Alkaline Plant Based Diet
Alkaline Plant Based Diet
Menu

Best Way To Cook A Sweet Potato For Health

By | July 9th, 2014 | Modified - December 15th, 2016

Best Way To Cook A Sweet Potato For Health

I am not a heavy starch eater and that includes eating sweet potatoes. If I do eat a potato I would eat a sweet potato over a white potato because a sweet potato has a better nutrient content than a white potato. Dr. Greger explains the best way to cook a sweet potato to maintain more of its nutrients and to keep its glycemic level and load at its lowest.

Boiling appears to be the best way to cook a sweet potato to maintain its antioxidant power, compared to baking and steaming. Comparing boiling to baking sweet potatoes, boiling thins the cell walls gelantizing the starch which appears to enhance bio-availability of its nutrients. This means the body has greater access to its nutrients. The glycemic index of a boiled sweet potato is also half that of a baked sweet potato which results in less of a blood sugar spike when consumed.

It is very important to keep the skin on when boiling sweet potatoes. The skin of the sweet potato contains ten times the antioxidant power of its flesh, and its antioxidant power is comparable to that of blueberries. Baking the sweet potato skin lowers the antioxidant power by two-thirds, and baking a sweet potato lowers vitamin A levels by eighty percent which is twice as much as boiling.

One thing I noticed was the comparisons were between boiling and baking, and steaming wasn’t mentioned though Dr. Greger considers boiling better than baking and steaming. I think the reasoning would be that it is necessary to substantially weaken the cell walls of the sweet potato to allow its nutrients to become more bio-available and more easily absorbed by the body.

Steaming may not substantially weaken the cell walls enough so its nutrients wouldn’t be as accessible to the body. Though the boiling process appears to be the best way to cook a sweet potato for health, you might want to drink the boiled water after it cools. Some water soluble vitamins are leached from the sweet potato during the boiling process and you can retain them by drinking the water.

If you are looking for healthy ways to cook sweet potatoes boiling appears to be the way to go. Support your healthy living with a plant based diet.

Tags: , , ,

ADVERTISEMENT - Why do I see this?
Alklaine Plant Based Diet
Alklaine Plant Based Diet

About Author:

Aqiyl Aniys is the author of the books Alkaline Herbal Medicine, Alkaline Plant Based Diet and the children's book, Faith and Justice eat an Alkaline Plant Based Diet." He received a certificate in plant-based nutrition from Cornell University, a BA in Organizational Behavior and Communications from NYU, worked as an elementary school teacher, and studied social work. He enjoys boxing, kick boxing, cycling, power walking, and basically anything challenging, and his alkaline plant-based diet supports all that he does. Learn more about transitioning to an alkaline vegan diet using the Dr. Sebi nutritional guide.

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
JOIN US
Subscribe: Follow Natural Life Energy Youtube Follow Instagram Follow Pinterest Follow Twitter Follow Linkedin Follow