Introduction

Following the release of our recent article, titled ‘the benefits of avocados’, we thought here at FitnessBeans we would stick with the food theme and move on to another so called super food.

This time it’s the turn of the sweet potato. Just as we did with the avocado, we’ll break down the benefits of this food – both health and fitness related – before suggesting a few ideas as to how you can incorporate this into your diet.

The Benefits Of Sweet Potato
  • Sweet potato contains a compound called carotenoids which derives from a plant product. This help to rejuvenate damaged cells, including those following a workout.
  • An abundance of vitamin E can also be located in sweet potato. This is required to reduce the potential effects of free radicals and enhance the flow of blood to and from your heart.
  • Sweet potato also contains the mineral potassium. This is required for numerous health and fitness benefits including muscle contraction, nerve transmission, bone health, water equilibrium and the maintenance of normal blood pressure.
  • Copper can also be located in sweet potato. This increases the production of connective tissue which in turn allows for the maintenance of healthy muscles and joints.
  • Finally, sweet potato contains quercetin which has been hypothesised to reduce numerous breathing related allergies, such as hay fever and asthma to name a few.
Conclusion

So there you have it, 5 benefits which support the claim for the sweet potato to be included as a super food. As highlighted, the ability to obtain potassium and copper from the sweet potato provides numerous benefits for those undertaking resistance training. This is why sweet potato is an essential component of many athletes’ diets.

Furthermore, a single average sized sweet potato contains approximately 4g of fibre. This ultimately provides you with around 10% of your daily requirements, whilst at the same time keeping you regular!

So what can you do with a sweet potato to incorporate them into your diet? Quite simply, everything you can do with a normal potato and more. You can bake or microwave them, produce home made healthy fries or wedges or simply mash them up. What’s more, after they’ve been cooked they also taste great cold and can be used as a snack or as part of a larger meal.

You could even try to make yourself a sweet potato smoothie, which will make for a great post workout snack; simply mix sweet potato, water, a sprinkle of sugar, peanut butter and a sweet flavouring of your choice, such as vanilla and blend until fully mixed. Why not give it a go today and start to reap the rewards of this super food.