How Eating Sweet Potatoes Can Help You Lose Weight

While you may be aware of the numerous health benefits associated with sweet potatoes, chances are that you aren't aware how sweet potatoes can help you to lose weight. The high amount of dietary fiber, the low calorie content, and the high amount of water all work together to make sweet potatoes a great food if you are trying to lose weight.

High Fiber Content

One of the main ways that sweet potatoes can help you lose weight is due to their high amount of dietary fiber. Dietary fiber is important if you are trying to lose weight for a number of reasons. First, fiber is bulky, meaning that foods that contain high amounts of dietary fiber will take up a lot of room in your stomach. This helps to keep you feeling full for a long period of time, thereby preventing overeating. Next, fiber is slow digesting. This means that it takes a long time for high fiber foods to leave your stomach and enter your digestive tract. This prevents overeating, thereby reducing the chances of high calorie intake and potential weight gain. Obviously, the high fiber content of sweet potatoes plays a large part in helping you to lose weight.

Low Calorie Content

Next, sweet potatoes have a relatively low calorie content, which is also very important if you are trying to lose weight. In one pound of fat there is 3500 calories. This means that if you want to lose one pound of weight per week, you need to eliminate 500 calories from your diet each day. By using sweet potatoes, which typically contain around 100 calories per serving, instead of a higher calorie food such as white potatoes, which may contain as many as 400-500 calories per serving, you are well on your way to achieving this calorie deficiency. By using some creativity, you can definitely use sweet potatoes to help you lose weight. For example, try using mashed sweet potatoes to make pancakes instead of the traditional batter, which is typically loaded with high amounts of both fat and calories.

High Water Content

Finally, the high amount of water that is found in sweet potatoes can definitely help you lose weight, both in the long term and in the short term. With the exception of bone and fat your body is composed almost primarily from water, and therefore it is of no surprise that it responds favorably when you eat foods that contain high amounts of water. Like fiber, water takes up a lot of room in your stomach. Therefore, eating foods that contain high amounts of water, such as sweet potatoes, will make you feel full and will prevent overeating and snacking between meals. This will help both in your weight loss goals and will also help you prevent the weight from coming back on.

Article Source: http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/fitness/weight-loss/how-eating-sweet-potatoes-can-help-you-lose-weight.html