Should I eat sweet potatoes instead of rice to lose weight?

Sweet potatoes are one of the familiar weight loss foods. Sweet potatoes contain good carbs, have a low glycemic index, and help maintain energy for the body longer.

In addition, sweet potatoes also provide many nutrients that are good for the body such as vitamins A, C, D, E, K, B6 and other minerals that help strengthen the immune system. This is also a food rich in fiber and animal protein, so it is the perfect dish for a weight loss regimen.

Why are sweet potatoes good for weight loss?

According to an article in the Health & Life newspaper, sweet potatoes contain a lot of fiber that absorbs water and increases the feeling of fullness for a long time. In addition, the fiber in purple sweet potatoes also helps prevent the accumulation of fat in food when entering the body.

Moreover, the starch content in sweet potatoes is only half that of white rice, so eating sweet potatoes helps reduce cravings, makes you feel full longer, thereby supporting effective weight loss.

In addition, sweet potatoes have a low glycemic index, good carb content and are rich in fiber, so they help the digestive system slowly absorb nutrients, stabilize blood sugar production and insulin production at normal levels, so health is improved and the body can easily adapt to the weight loss process.

Sweet potatoes are one of the "golden" foods for weight loss. (Photo: Pixabay)

Should I eat sweet potatoes instead of rice to lose weight?

Sharing on Health & Life, Dr. Doan Thi Tuong Vi (former head of the Nutrition Department, Hospital 198), stated that sweet potatoes are very good but cannot be used to replace rice.

According to Dr. Vi, in addition to the nutrients that are good for health, sweet potatoes are one of the foods that contain quite a lot of sugar, especially honey sweet potatoes. Eating sweet potatoes every day instead of rice can easily lead to a state of sugar accumulation in the body, not only not losing weight but also causing the body to gain weight more quickly.

At the same time, the amount of sugar accumulated in the body is also the cause of many diseases such as diabetes becoming more serious.

For people with poor digestive systems, bloating, indigestion, and flatulence, eating a lot of sweet potatoes can easily increase gastric juice secretion, causing heartburn and acid reflux.

People with kidney disease who eat a lot of sweet potatoes are also more likely to get heart disease. The reason is that sweet potatoes contain a lot of fiber, vitamin A, especially potassium. Weak kidneys limit the ability to eliminate potassium, which can easily cause other dangerous effects on health such as arrhythmia and heart failure.

Therefore, people with kidney disease are even advised not to eat sweet potatoes.

Sweet potatoes are very good but cannot be used to replace rice (Photo: Pixabay)

Sharing on VnExpress newspaper, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Duy Thinh - Institute of Biotechnology and Food, Hanoi University of Science and Technology also expressed the opinion that eating sweet potatoes instead of rice to lose weight is unscientific .

A fresh sweet potato contains 24.6% starch, and fat and weight gain are caused by eating too much starch. Some types of potatoes also contain a high sugar content, such as sweet potatoes, so for people who are sedentary, the more starch they eat, the easier it is to gain weight.

If you want to lose weight with sweet potatoes, you should choose white sweet potatoes instead of purple or yellow sweet potatoes. You should steam or boil the potatoes instead of frying them. You can reduce your portion of rice and eat more potatoes, but you should not replace them completely. Besides, you must eat many other food groups, lots of green vegetables, fruits and drink lots of water to balance nutrition and lose weight effectively.

In short, sweet potatoes are good for health, are an effective weight loss food but cannot replace rice. You need to have a scientific diet, including rice, sweet potatoes and many other foods so that the body does not lack nutrients, then the weight loss process will be successful.

Khanh An (synthesis)

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