In a nutrition battle between a banana and sweet potato, the sweet potato would come out ahead. A baked sweet potato has the same calories per gram as a banana, yet has one gram more fiber and five grams less sugar per medium serving.
Bananas and potatoes each provide B-complex vitamins and small amounts of other vitamins without an abundance of calories or fat. Overall, a potato is richer in vitamins and other essential nutrients.
Sweet potatoes
One cup of boiled sweet potato contains 754 mg of potassium, which is 16% DV. This is more than 1.5 times the amount of potassium in a banana.
Both regular potatoes and sweet potatoes carry resistant starch content, but sweet potatoes do contain more antioxidants and fiber than regular potatoes and are just a little lower on the calorie scale, says Huggins.
One medium potato delivers 610 mg of potassium, or roughly 17% of the daily value (DV). That's about 40% more potassium than you'll find in a banana, which only contains 422 mg, or 9% DV. In addition to potassium, 1 medium potato provides 5 grams of fiber, 4 grams of protein, vitamin C and magnesium.
Bananas are one of the healthiest fruits in the world because they are packed full of vitamins and minerals – especially potassium, vitamin B6 and vitamin C.
if you're counting calories, go for the pineapple. gram-for-gram, pineapple has less than half the calories of banana and about 30 per cent less sugar. What's more, pineapple has about four times more vitamin c than the common cavendish banana.
While both our experts say eating a sweet potato a day is certainly healthy, they don't recommend more than that, since there are plenty of other vegetables to enjoy too. “If you're eating more than one a day, you might want to consider varying up your food choices so you get a variety of nutrients,” Rizzo says.
If your sweet potato is oozing, soft and squishy, discolored, smelly, or have a bunch of sprouts, it's time to toss. If there are only a few sprouts and the sweet potato is still firm you can cut the sprouted portion off, cook and eat right away, or you can plant it!
Calories, Carbs and Fiber
The sweet potato scores higher than the rice in fiber, giving you 13 percent of the daily value (DV) on a 2,000-calorie diet, while brown rice supplies just 7 percent.
Banana health benefits far outweigh those of the apple. That's because they have many more vitamins and nutrients than their round counterparts. Bananas have twice as many carbohydrates, 5 times as much Vitamin A and iron, and 3 times as much phosphorus as apples.
Sweet potatoes contain potassium. A high potassium intake may not be suitable for people who take beta-blockers. Doctors commonly prescribe these for heart disease, and they can cause potassium levels to rise in the blood. People with kidney problems should also take note of how much potassium they consume.
Consuming sweet potatoes in excess can result in Vitamin A toxicity which is manifested in skin rashes and headaches. Due to high fibre content, excess intake of sweet potatoes can result in bloating, stomach pain and diarrhoea.
Boiling sweet potatoes retains more beta-carotene and makes the nutrient more absorbable than other cooking methods such as baking or frying. Up to 92% of the nutrient can be retained by limiting the cook time, such as boiling in a pot with a tightly covered lid for 20 minutes.
Therefore, eating avocado daily is the perfect addition to a well-balanced, nutrient-dense diet; unless you're allergic to it, of course.
The beta-carotene in sweet potatoes has been shown to fight inflammation, and eating them regularly can help ease joint pain and other symptoms of inflammatory conditions like arthritis. If you're looking for a delicious way to reduce inflammation, add some sweet potatoes to a salad or bake alongside protein!
Perhaps unsurprisingly, boiled sweet potatoes contain more than 14 times the amount of sugar of regular boiled potatoes (11.6g compared to 0.8g per 100g). The majority of the sugar in sweet potatoes is from sucrose, with glucose and fructose making up the minority (1).
According to USDA data, a 3.5-ounce serving of banana -- about the equivalent of a small-sized fruit -- has 89 calories and 358 milligrams of potassium, whereas a 3.5-ounce serving of gold kiwifruit, or slightly more than one fruit, has 60 calories and 316 milligrams of potassium.
Mango is one of the most common substitutes for bananas in smoothies. It has a pretty mild flavor. Because it's not as juicy as most fruits, mango is great at creating a creamy texture. Use about 1 cup of frozen mango to replace 1 banana.