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Just like potatoes, sweet potatoes, known as shakarkand in hindi, are also packed with various minerals, vitamins, dietary fibre and antioxidants. Apart from being inexpensive and easily available, these fleshy roots add a unique taste and flavour to your dishes making them a healthy and delicious food option to try. Here are top 9 reasons that make sweet potatoes a perfect snack to munch on or include them in your daily diet as well!
#1 Keeps your immune system active
The iron present in this vegetable activates white blood cell production, improves resistance to stress and proper immune functioning. Vitamin D in sweet potatoes plays an important role in boosting your energy levels, regulating moods and helps to build strong immune system. Not only sweet potatoes, here are some more foods you can eat to improve your immunity.
#2 Improves digestion
The fiber in combination with magnesium helps relieve several stomach problems like indigestion, constipation and acidity. Being high in fiber content, sweet potatoes are light on your stomach and intestine and thus, aid in proper digestion. The fibre actually adds bulk to your stools and softens them thereby easing the excretion of food.
#3 Maintains healthy heart
Enriched with potassium and vitamin B6, sweet potatoes help in the prevention of a heart attack and stroke. By proper regulation of fluid and electrolytic balance in the body, this nutritious root renders a protective effect on your heart.
#4 Shields from inflammation
Sweet potatoes contain high levels of antioxidants that make it a powerful dietary source to tackle inflammatory problems like asthma, bronchitis, arthritis and gout. The antioxidant property eliminates the harmful free radicals from your body, which might increase your risk of suffering from inflammation.
#5 Helps prevent cancer
The presence of antioxidants in sweet potatoes helps in warding off cancer-causing free radicals responsible for DNA damage. Apart from this, these roots are packed with beta carotene which not only prevents various types of cancers such as kidneys, colon, intestine and prostate but also protect your eyes from damage.
#6 Lowers your blood sugar
Sweet potatoes contain natural sugars cause a slow release of sugars into the bloodstream and thus, prevent sudden rise of your blood sugar levels. Additionally, sweet potatoes also improve insulin sensitivity which in turn ensures your blood sugar levels to remain under control.
#7 Prevents muscle cramps
Suffering from frequent muscle cramps and injuries? You might be deficient in potassium. Potassium deficiency is known to cause muscle cramps along with making you susceptible to injuries. So, adding potassium-rich sweet potato to your diet not only prevents muscle cramps but improves your blood flow.
#8 Relieves stress
When you are stressed out, your blood levels of potassium and magnesium drop drastically. However, snacking on sweet potatoes might help your out in dealing with the situation. This is because, the presence of potassium and magnesium helps in re-balancing them and normalizing your heartbeat thereby lowering your stress levels. Here are few more options to you can try to combat stress.
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