- Sweet potatoes are nutrient-packed with beta-carotene and vitamin A offering unique benefits.
- Regular potatoes deserve more credit—they’re loaded with fiber, potassium and resistant starch.
- Both types of potatoes offer many health benefits including supporting your heart and gut health.
Whether you boil, mash or stick them in a stew, there’s no denying potatoes are a versatile and delicious vegetable. But it’s potato’s orange counterpart, the sweet potato, that seems to get the limelight. “Many people think sweet potatoes are healthier than white ones, but that’s not necessarily true,” says Elizabeth Harris, RDN. “Both are nutrient-dense foods, although they offer slightly different nutritional benefits.”
Here, we’ll take a closer look at those benefits and how to enjoy each type of starchy tuber as part of a balanced eating plan.
Why Sweet Potatoes Are So Beloved
Contrary to popular belief, sweet potatoes come from a different family of plants than regular potatoes and have distinct nutritional benefits., Most notably, sweet potatoes are a source of fiber, vitamins A and C, beta-carotene, potassium, manganese and antioxidants, Harris says.
Here’s how those nutrients translate to health benefits.
Aid Good Gut Health
One medium sweet potato (with the peel) packs 4.5 grams of fiber, which is about 16 percent of your daily value. Most people, as in 95% of Americans, fall short of their daily fiber goal, but sweet potatoes (along with other veggies, fruit, whole grains and nuts) are a great way to boost your number.
Fiber is a type of carbohydrate your body can’t break down, which is a boon for your gut: It helps keep your bowel movements regular and also acts as food for the “good” bacteria in your digestive tract. A healthy gut microbiome, in turn, is linked to a host of benefits, including a lower risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease.
Fiber can also help with blood sugar management and with satiety, or feelings of fullness, which is helpful for weight management, says Jackie Newgent, RDN.
Support Healthy Vision
Sweet potatoes get their bright orange hue from an antioxidant called beta-carotene. They’re an excellent source of the nutrient, with a medium tuber packing 12,000 micrograms, which exceeds the daily needs for the average adult.,
In addition to being an antioxidant, beta-carotene is converted to vitamin A in your gut, which supports healthy eyesight and may help protect against eye issues such as cataracts and age-related vision loss.
Sweet potatoes are also a good source of vitamin A on its own, offering up about 1,030 micrograms per medium tuber (again, more than 100 percent of your daily value).,
Bolster Heart Health
Potassium is another key nutrient in sweet potatoes, with a cup of mashed sweet potato delivering 1,200 milligrams, or about 26 percent of the daily value., Most adults fall short of the recommended amount of this nutrient, but it’s crucial for heart health.
Potassium relaxes the walls of your blood vessels, helping to lower blood pressure, which can in turn reduce your risk for serious health problems such as a heart attack or stroke.
Support the Immune System
As we’ve mentioned, sweet potatoes are a great source of vitamin A as well as beta-carotene.
Vitamin A plays an important role in keeping your immune system healthy, with preliminary research suggesting a deficiency in the nutrient is linked to impaired function and a higher risk of infections.
Why Potatoes Deserve More Credit
Sweet potatoes may hog the limelight, but plain-old potatoes are also full of good-for-you nutrients linked to plenty of health benefits, including potassium, fiber, antioxidants and vitamins B6 and C. You’ll reap the highest nutritional benefits by eating spuds with the skin on (same goes for sweet potatoes).,
Support Heart Health
Like sweet potatoes, potatoes are a powerhouse of potassium. “In fact, a medium potato has more potassium than a banana,” Newgent says.
That’s right: A medium baked potato has 1,110 milligrams of potassium, or about a quarter of your daily value., (A banana has less than half that amount, at 411 milligrams.)
Potassium, as we’ve noted, helps with healthy blood pressure, supporting overall heart and blood vessel health.
Bolster Immunity
Potatoes pack vitamins B6 and C, which both have immune system benefits.
You’ll get about 0.86 milligrams of vitamin B6 in a medium baked potato, which is half the daily value., Vitamin B6 helps your body make antibodies, which it uses to fight off infections, viruses and other invaders. The nutrient also supports nerve function, aids blood sugar management and helps your body break down the protein you eat.
The same potato delivers 36 milligrams (about 40 percent of the daily value) of vitamin C, another nutrient that helps the immune system work properly.
Good for Gut Health
Sweet potatoes aren’t the only fiber-filled tuber in town. Potatoes are a great source of the carb as well, with 4.3 grams of fiber in one medium baked potato.
Both potatoes and sweet potatoes contain a type of fiber called resistant starch, “a special type of starch that isn’t digested in your small intestine,” Harris says. “Instead, it gets fermented in the large intestine, where it helps promote gut health by encouraging the growth of beneficial bacteria.”
This starch forms after the potatoes have been cooked and cooled down, Newgent notes. Research has linked eating resistant starch to positive health effects on gut function, metabolism and weight management.
Do You Need to Choose One Over the Other?
The short answer is no. Both potatoes and sweet potatoes are nutrient-dense veggies that pack a bevy of health benefits, and each has a place in a healthy eating pattern.
While sweet potatoes may benefit from a health halo, regular potatoes are also a nutritious choice. In fact, research notes that eating potatoes in moderation is healthy, so long as you’re limiting the amount of fried potatoes in your diet.
“Rather than getting too hung up on which type of potato is the ‘better’ option, it’s more important to pay attention to how you’re preparing and eating them,” Harris says. “For better blood sugar control and overall health, enjoy them as part of a balanced meal with protein, healthy fat and other fiber-rich foods, and opt for ones that are roasted, boiled or baked rather than fried or loaded with sour cream and butter.”
With that in mind, here are ideas on how to enjoy these veggies in a healthy way.
Ways to Enjoy Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes
There’s nothing wrong with boiled baby potatoes or mashed sweet potatoes. But there are plenty more tasty and healthy ways to prepare these tubers, which might even inspire you to eat them more often. Here are Harris and Newgent’s tips:
- Make loaded baked potatoes, stuffed with your favorite roasted veggies, beans, a spoonful or two of cottage cheese or plain Greek yogurt and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar or another vinaigrette.
- Roast sweet potato slices and use them as “toast,” topped with mashed avocado and a drizzle of adobo or hot sauce.
- Use thinly sliced and roasted potato rounds as an alternative to traditional quiche crust or as a fun base for a veggie-packed frittata.
- Use a spiralizer to create sweet potato “noodles.” Quickly sauté them in avocado oil, then toss them with a Thai-style peanut sauce or tahini-ginger sauce.
- Cut potatoes into wedges seasoned with olive oil and everything-but-the-bagel seasoning and make oven-baked fries.
- Use roasted potato cubes as “croutons” for salads or soups.
Our Expert Take
While sweet potatoes tend to get more hype than regular potatoes, both are nutrient-rich vegetables with health benefits that make them worthy of a regular spot in your eating plan. Whichever tuber you choose, you’ll reap the highest nutritional rewards by opting for cooking methods like baking or roasting rather than frying.
