Why can potatoes and sweet potatoes help you lose weight?

Potatoes and sweet potatoes are two common food combinations. Potatoes are rich in protein and fat, which can help reduce body calories, promote digestion, and increase fullness. They are rich in niacin and trace elements. Sweet potatoes can prevent constipation and diabetes, and can also promote defecation. They can also reduce body calories and have the effect of losing weight, so potatoes and sweet potatoes can help lose weight.

Common potato foods include potatoes (also known as potatoes, yams, etc.), sweet potatoes (also known as sweet potatoes, yams, sweet potatoes, etc.), taro, yam and cassava.

Among these common potato foods, Chinese people often eat potatoes and taro as vegetables, such as shredded potatoes with vinegar, candied potatoes, and steamed pork with taro. In Western countries, potatoes are their "meal" and, like bread, are one of the most common staple foods, such as mashed potatoes.

Nutritional information of potato foods

The carbohydrate content in potatoes is about 20%, the protein and fat content is low, and the energy contained is lower than that of grain foods. 100 grams of potatoes contain 76 kcal of energy, while the same amount of rice contains 346 kcal of energy, which is 4.6 times that of rice.

Potatoes are low in energy, but they contain a lot of other nutrients. Potatoes contain various nutrients essential to the human body, such as folic acid, niacin, magnesium, potassium, iron, and zinc. Potatoes are very rich in potassium, containing 342 mg of potassium per 100 grams of edible part, which is higher than the 256 mg in bananas.

The vitamin C content in potatoes is also higher than in cereals. Every 100 grams of potatoes contains 27 mg of vitamin C, while the vitamin C content in cereals is very little.

There is also carotene. Rice lacks carotene, which is its biggest flaw, while sweet potatoes are rich in carotene, containing 73.4 micrograms of retinol equivalents per 100 grams.

One of the widely known characteristics of potatoes is that they are rich in dietary fiber, including cellulose, hemicellulose and pectin, which are relatively lacking in refined rice and flour. Dietary fiber can promote intestinal motility, prevent constipation, etc.

What is the relationship between potato foods and health ?

Appropriately increasing the intake of potatoes can reduce the risk of constipation.

Regarding the relationship between potatoes and health, the results of a randomized controlled study on the relationship between potatoes and constipation conducted in postpartum women aged 18-39 showed that compared with the control group who consumed a normal diet every day, eating about 200 grams of cooked sweet potatoes every day could significantly advance the time of the first postpartum bowel movement and reduce the incidence of dry and hard stools and difficulty in defecation. In other words, appropriately increasing the intake of potatoes can reduce the risk of constipation. Of course, if you eat fried French fries and potato chips, this effect will not occur. On the contrary, the frying will cause excessive energy, increasing the risk of overweight and obesity.

A study analyzed and compared the cholesterol-inhibiting effects of 130 foods and found that sweet potatoes are more effective in lowering cholesterol than other foods. Both sweet potatoes and potatoes are rich in potassium, which can antagonize sodium and assist in lowering blood pressure.

How to eat potato foods more healthily ?

Since potato foods have so many benefits, we should indeed increase their intake in our daily diet, but it is important to pay attention to how they are eaten in a healthy way!

Potatoes as staple foods : Potatoes and sweet potatoes can be eaten directly as staple foods after being steamed, boiled or baked, or they can be cut into pieces and added to rice and cooked before eating together.

Potato dishes : There are many potato dishes in the Chinese people’s home cooking, and stir-fried potato shreds is a common way to cook potatoes. Potatoes can also be cooked with vegetables or meat, such as beef stewed with potatoes, pork ribs stewed with yam, stir-fried yam with three fresh ingredients, steamed pork ribs with taro, etc.

Potatoes as snacks : raw or cooked dried sweet potatoes and other non-fried potato snacks, but it must be emphasized: it is not advisable to eat too much fried French fries and potato chips! Don’t eat too many fried French fries and potato chips! Don’t eat too many fried French fries and potato chips! Important things should be said three times!