Sweet Potatoes Are Inherently No Healthier Than White Potatoes.
White potatoes are mostly starch, so they got a bad reputation in terms of nutrition. Try slightly less starchy sweet potatoes – and kicked off the myth that sweet potatoes are better for you.
In fact, as Alan Aragon explains in Men’s Health magazine, potatoes and sweet potatoes have their pros and cons. Sweet potatoes have more fiber and vitamin A, but white potatoes have iron, magnesium, and potassium.
White potatoes do have a higher glycemic index, which means they are so high in starch that they raise blood sugar faster than sweet potatoes. But it’s more important to look at the glycemic load of the entire meal rather than just one component. Fiber, fat, and protein lower your glycemic load, so if you cover your potatoes with sour cream and bacon (and if you’re eating the skins that contain most of the fiber), that part of your meal will be pretty friendly to your blood sugar. It’s the same with sweet potatoes, depending on what you eat them with. (Brown sugar and marshmallows? Not the best option.)
Read the full article on Men’s Health for other food myths you may have fallen for.
5 food myths | Man’s health
Photo by thebittenword.com .
Vitals is a new blog from Lifehacker dedicated to health and fitness. Follow us on Twitter here .