Sweet potatoes come to mind when the weather gets chilly. Available from August to October, their peak season, sweet potatoes are rich in dietary fiber and various minerals. They are tasty and nutritious snacks that are beneficial for health, but their nutritional value can vary depending on how they are prepared or what they are paired with. Let's explore ways to eat them more healthily.

To eat sweet potatoes more healthily, it is good to pay attention to the washing process from the beginning. Sweet potatoes are sometimes eaten with the skin after being thoroughly washed, as they are considered a beneficial food. In this case, it is better to use a soft sponge or gently rub with your hands rather than a stiff material. Rubbing the sweet potato skin vigorously with a scrubber or similar tool can lead to the loss of minerals. There are reports that iron and magnesium can be lost by more than 30-50%, and over 90% of calcium inside the skin can be lost.

 

If you're concerned about gut health and blood sugar, boiled sweet potatoes are recommended... roasted sweet potatoes have a high GI index.

 

Choosing the right cooking method is also important. If you are concerned about gut health, steaming sweet potatoes slowly and thoroughly is beneficial. During this process, enough maltose beneficial to the intestines is produced. It is known that the starch in sweet potatoes converts well into maltose the longer it is cooked at 60-70°C. For a crispy exterior and moist interior, cooking at high temperature for a short time does not properly activate the enzymes that convert starch into maltose.

When blood sugar control is needed, it is better to eat boiled sweet potatoes rather than roasted ones. The glycemic index (GI) of sweet potatoes varies depending on the cooking method. According to the Diabetes Association, the GI of raw sweet potatoes is 61. When baked, the GI exceeds 80, and when fried, it is around 70. Boiled sweet potatoes have a GI of about 45.

 

What are good and bad foods to pair with sweet potatoes?

 

There is a way to consider both good and bad foods to eat with sweet potatoes.

 

Foods that are well-matched in harmony can enhance not only taste but also nutritional value. Sweet potatoes pair well with red pepper powder and are beneficial for health. When sweet potatoes are served with kimchi, the red pepper powder increases the absorption rate of vitamin A in the sweet potatoes, boosting beta-carotene synthesis. Vitamin A promotes the division of keratinocytes, thereby enhancing skin regeneration. It has the effect of smoothing wrinkles and skin texture and eliminating inflammation.

 

Uu and also go well together. Milk is rich in protein and calcium that sweet potatoes lack. On the other hand, sweet potatoes contain plenty of carbohydrates and dietary fiber that milk is deficient in. It is also good to eat with kimchi cubes or dongchimi. The abundant dietary fiber in sweet potatoes can easily cause gas in the intestines. At this time, the digestive enzyme diastase in radish helps with digestion.

 

It is not recommended to eat sweet potatoes together with peanuts or beef. Sweet potatoes are mainly composed of starch, which is a type of sugar. The carbohydrates in peanuts are also primarily made up of starch. Eating these two foods together can increase the risk of obesity. Sometimes, sweet potatoes are added to dishes like braised beef short ribs. In such cases, the two foods can interfere with each other's digestion. Beef, which is rich in protein, and sweet potatoes, which are high in dietary fiber, stay in the stomach for a long time and can influence each other.

 

⟨3-line summary⟩

Sweet potatoes should be gently scrubbed with your hands to prevent the loss of nutrients such as magnesium and iron.

If you need to manage your intestinal health and blood sugar levels, boiled sweet potatoes are more helpful than roasted sweet potatoes.

Sweet potatoes go well with kimchi, radish kimchi, dongchimi, and milk, but do not pair well with peanuts and beef.

 

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Sweet potatoes, so the elders...

It seems you ate like that with dongchimi.

 

These days, sweet potatoes are sweet and taste good.

It's said that eating it with the shell is better.

Eat healthily