Introduction: Sweet potato, a very common ingredient in daily life, is loved by people of all ages for its sweet and soft taste.
Not only does it taste wonderful, but it also has rich nutritional and medical value, which is recorded in many ancient books, such as the "Compendium of Materia Medica" and so on.
It is said that sweet potatoes can "replenish deficiency, improve qi", and even make people "live longer and reduce diseases", so more and more people are now beginning to regard sweet potatoes as a kind of health product.
In recent years, some studies have found that sweet potatoes can destroy 98% of cancer cells, and this discovery has attracted widespread attention and discussion. So, is there really a scientific basis for this claim?
Nutritional value of sweet potatoes
In the Ming Dynasty's medical masterpiece "Compendium of Materia Medica", Li Shizhen made an in-depth discussion and detailed record of the medicinal value of sweet potato, which clearly pointed out: "Sweet potato has the effects of replenishing deficiency, strengthening the spleen and stomach, appetizing and eliminating food, and can strengthen the kidney yin." This discussion fully demonstrates the benefits of sweet potato as a nutrient-rich food for human health.
Sweet potato has long been known by the majority of people for its deficiency and spleen and stomach effects, which can supplement a variety of nutrients required by the human body, enhance the body's immunity and resistance, and make the human body healthier and stronger.
The strong kidney yin effect of sweet potato has a non-negligible contribution to human health, and the kidney is an important organ of the human body and plays a vital role in the physiological function of the human body.
The strong kidney yin effect of sweet potato can maintain the health of the kidneys, regulate the body's water metabolism and electrolyte balance, and help prevent and treat a variety of kidney diseases.
Sweet potato not only has medicinal value, but also has edible value, its taste is sweet and delicious, nutritious, and contains a lot of nutrients.
Sweet potatoes contain a variety of beneficial nutrients, including protein, fat, polysaccharides, phosphorus, calcium, potassium, carotene, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, and 8 kinds of amino acids.
Sweet potatoes contain more than 7 times more protein, 3.5 times more carotene than carrots, 100 times more vitamin A than potatoes, and sugar, calcium, and vitamins B1 and B2 are also higher than rice and flour.
Each 100g of fresh potato wedges contains 29.5g of carbohydrates, 0.2g of fat, 20mg of phosphorus, 18mg of calcium, and 0.4g of iron, which play an important role in promoting the activity of brain cells and secreting hormones, enhancing the body's ability to resist disease, improving immune function, delaying mental decline and aging.
Sweet potatoes have a very low fat content of only 0.2%, but they are very rich in unsaturated fatty acids, and both raw and cooked sweet potatoes contain a mixture of polysaccharide proteins called mucin, which belongs to collagen and polysaccharide substances.
Sweet potatoes are delicious, full of treasures, what are the benefits of eating sweet potatoes often for the body?
Prevent constipation
Sweet potatoes are rich in dietary fiber, which helps stimulate intestinal peristalsis, promote bowel movements, and prevent constipation.
Lowers cholesterol
The mucin in sweet potatoes can reduce the amount of cholesterol in the blood and prevent cardiovascular disease.
Boosts immunity
The vitamin C and antioxidants in sweet potatoes help to strengthen immunity and improve the body's resistance.
Lose weight and slim down
Sweet potatoes are low-calorie, low-fat, and feel full after eating, making them an ideal food for people who are losing weight.
Protect your eyesight and skin
The vitamin A and carotene in sweet potatoes help protect eyesight and skin health.
Regulates blood sugar
The dietary fiber and mucin in sweet potatoes help regulate blood sugar and prevent diabetes.
Japanese research has found that sweet potatoes can destroy 98% of cancer cells, is there a scientific basis?
As we all know, sweet potatoes, as a health product, seem to have been "deified" by many people in recent years.
Especially about the claim that eating sweet potatoes can fight cancer, and there are even articles that say that sweet potatoes can destroy 98.9% of cancer cells, so is this statement accurate?
In fact, this claim is not groundless, as early as 2014, an experimental study in Japan showed that certain vegetables have anti-cancer effects.
The researchers put cancer cells into various vegetables, observed their reactions, and compiled a vegetable anti-cancer ranking according to the changes in the cancer cells and the degree of inhibition.
In this list, sweet potatoes ranked first, with an anti-cancer rate of 98% for raw sweet potatoes and 98.9% for cooked sweet potatoes.
Researchers believe that the nutrients in sweet potatoes can protect the integrity of the body's epithelial cells and enhance cell activity, thereby inhibiting the invasion of cancer cells.
However, there are limitations to this conclusion, as the results are not necessarily applicable to humans because they are cell-based experiments and have not been tested on humans.
