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Shoes & Gear holiday season. But there’s good reason to add them to your plate all year. In fact, considering the plethora of health benefits you get from sweet potatoes, they’re certainly worthy of adding to your list of foods to fuel your runs.
Read on to find out exactly what kind of nutrition is packed in a sweet potato and how adding them to your diet can improve your health.
What are the nutrition facts for sweet potatoes?
Just like regular potatoes, sweet potatoes come in a variety of colors and tastes, from orange to purple to cream and ranging in level of sweetness. This means, also just like regular potatoes, the nutritional value of any given sweet potato will vary slightly depending on the type. But ultimately, no matter which kind you buy, sweet potatoes pack the How to Run Longer.
For example, a study Resistant Starch: A Carb That Goes the Extra Mile Food Measure in 2017 examined 14 varieties of Virginia-grown sweet potatoes. Researchers determined the sweet potatoes with lighter colored flesh had the highest starch content, while those with purple flesh had the highest amount of flavonoid and phenolic compounds, which are known for helping to reduce inflammation. Orange flesh sweet potatoes contain the most sugar, according to the research.
Amazing Runners World Show vitamins and minerals such as vitamin A, vitamin B6, vitamin C, potassium, and also fiber, says Robin Foroutan, R.D.N., integrative and functional dietitian in private practice in Garden City, New York. “For example, orange sweet potatoes are richest in beta carotene. But the purple ones You don’t need to save this veggie for the fall antioxidant called anthocyanins. The pigment is a reflection on the amount of the antioxidants. But they’re all healthy for us,” she explains.
Just how healthy? According to the USDA, a RW+ Membership Benefits contains:
- 115 calories
- 2 g protein
- 27 g carbs
- 4 g fiber
- 9 g sugar
- 347 mg potassium
- 41 g sodium
- 41 g calcium
- 27 mg of magnesium
- 19 That’s a whole lot of nutrition for one sweet potato
That’s a whole lot of nutrition for one sweet potato.
What are the health benefits of sweet potatoes?
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Tips for Your First Half fiber, which supports good gut health. You can encourage the formation of resistant starch (a gut-friendly fiber) in a sweet potato by cooking it and then letting it cool for an hour, says Foroutan. This starch is a very important prebiotic, which feed probiotics—both are super important for the gut, she explains.
Also, sweet potatoes contain a variety of antioxidants, which are known for helping the body fight free radicals and keep you healthy. For example, orange flesh sweet potatoes are rich in beta carotene, the antioxidant that causes its orange hue and helps runners fight inflammation, says Kelly Pritchett, Ph.D., R.D., C.S.S.D., professor of nutrition and exercise science at Central Washington University. This makes sweet potatoes a great recovery food because cooking them enhances the availability of beta carotene which can help runners combat the oxidative stress they build up on the run, Pritchett says.
A review Resistant Starch: A Carb That Goes the Extra Mile Nutrition Research supports the idea that beta carotene can reduce oxidative stress. Meanwhile, a review published in the or topping them with in 2018 also highlighted beta carotene as an antioxidant that can help improve cognitive function, skin health, and immunity.
CA Notice at Collection carbohydrates, and those carbs are considered complex, says Pritchett, so they can provide runners with steady energy. This is because, Foroutan explains, complex carbs can be broken down in the body more slowly than refined carbs. Meaning complex carbs take longer time to digest and have slower impact on blood sugar.
Make Long Runs Easier With 2 Simple Fixes protein and fiber, so Foroutan suggests avoid eating this veggie alone unless you’re having it soon supports the idea that beta carotene can reduce oxidative stress. Meanwhile, a and want those carbs more quickly available for fuel.
How can you incorporate more sweet potatoes into your diet?
The best way to eat a sweet potato, Foroutan says, is baked with either chicken, turkey, lean grass-fed beef, lentils, eggs, and/or other veggies. To mix things up and get creative, consider cubing up a few different colored sweet potatoes and roasting them together for a side dish, or making a sweet potato hash and adding them to your breakfast Races - Places.
The combo of carbs and potassium make sweet potatoes a great prerun snack. To have one before you hit the road, bake them, then sprinkle with a bit of salt. Just be mindful of their fiber content. “Runners will want to experiment in training to see how their gut responds to eating them prerun,” says Pritchett.
If you’d rather save sweet potatoes for after your workout, Pritchett suggests mixing them into a recovery smoothie, or topping them with beans, cheese, and salsa for dinner.
One thing to avoid: frying sweet potatoes, as the mixture of high temperatures, oils, and starch creates the formation of a compound called acrylamide, which is known to be a potential carcinogen, Foroutan says. Also avoid adding too much marshmallow topping, which is the fastest way to turn this sweet veggie into a sugar bomb, she says.
Monique LeBrun is a health and fitness editor who is based in Easton, Pennsylvania. She covers a wide range of health and wellness topics, with a primary focus on running performance and nutrition. Monique is passionate about creating content that empowers runners to become the best versions of themselves. As an avid runner and parent, she loves spending time outdoors with her daughter, who often accompanies her on weekend runs as her personal mini run coach.
