Potatoes are a well-known and important ingredient in our diet, serving as a staple food in many parts of the world and ranking as the fourth largest food crop after rice, maize, and wheat. Sweet potatoes, while not as popular, are also used worldwide. Despite some similarities, there are significant differences between the two vegetables, making it almost unfair to call sweet potato a type of potato. In fact, they are not even closely related botanically.
Key Takeaways
- Potatoes and sweet potatoes belong to different botanical families: Solanaceae and Convolvulaceae, respectively.
- Sweet potatoes, despite being sweeter, do not destabilize blood sugar like potatoes do, due to their high fiber content.
- Sweet potatoes contain higher amounts of antioxidants, which are known to ward off diseases like colon cancer and diabetes.
Sweet potatoes are in a different botanical family than potatoes, which makes one wonder why they are so named. Both deserve a place in a healthy diet, but they have different tastes, nutritional values, and health benefits. Sweet potatoes contain a lot of antioxidants, are sweet, and have a delicious taste, making them popular in many recipes. Potatoes are found in many varieties across the world, but sweet potato is not one of these varieties. In fact, potato is closer to tomatoes and peppers than sweet potatoes.
Sweet potatoes are as old as potatoes, though they were brought to America by Columbus in 1492. The most popular variety of sweet potatoes is perhaps Yam, which has moist flesh, and an orange color that distinguishes it from the white-skinned sweet potato. Sweet potatoes come in many different colors, ranging from white to golden to brown to orange to red-skinned.
One property that makes sweet potatoes special is their ability not to destabilize blood sugar, despite being sweeter than their more famous counterpart, brown potatoes. In fact, it is potato, which is not sweet, that is more dangerous from a blood sugar perspective than sweet potato. This is because sweet potatoes are rich in dietary fiber, which slows down digestion and thus, the release of sugar.
While both potatoes are rich in vitamin C, copper, vitamin B6, fiber, and potassium, potatoes are ahead in manganese, and sweet potatoes are ahead in iron. It is in the percentage or quantity of antioxidants that sweet potatoes are much ahead of potatoes. This is why sweet potatoes are known to ward off certain diseases such as colon cancer, diabetes, heart disease, etc. Nightshade alkaloids that are found in potatoes are absent in sweet potatoes, which is why sweet potatoes do not cause rheumatoid arthritis that is caused by potatoes in some individuals.
In summary, the main differences between potatoes and sweet potatoes include their botanical families, sugar content and blood sugar effects, antioxidant levels, and their potential to cause rheumatoid arthritis. Additionally, potatoes are typically rounder, while sweet potatoes are long-shaped. Sweet potatoes are found in many colors, with the most popular variety being the orange-colored Yam.
