24/05/2021
Health Benefits Of Sweet Potato For Babies.
Sweet potato is a tuberous root vegetable consumed in various parts of the world. It is different from potato, but the two are distantly related, thus the similar-sounding names. Fundamentally, sweet potato and potato are unique with different nutritional values. Here are the major health benefits of sweet potatoes for your baby:
1. Vitamin A and beta-carotene:
Sweet potato is an amazing baby food that comes packed with vitamin A that is needed for the healthy development of the eyes while it also has a lot of beta-carotene, a compound that synthesizes into Vitamin A in the body. Sweet potato thus has an incredible 14187 units of Vitamin A (2). That makes it a vegetable with one of the highest overall concentration of Vitamin A making it an ideal solid food for your growing baby.
2. Starch and fibre:
Sweet potato is a good source of starch and dietary fibre. The body breaks starch into sugars and uses it as energy. While dietary fibre helps indigestion.
3. Contains multivitamins:
It is not just vitamin A but there are other several vitamins present in sweet potato viz. vitamin C, E, K, and vitamin B1 to B6 and B9. Babies need a steady supply of these vitamins for the healthy development of various organs and in attaining their developmental milestones on time.
4. Presence of important minerals:
Minerals ensure the healthy metabolism of various processes in the body. Guess what? Sweet potato is a champion even in this department! It is a source of nearly all important minerals that a body needs, namely calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium and even zinc.
Here is the nutritional chart that breaks down the quantity of these nutrients in 100 gm of sweet potato
Nutritional Value Per 100gm Of Sweet Potato
NUTRIENT UNIT VALUE PER 100GM
Energy
86kcal
Carbohydrates
20.12gm
Natural sugars
4.18gm
Fibre
3gm
Protein
1.57gm
Fat
0.05gm
Calcium
30mg
Iron
0.61mg
Magnesium
25mg
Phosphorus
47mg
Potassium
337mg
Sodium
55mg
Zinc
0.30mg
Vitamin C
2.4mg
Vitamin B1 (Thiamin)
0.078mg
Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin)
0.061mg
Vitamin B3 (Niacin)
0.557mg
Vitamin B6
0.209mg
Vitamin B9 (Folate)
11µg
Vitamin A
709µg
Vitamin E
0.26mg
Vitamin K
1.8µg
Source: United States Department of Agriculture