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 fibre that are essential for optimal health.
Botanically, this 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 has oblong/elongated shape with tapering ends and has smooth outer skin whose colour ranges from red, purple, brown, and white, depending up on the variety.
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 up to 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 cultivar type.

Internally, it has starchy flesh which, depending upon the pigments 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 flavour 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 fibre than some green leafy vegetables like spinach (for example, 100 g sweet potato leaves provide 1028 IU of vitamin A).

Health benefits

Sweet potato is one of the average calorie starch food (provide just 90 cal/100 g vs 70 calories/100 g of potato). The tuber, however, contains no saturated fats or cholesterol; but is rich source of dietary fibre, anti-oxidants, vitamins, and minerals.

Its calorie content mainly comes from starch, a complex carbohydrate. Starch 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 excellent source of flavonoid phenolic compounds such as beta-carotene and vitamin A (100 g tuber provides 14187 IU of vitamin A and 8509 mcg of β-carotene). The value is one of the highest among root vegetables category. 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 also vital nutrient for vision. Consumption of natural vegetables and fruits rich in flavonoids helps to protect from lung and oral cavity cancers.

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 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 tuber. Weight per weight, 100 g of fresh leaves contain more iron, vitamin C, folates, vitamin K, and potassium but less sodium than the tuber.

Immune System: Being very rich in beta carotene, which is a major antioxidant, along with vitamin-C and B-complex vitamins, iron and phosphorus, sweet potatoes are excellent immune system boosters that can defend your body from a wide variety of conditions and afflictions.

Inflammation: Like the common potato, sweet potatoes also have anti-inflammatory properties, although they do not belong to the same family as common potato. This is primarily due to the presence of beta-carotene, vitamin-C and magnesium. It is equally effective in curing internal and external inflammation.

Asthma: Sweet potatoes are effective for curing congestion of the nose, bronchi and lungs, thereby giving relief from asthma. Its typical aroma helps in this property.

Bronchitis: The concentration of vitamin-C, iron and other nutrients help to cure bronchitis. Sweet potatoes are believed to be capable of warming up the body, possibly due to the sweetness and other nutrients that impact body temperature. This property is also beneficial for people suffering from bronchitis, along with its powerful effect on congestion.

Arthritis: Beta-carotene, magnesium, zinc, and vitamin-B complex make sweet potatoes a hugely important food source for managing arthritis. The water where sweet potatoes are boiled can also be applied externally on joints to ease the associated pain of arthritis.

Digestion: The fibre content of sweet potatoes is higher than that of common potatoes and they taste good too! When these two factors are combined with other minerals like magnesium, which is present in sweet potatoes, it makes an excellent facilitator for digestion. Sweet potatoes are easy to digest as well, since they mainly contain starch. They are soothing for the stomach and intestines, so you will avoid any difficulties of passing or digesting them.

Cancer: Beta-carotene, the champion antioxidant and ant carcinogenic substance, is the pigment responsible for the colour of the peel of the sweet potatoes. The beta carotene and vitamin-C contained in sweet potatoes are very beneficial for curing various types of cancer, mainly those of the colon, intestines, prostrate, kidneys and other internal organs.

Stomach Ulcers: Sweet potatoes have a soothing effect on the stomach and the intestines.  B-complex vitamins, vitamin C, beta carotene, potassium and calcium are all very effective in curing stomach ulcers. Moreover, the roughage in sweet potatoes prevents constipation and the resultant acid formation, thereby reducing the chance of ulcers. The anti-inflammatory and soothing properties of sweet potatoes also reduce the pain and inflammation of the ulcers.

Diabetes: Contrary to popular belief, sweet potatoes are beneficial for diabetics. Amazingly, they are very effective in regulating blood sugar levels by helping the proper secretion and function of insulin. Of course, that does not mean that diabetics should eat them indiscriminately. The idea is that sweet potatoes can replace rice or carbohydrate intake as a healthier option.

Water Balance: The fibre or roughage present in sweet potatoes helps the body retain water. This maintains water balance in the body, keeping your hydrated and your cells functioning efficiently.

Weight Gain: This benefit is quite easy to understand. Sweet potatoes are sweet, and they contain very good amounts of complex starch, along with healthy vitamins, minerals and some proteins. Moreover, they are very easy to digest. Thus, they provide a lot of energy and are excellent bulk builders for people looking to gain weight.

People who have recently suffered from illnesses, or are self-conscious about being frail or abnormally thin should welcome this news about sweet potatoes, since there are no associated side effects, which most of the synthetic bulk building dietary supplements have.

Other Benefits

They are effective for helping people quit addictions like smoking, drinking and taking certain narcotics. They are good for the health of the arteries and veins, as they protect their walls against hardening. The high concentration of beta carotene (an alternative form of vitamin-A) and phosphorus are excellent for both ocular and cardiac health.

So, go out and grab a sweet potato for your next meal; they are delicious and nutritious.