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.
Baking can also cause an 80% drop in vitamin A levels, twice as much as boiling. Therefore, from a nutritional standpoint, boiling rather than baking should be recommended for cooking sweet potato.
MYTH #2. MOST COOKING METHODS DESTROY THE NUTRIENTS IN POTATOES. While boiling potatoes does cause a small loss of water-soluble nutrients like vitamin C and vitamin B6, the white potato retains most, if not all, of its potassium and dietary fiber regardless of cooking method, such as baking, boiling, or frying.
A baked potato is more nutrient-dense, providing 6 grams of protein and 6 grams of fiber. It has about 25 percent more magnesium as a boiled potato. It also contains 40 percent more phosphorus and potassium, as well as four times the amount of folate in a boiled potato.
They are a mixture of soluble fiber, which can lower cholesterol and balance glucose, and insoluble fiber, which helps keep your bowels healthy and regular. With about 6 grams of fiber in one cup of cooked sweet potato, this root vegetable already gives you 26% of your recommended daily intake.
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.
Boiling sweet potatoes does leach out nutrients, but according to physician and author Dr. Michael Greger, of NutritionFacts.org, boiling sweet potatoes lowers their glycemic index, which means you get less insulin spike after eating them.
Baking sweet potatoes do not deplete their nutritional values and reduce health benefits. In contrast, frying them may decrease their nutritional benefits. Frying might also add more fats to the potatoes and cause harm. So, consuming baked sweet potatoes are a healthy way to reap all their health benefits.
Boil potatoes with skin- Boiling potatoes can lower their nutritional content like vitamin C and B vitamins if they are boiled without skin. Boiling them with skin can save nutrients that may lost in cooking water. Try to use minimal water like with steaming.
Fiber Content
The fiber in potatoes also promotes satiety and digestive regularity, which makes them good options as part of a diet for weight loss. White potatoes and red potatoes are the highest in fiber, which is important for digestive health and regularity.
There was no significant difference (p > 0.05) in the total carbohydrate content of the boiled and fried Irish and sweet potatoes compared with the values of their raw tubers. Percentage loss of total carbohydrate in Irish and sweet potato were 2.00% and 3.00% after boiling against 2.70% and 5.95% after frying.
Boiling potatoes causes water-soluble nutrients, such as vitamin C and potassium, to leach out ( 2 ). This results in slightly less nutritious potatoes. The longer you boil, the more nutrients are lost. Boiling potatoes in their skin helps to retain some of the water-soluble nutrients.
Potatoes are low in calories and are a good source of fibre, resistant starch, potassium, vitamin C, and B-complex vitamins. The low calorie content and high fibre and resistant starch content, along with the presence of compounds that promote fullness, make potatoes a good addition to your weight loss diet.
Bring to boiling, cover, and cook until tender. How long to boil sweet potatoes: For one pound of sweet potatoes, cover the pan and cook sweet potatoes in the boiling salted water 20 to 25 minutes or until just tender. You should be able to easily pierce the sweet potato with a fork or knife.
Sweet potatoes are between 1 and 2.5 per cent sugar when raw, but they get sweeter as they cook thanks to the work of amylase enzymes that break down starch into simple sugars.
Overall, potatoes contain more vitamins and nutrients than rice, but when you add toppings such as butter, sour cream, gravy, bacon bits and salt, the number of calories and fat grams in a baked potato increases significantly.
How do potatoes affect blood sugar levels? Like any other carb-containing food, potatoes increase blood sugar levels. When you eat them, your body breaks down the carbs into simple sugars that move into your bloodstream. This is what's often called a spike in blood sugar levels ( 1 ).
05/5How to have boiled potatoes for weight loss
Simply boil one potato and let it cool off completely. You can season it with spices like black pepper or include a bit of spice to add up to its taste. You can also add yoghurt to your mashed potato meal to lose weight in a better fashion!
Yes, you can eat sweet potato skin, whether it's an orange, white or purple sweet potato. So the next time you make sweet potatoes, try keeping the skin on. Not only will it save you prep time and add a textural component to the dish, but there are also nutritional benefits to leaving the peel on.
Sweet potatoes are starches and not low-carb vegetables, with about 20 net carbs per medium potato. If you're counting carbs, you might want to choose them only occasionally and not every day. Also, don't make sweet potatoes your only vegetable choice in a day.
When boiled, they're also thought to retain more resistant starch, a type of fiber that resists digestion and has a low impact on blood sugar levels ( 3 , 6 ). Boiled sweet potatoes have a low to medium GI value, with a greater boiling time lowering the GI.
“Salting the water not only seasons the potato, but it also allows it to boil to a hotter temperature. This in turn cooks the potatoes' starch more thoroughly, resulting in a more creamy texture [for mashed potatoes],” says Sieger Bayer, Chef and Partner at The Heritage.
Cold Water Soak
A quick rinse under cold water can wash away much of the surface starch. More starch is removed from a cut potato than a whole peeled potato, because a greater surface area is exposed on cut potatoes. Soak them in cold water for as long as a few hours to remove more starch than by rinsing alone.