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The Benefits of Sweet Potato for Bodybuilding

Sweet Potato

 

They are on the menu of almost every bodybuilder: sweet potatoes, or ‘yams’ (although that name is not officially correct). In the US, they are traditionally eaten at Thanksgiving. What is it that makes this sweet potato so popular among bodybuilders, aside from taking steroids Canada bodybuilders prefer? And why don’t they eat ‘regular’ potatoes?

Although they are both root vegetables, potatoes, and sweet potatoes, or sweet potatoes, do not belong to the same family. The ‘ordinary’ potato belongs to the nightshade family and the sweet potato to the wide family. In taxonomy, they are only related at the level of the order, one step higher than family. Just like tigers and domestic cats.

But why are they a popular carbohydrate source for bodybuilders? What does the sweet potato have for the ordinary beeper? In the first place, that is his glycemic index. On top of that, sweet potatoes contain more dietary fiber and more vitamins.

Among other things, dietary fiber and its complex carbohydrates, the sweet potato owe its low glycemic index (GI). Carbohydrates with a low glycemic index are less likely to be converted by the body into glucose and cause a less abrupt rise in blood sugar levels than carbohydrates with a high glycemic index, which are rapidly converted into sugars and cause huge fluctuations in your blood sugar, which can reduce your insulin resistance.

 

ALSO READ: The Lesser Known Advantages of Losing Weight

 

In comparison, potatoes have a GI of 60, sweet potatoes have a GI of 50, just on the border of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ carbohydrates (slow and fast respectively). Sweet potato contains on average 2 grams more dietary fiber than a regular potato. In terms of carbohydrates, proteins, and caloric value, they hardly differ from each other.

On some points, especially minerals, the common potato beats the sweet potato, but often the difference is marginal. The sweet potato more than makes up for that difference with its high levels of vitamins A, E, and beta-carotene. From the latter, the sweet potato derives its characteristic orange color. Beta-carotene, or pro-vitamin A, is converted into vitamin A in the body and is important for the immune system. It probably also has an antioxidant effect, which means that it protects cells and tissues from the harmful influence of free radicals.

Sweet potatoes, therefore, have a lot to offer. They are, as their name suggests, indeed a bit sweeter than regular potatoes and therefore, according to many people, tastier. They are therefore also very tasty in salads.

Should you eliminate white potatoes from your diet and replace them one-on-one with that weird orange sweet potato? Well, no. White potatoes are a great ingredient for a post-workout meal, a meal that you eat right after your workout. But at any other time of the day, it is indeed better to eat sweet potatoes.

Sweet potatoes are nowadays ‘just’ available in the supermarket and otherwise, you will find them at the supermarket, or online!

 

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