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What are sweet potatoes and are they good for you?
If you're loading up in the vegetable aisle, you might be tempted to overlook sweet potatoes. But one nutrition expert from Tuskegee University, says the root vegetables come with a lot of unsung benefits. Healthy enough for researchers to make a breakfast cereal.
ATLANTA - It may be hard to find a vegetable as good for you and packed with nutrients as the humble sweet potato.
Dr. Adelia Bovell-Benjamin, professor of food and nutrition sciences at Tuskegee University, says the vitamin-rich, high fiber powerhouse is his favorite vegetable.
"It's low in fat. It has vitamins and minerals, including potassium or manganese, or iron," says Bovell-Benjamin.
And eating just one sweet potato a day delivers more than 100% of the vitamin A your body needs that day.
"It's the vitamin that gives us good eyesight and for clean, healthy skin," says the researcher.
Sweet potatoes can also help fight inflammation and are good for your gut health and immune system, and they're one of the cheapest vegetables you can buy.
Tuskegee University researchers have been studying sweet potatoes as a healthy food source for more than 100 years.
"We have created a lot of vegetarian sweet potato products in the lab," says Bovell-Benjamin.
She adds they've developed sweet potato cereal, sweet potato flour, and sweet potato syrup and starch.
But, what's the healthiest way to eat sweet potatoes?
Benjamin says bake or grill them but keep the skin on.
"You get more dietary fiber, period, when you consume the skin," Bovell-Benjamin.
But if eating the skin is not your thing, Dr. Benjamin says, you’ll still get plenty of benefits if you eat around it.