Gu Chuanling, a well-known nutritionist in mainland China, pointed out that many animal experiments and cell experiments have confirmed that the sugar, fat and storage protein in sweet potatoes do have anti-cancer and anti-cancer effects, but there is still a lack of clinical experiments to confirm that sweet potatoes themselves can fight cancer.
Therefore, the jury is still out on whether sweet potatoes can fight cancer, but it is certain that sweet potatoes do have health benefits when consumed in moderation and health.
Can eating baked sweet potatoes cause cancer in winter?
During the cold winter months, the aroma of roasted sweet potatoes is so fragrant that people can't help but want to take a bite, however, there are some rumors that eating roasted sweet potatoes in winter can cause cancer, which worries many people. So, are these rumors true?
Roasted sweet potatoes are usually roasted in the oven or grill, and the temperature and time will affect their baking effect, if they are roasted for too long or too high, it will cause the surface of the roasted sweet potatoes to appear charred or burnt.
This burnt food contains some harmful substances, such as acrylamide, which are considered to be carcinogenic.
However, this does not mean that eating baked sweet potatoes causes cancer, in fact, the content of harmful substances in roasted sweet potatoes is relatively low, and the amount of roasted sweet potatoes we consume every day is also smaller.
In addition, we usually eat roasted sweet potatoes that are roasted rather than burnt, which contain less harmful substances, so as long as we choose and eat roasted sweet potatoes correctly, we don't have to worry too much about their carcinogenic risk.
Although sweet potatoes are good, these 3 types of people are not suitable for eating
Patients with digestive disorders
Sweet potatoes contain a lot of starch and fiber, and for people with weak gastrointestinal function, excessive consumption of sweet potatoes may lead to gastrointestinal discomfort, such as bloating, acid reflux and other symptoms.
In particular, patients with digestive diseases such as gastric ulcers and duodenal ulcers should be cautious about eating sweet potatoes to avoid aggravating the condition.
Patients with hyperuricemia and gout
Sweet potatoes contain high levels of oxidase, which may produce a large amount of carbon dioxide gas after entering the body, causing symptoms such as bloating and hiccups.
Patients with hyperuricemia and gout are prone to abnormal uric acid metabolism, and excessive consumption of sweet potatoes may aggravate the symptoms and is not conducive to disease control.
People who are allergic to sweet potatoes
Although it is relatively rare, some people may be allergic to sweet potatoes, and have allergic reactions such as rash and itching after eating, for such people, they should avoid eating sweet potatoes and their products to avoid allergic reactions.
Can you still eat sweet potatoes after they have sprouted?
Sweet potatoes are a nutritious and delicious food, but during the preservation process, sprouts sometimes occur, making people worry about whether they can still be eaten. So, can you still eat sweet potatoes after they have sprouted?
First of all, we need to understand the reason for the germination of sweet potatoes, the germination of sweet potatoes is due to the nutrients inside it are grown under suitable conditions, which means that the sweet potatoes themselves are not polluted or damaged in any way, so theoretically, sweet potatoes are still edible after sprouting.
However, in real life, there are some details that we need to pay attention to. First of all, sprouted sweet potatoes may become untasty due to the loss of water and nutrients, and their nutritional value will be reduced.
Secondly, if the sprouted part of the sweet potato is moldy or rotten, it can no longer be eaten, because the sweet potato at this time has been contaminated by microorganisms, which may affect your health after eating.
Read more: Don't eat such sweet potatoes
When shopping for and eating sweet potatoes, there are several key points that we need to pay attention to to ensure our health.
First of all, we need to carefully inspect the surface of the sweet potato, if we find black spots or patches on the surface of the sweet potato, it is best not to eat them, these black spots or patches may be caused by the sweet potato being infected by germs or stored for too long.
Pathologically infected sweet potatoes can produce harmful toxins, while sweet potatoes that have been stored for too long may spoil, both of which can have an impact on your health.
Secondly, we should pay attention to the texture of the sweet potato, if the texture of the sweet potato is too soft and rotten, it is best not to eat it, this may be because the sweet potato has rotted or spoiled during storage.
Rotten food not only loses its original nutritional value, but may also cause food poisoning, which poses a serious threat to health.
Finally, we should also pay attention to the cooking process of sweet potatoes, if sweet potatoes have an odor or a pungent smell of chemicals during cooking, it is best not to eat them, it may be because the sweet potatoes are contaminated or have added unhealthy chemicals that may cause long-term effects on our body, so we must be vigilant.
In conclusion, in order to ensure our health, we need to carefully check, pay attention to the texture and pay attention to the cooking process when purchasing and eating sweet potatoes, only in this way can we ensure that the sweet potatoes we eat are safe and healthy.