5 Benefits to Eating Baked Sweet Potatoes

Posted by Tayyab Ali on January 31st, 2020

Who doesn’t love a good potato? Better yet- Who doesn’t love a good sweet potato? A sweet potato is a starchy and sweet-tasting root vegetable. When you think of sweet potatoes most people will think about their favorite Thanksgiving sweet potato casserole or the perfect baked sweet potato that’s crisp on the outside but soft on the inside. Because of the sweet-tasting nature of the sweet potato, it can easily be mistaken for dessert. Believe it or not, the sweet potato has a lot of nutrition value and your body can benefit greatly from the nutrients this root vegetable can provide. However, it’s important to note that the preparation of the sweet potato can make a huge difference in how healthy it is. For example, a baked potato is going to be a lot healthier for you than a sweet potato pie that’s been loaded with added sugar. So, for the sake of it, we’re here to tell you about the # benefits of eating baked sweet potatoes.

High in Vitamins

It’s no secret that sweet potatoes are high in nutrients and can greatly add to your daily dose of vitamins that you get through your diet. Sweet potatoes are a great source of fiber and vitamins including the skin. Most say the skin is the healthiest part of sweet potatoes to eat. To know just how many vitamins your average sweet potato can offer you, here are all the vitamins that sweet potatoes are rich in:

• Vitamin C
• Vitamin D
• All B vitamins
• Calcium
• Iron
• Magnesium
• Phosphorus
• Potassium
• Zinc
• And so much more!

Baking sweet potatoes give you a healthy and tasty side option that’s high in antioxidants. So even though you may feel like you’re indulging, you’re still fueling your body with vitamin rich food.

Promotes a Healthy Gut

These days it seems like everyone is looking for ways to promote gut health. Your gut is said to be responsible for a lot of the reasons as to why a person feels and acts the way that they do. When looking to improve your gut health you want to incorporate foods into your diet that are high in fiber and antioxidants. Can you take any guess what that might be? That’s right! Sweet potatoes are known to promote a healthy gut.

Supports Healthy Vision

Move over carrots because you’re not the only vegetable that can support healthy vision. Sweet potatoes are known to be very beneficial to vision health. This is because they are high in beta-carotene which is the antioxidant that makes sweet potatoes bright orange. Beta-carotenes are known to convert to vitamin A which is the vitamin that can support healthy vision and, in some countries, is known to prevent vision diseases that can lead to blindness.

Immune System Booster

Since we’re on the topic of vitamin A and that sweet potatoes have a lot of it, it’s important to note that vitamin A is a natural immune booster. Your immune system uses vitamin A as a support to fight off unwanted germs and illnesses. With that being said, sweet potatoes have an average of 769% of the daily value of vitamin A, making them a vitamin A rich food.

Increase Brain Function

Believe it or not, but research has shown that sweet potatoes are known to reduce inflammation in the brain and can actually increase your mental health. The tests were performed on animals, but we know that sweet potatoes are high in vitamins and rich in nutrients so it only makes sense that they can benefit brain function.