The anti-aging secrets of sweet potato

With its warm color and delicate, sweet taste, the sweet potato has a lot of charm. Low in calories, it calms the cravings for snacks and sweets. Perfect for slimming diets! In addition, the health benefits of sweet potato are undeniable.

The sweet potato is a perennial cultivated in the tropics and subtropics such asCentral America, the Peru where the Philippines. It is appreciated for its edible tubers and there are various varieties characterized by their color: white, yellow, orange or purple. It is a creamy and delicately sweet potato that is ideally consumed from October to March.

It is less known, but the sweet potato ranks seventh in the world in terms of agricultural production, after wheat, rice, maize, potatoes, barley and cassava.

Sweet potato is a good source of provitamin A or beta-carotene, which is useful for healthy tissues, bones and immune system as well as the growth of night vision. It also helps thanks to this component (beta-carotene) to beautify the skin and make it a little more tanned each time it is consumed.

By its sweet flavor, the sweet potato is a healthy food that helps satisfy cravings for sweetness, low in calories and without a trace of refined sugar. It is also recognized as having an appetite suppressant effect, which makes it ideal for slimming diets.

The advantages of the sweet potato in infographic

All the benefits of sweet potato

Sweet potato is rich in potassium, a mineral useful for the nervous system, muscle function, and blood pressure. Thanks to that rich in vitamins (vitamins A, B2, B5, B6, C), minerals (copper and manganese) and antioxidants, sweet potato helps prevent oxidative stress.

The sweet potato has other health benefits:

• She lowers bad cholesterol and limits the risk of cardiovascular disease.
• Its richness in antioxidants makes it a excellent anti cancer food (especially breast cancer). It also protects against several chronic diseases.
• White sweet potato would help reduce insulin resistance and controlling blood sugar in people with type 2 diabetes.
• She is too useful in case of pregnancy, ideal for mother and baby during breastfeeding thanks to vitamin A.
• Excellent for the liver, sweet potato helps limit liver problems by reducing the level of liver enzymes as well as indicators of damage.
• Certain pigments in it reduce the risk of deterioration of cognitive function and prevent memory impairment.

Some practical advice

For choose a good sweet potato, it must be firm, soft and heavy to the touch. It is also important to ensure that the naturally scarred skin is not stained or clearly damaged.

To enjoy the benefits of the sweet potato, it is stored in a dry, cool and well-ventilated place to prevent germination. Also in some Pacific Islands, it is dried in slices after cooking and kept in jars that are used to flavor stews.

In the kitchen, it lends itself well to savory preparations, such as potatoes, or sweet. It can be enjoyed in fries, mashed potatoes or in a cake and at any time. To make the most of your nutritional properties, we prefer the darkest sweet potato.

Sweet potato mash recipe

Ingredients for 5 people

• 800 g sweet potato
• 20 cl of fresh cream
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Pepper or cayenne pepper
• orange or lemon zest for flavoring

Preperation

1. We put a large quantity of water to heat. Then, we peel the sweet potatoes and cut them into small pieces.
2. Then they are cooked in boiling water for 10 minutes.
3. We pass the cooked potatoes in a mixer with the cream and olive oil at will.
4. Finally, salt, pepper and flavor with citrus zest at will.