5.  SOURCE OF IRON

Sweet potatoes contain iron.  Iron is an important mineral in the body. It plays important roles in our body, including red and white blood cell production, resistance to stress, proper immune functioning, and the metabolizing of protein, among other things.

6.  NATURAL  SUGAR

Sweet potatoes are naturally sweet-tasting but their natural sugars are slowly released into the bloodstream, helping to ensure a balanced and regular source of energy, without the blood sugar spikes linked to fatigue and weight gain.

7.  SOURCE OF VITAMIN C

Sweet potatoes are  good sources of vitamin C. Vitamin C is important in  warding off cold and flu viruses, bone and tooth formation, digestion, and blood cell formation. 


Vitamin C speeds up  wound healing because its role in production of  collagen also collagen help to maintain skin’s youthful elasticity, and is essen­tial to helping us cope with stress. It even appears to help protect our body against toxins that may be linked to cancer.

REFERENCE:

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/9-reasons-to-love-sweet-potatoes.html


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Health Benefits of Sweet Melon

Sweet melon ( Cucumis melon ) Sweet melon also known as honeydew or honeymelon is one among the fruits cultivated and consumed largely in Northern Nigeria. Sweet melon though not extremely sweet as one may think, is really delicious fruit packed with numerous nutrients. A 100 g of sweet melon can provide the body with a whole essential nutrients. Sweet melon have a lot of health benefits some of which include: 1. Prevent Cancer: Nutrients like vitamin C,  Vitamin A,  beta- carotene, and bioflavonoids which are antioxidants occur in significant amount in sweet melon. These nutrients, due to their anti-oxidative properties can help in eliminating or neutralizing free radicals which can cause cancer. 2.  Improve Heart Health: Sweet melon contains significant amount of dietary fiber, potassium, vitamin C, and choline all which support heart health. Potassium acts as a vasodilator (can cause dilation of blood vessels) hence consumption of potassium-rich foods like sweet m...

Maggot Debridement Therapy (MDT), A Clinical Use of Maggot

"Nothing is really useless, and nothing is really too useful" - Emmanuel Okoli Advancements in the field science and technology is really moving at a high speed. The field of medical sciences is not left out. There are a lot of advancements in the medical field due to the surge in diseases such cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes. Due to these advancements, many unconventional treatment methods of diseases have evolved. Today, we are discuss one of such unconventional methods. Have you heard of Maggot Debridement Therapy (MDT)? OK Let's... Go What is Maggot Debridement Therapy ? Maggot Debridement Therapy (MDT) is a clinical method for wound treatment (or healing) using maggots. It involves the introduction of live, disinfected maggots (fly larvae) into the non-healing skin and soft tissue wound(s) of a human or animal for the purpose of cleaning out the necrotic (dead) tissue within a wound (debridement) and disinfection. Note : Viewer d...

TYPHOID AND MALARIA: Their difference

In counties where self medication is still prevalent, signs and symptoms are usually used to identify diseases before drug prescriptions are made either by the individual or by their local untrained dispensers. In the case of prescribing drugs for typhoid challenges are encountered because the similarities between the symptoms of typhoid  and malaria. In this post the difference between typhoid and malaria will be clarified. 1.  The both have different causes. Typhoid is caused by  Salmonella typhi which is a Gram-negative bacterium. While malaria is caused by different species of protozoa belonging the genius Plasmodium   such as  P. falciparum,  P. vivax, P. ovale, and P. malariae. 2.  The both have different means of transmission. Typhoid is transmitted by consumption of foods and water contaminated with feces of infected person. While malaria is transmitted by  bites from female Anopheles mosquito which is its vector. 3.  The...