The sweet potato – a healthy all-rounder

Healthy crop and versatile trend vegetable: the sweet potato

The sweet potato belongs to the bindweed family and is also known as the “batate” or “white potato“. It has nothing to do with the common potato, which belongs to the nightshade family.

The sweet potato – a healthy all-rounder

With an annual harvest of just under 120 million tons, the sweet potato ranks third among tuber and root food crops behind the potato and cassava. Nowadays it is grown in almost all the warmer countries of the world, in Europe mainly in Italy, Spain and Portugal.

The color is red-orange or purple. The slightly sweet taste is due to the high sugar content of 4.2 grams per 100 grams.

It is extremely rich in beta-carotene, vitamin A, sodium and many other good ingredients. Compared to corn with 1.2 g fat per 100 g, it has just 0.1 g fat.

The batata can be washed (or peeled), boiled, fried, cooked, gratinated or deep-fried. Its sweet taste also makes it ideal for desserts. In Hawaii, you wrap bananas with sweet potato spaghetti and then bake the bananas in fat – it tastes delicious and is also healthy … a dessert with no regrets.

Even though the sweet potato actually has nothing to do with the potato, at the beginning of my dietary change I liked to eat it as a side dish, so I could trick my brain and I didn’t miss anything at mealtimes. I now enjoy them as vegetables, puree, chips, potato chips, in buckwheat bread or brownies.

The benefits of the sweet potato at a glance:
– contains many antioxidants
– regulates the blood sugar level
– is rich in fiber
– promotes the immune system
– is good for the heart
– has an antispasmodic effect
– is a stress killer
– also tastes good raw

So get to the vegetables and feast your way to health!