In spite of the known difference between yam and sweet potatoes, you would still hear some people ask with some degree of confusion “Is that yam or potato?” While they may look similar to some when included in some food recipes, they differ in color in that sweet potatoes are yellowish orange while yams are fleshy pale.
In terms of calorie content, sweet potatoes are higher compared to yams and that half a pound of it contains 200 calories compared to yam’s 150 calories. Both are considered as highly nutritious with the sweet potato running much more fortified with health enhancing nutrients compared to yams.
Sweet potatoes and yams are both quite rich sources of carbohydrates with sweet potatoes providing 45 grams and yams 40 grams for half a pound of serving. Their substantial carbs content richly supply the body’s need for energy.
While rich in carbohydrates, both root products have very low fat contents. This makes the consumption of these foods quite safe for people with heart conditions and weight concerns. Both sweet potatoes and yams contain no more than 0.5 grams of fat for every half a pound of serving.
Both tubers are lush suppliers of fiber with sweet potatoes providing 7.5 grams and yams 5 grams per serving. Fiber helps a lot with the digestive process and catalyzes weight loss quite effectively. It is also a nutrient known to prevent the development of cancer cells.
Like other plant products, both sweet potatoes and yams are not rich sources of protein and amino acids required for tissue restoration and muscle development. Half a pound of sweet potatoes contain only 5 grams of protein while yams are even lesser with only 2 grams.
When it comes to vitamins content, sweet potatoes superior outranks yams in providing 270% of the body’s vitamin A requirement per day while yams are only at 1% per serving. Vitamin A is not only good for the eyes but also in keeping the skin healthy.
Sweet potatoes supply as much as 50% of the body’s daily need of vitamin B, vitamin C, pantothenic acid and thiamine while yams only up to 25% maximum. Vitamin B, pantothenic acid and thiamine helps in food metabolism resulting in healthier cells while vitamin C works in healing wounds and restoring injured tissues.
In reference to the body’s daily need for minerals like copper and potassium, sweet potatoes supply up to 50% per cup of serving while yams only at 20%. Copper helps in synthesizing nutrients that makes the blood and the skin healthy while potassium facilitates contraction of the muscles and production of energy.
Having seen superiority of the sweet potatoes’ nutritional value compared to yams, you now know better what to choose between yam or potato of the sweet kind for better health enhancement beyond mere palatal satisfaction.
No related posts.