Why You Should Be Eating Your Sweet Potato Veggies!

Did anyone out there get a chance to try out the Sweet Potato, Peach, and Pork Packet recipe I posted last week?! I’ve only made it twice since then, not obsessed right…

Well if you haven’t given it a try, here are some reasons why you are missing out!

Whole Foods considers sweet potatoes one of the healthiest vegetables we eat, and we all know Whole Foods know their health foods right?! Well not only are sweet potatoes delicious, but they are LOADED with vitamins and minerals.

Here are some reasons you should love sweet potatoes:

• extremely high in Vitamin A, one medium sweet potato contains well over your daily recommended value. Vitamin A helps boost your immunity to disease, along with fighting cancer. It also helps to keep you looking young by protecting your skin against the effects of aging, SCORE!
• high in Vitamin B6 which has been linked to prevent heart attacks. It also helps the body to produce energy by the process of metabolism.
• good source of Vitamin C, we all know vitamin C is great for our immunity, but it also “plays an important role in bone and tooth formation, digestion, and blood cell formation.” Another thing you may not have known about this vitamin, it contains collagen which helps our skin keep its elasticity to keep us looking young, who doesn’t want that?!
• has a low glycemic index. This low glycemic index allows the body to slowly absorb any glucose, allowing your rise and fall in blood sugar to be very gradual.
• good source of  magnesium which is ”necessary for healthy artery, blood, bone, heart, muscle, and nerve function”. This mineral also great for assisting in relaxing the body and regulating the metabolism of other nutrients.
• contains Vitamin D, which is crucial for the absorption and metabolism of calcium and phosphorous, which have various functions, including the maintenance of healthy bones. Vitamin D also plays a big role in your immune system.
• contain 15% daily fiber, which we all know is crucial to every diet. Fiber helps normalize your bowel movements (who couldn’t use that…), lowers your blood sugar and cholesterol levels, as well as aiding in weight loss. Fiber keeps you feeling full longer, keeping you from grazing all day long.
• source of potassium that has many functions such as “relaxing muscle contractions, reducing swelling, and protecting and controlling the activity of the kidneys”.

Along with the excellent sources of vitamins and minerals sweet potatoes contain, they are also very delicious. Sweet potatoes get their name from the naturally sweet-tasting flavor of them, which comes from the natural sugars they contain.

These natural sugars are slowly released into the bloodstream, unlike refined and chemical sugars. This ensures a natural, balanced source of energy without the blood sugar spikes.

There are so many different versatile things you can do with sweet potatoes. You can bake, grill, mash, or one of my favorites of course… fry form! No not actually frying the sweet potatoes, that would take away the point of eating them for health reasons of course. Cut your sweet potatoes up into ¼ inch slices, toss with a little olive oil, season, bake about 20 minutes on 450 degrees, and bam… SWEET POTATO FRIES.

Trust me, your taste buds will not regret this!

Have you ever tried sweet potatoes? What are your thoughts?

What is your favorite way to eat a sweet potato?