Read 62 times since Thursday, August 04, 2011
Sweet potatoes are widely underappreciated; they are what some would call the unsung hero of any well balanced diet. Many people only eat these delicious vegetables once a year during thanksgiving even though these veggies are available all year round.
Sweet potatoes are packed with carotenoids; that is what gives them that orange color. Interestingly enough if you find something to be orange throughout, it'll usually have a high content of carotenoids, however, the orange actually does not- I guess nature messed up on that one.
Carotenoids are a pro-vitamin A meaning that they are a precursor to vitamin A. Carotenoids are thrown into our stomach, pushed into our intestines, taken over to our livers, and then passed along to the kidney where they then are measured, fitted and determined suitable or not for vitamin A synthesis.
Vitamin A is a wonderful anti-oxidant that is carried in our blood throughout our entire body. It is used to destroy free radicals.
Although, not all carotenoids perform the same function, some are used for entirely different thing than free radical ratification. Sweet potatoes contain many carotenoids that are shown to help balance blood sugar levels and lower insulin resistance.
When we lower the resistance to insulin, cells become more responsive; this makes them more adaptable to different blood sugar levels. So eating sweet potatoes can be a tasty treat for those testy diabetics.
This meaty vegetable has girth, and with so few calories which just happen to be fat free, it will keep your tummy satisfied for hours. Sweet potatoes are packed with fiber.
The fiber content alone makes it a valuable source of nutrients. Fiber is great for cleaning out the body, for going through and cleansing your liver and kidney.
Fiber is also a wonderful stool softener, if you are one who suffers from chronic constipation, eat a sweet potato and see what comes of it. Who knows maybe you will make it an everyday part of your diet.
A full grown sweet potato will hold one hundred percent of your fixed vitamin c and potassium allowance. That means you don't have to eat
oranges or bananas ever again; although they are also good for you, and it is not suggested or advisable that you stop eating other things on account of the nutritious content of a sweet potato.
Try baked sweet potatoes for dinner; it is a lot like a baked potato, except it tastes better. You can also grate them and fry them up for breakfast as sweet potato hash brown; this makes for an awesome breakfast.
Pretty much everything you can do with a potato you can do it better with a sweet potato. Keep that in mind next time you want to eat something. Destry Masterson is a health and nutrition expert. She publishes articles for http://www.dailybread.com and recommends them for food storage.
Contact Info:
Destry Masterson - MyOnlineArticleWriting@gmail.com - Twitter: @DestryMasterson
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