How Healthy Are Sweet Potatoes?
红薯有多健康？
The marshmallows notwithstanding, sweet potatoes are one of the healthiest foods on your Thanksgiving table. They’re full of nutrients that keep your systems humming and your blood sugar steady, and they can even reduce your cancer risk.
尽管要加棉花糖，但红薯是感恩节餐桌上最健康的食物之一。它们营养丰富，能帮助身体系统运转，稳定血糖，甚至还能降低患癌症的风险。
They’re a natural source of electrolytes.
它们是电解质的天然来源。
Sweet potatoes are a good source of potassium, an electrolyte that you sweat out when you exercise. The body relies on potassium, which carries a charge, to send electrical signals between nerves, said Holly Gilligan, a registered dietitian at the University of Rochester Medical Center’s Fitness Science program. Potassium helps to keep your nerves firing, your heart beating and your muscles contracting. One medium cooked sweet potato contains around 350 milligrams of potassium — about 12 percent of the recommended daily amount for an average adult and more than six times what you get in a 12-ounce bottle of Gatorade.
红薯是钾的良好来源，钾是一种电解质，会随运动出汗排出。罗彻斯特大学医学中心健身科学项目的注册营养师霍莉·吉利根说，人体依靠携带电荷的钾离子在神经之间传递电信号。钾有助于保持神经兴奋、心脏跳动和肌肉收缩。一个中等大小的熟红薯含有大约350毫克的钾——大约是普通成年人每日推荐摄入量的12%，是一瓶12盎司（约合340克）的佳得乐含钾量的六倍多。
Potassium also helps you maintain a healthy blood pressure. “The body is constantly trying to keep potassium in balance with another electrolyte: sodium,” said Dave Bridges, a biochemist and associate professor of nutritional sciences at the University of Michigan. Sodium causes the body to hold onto fluids, increasing the volume of our blood; if there’s too much sodium, blood pressure can become unhealthily high, he explained. Potassium stimulates the kidneys to excrete sodium and also causes blood vessels to relax.
钾还有助于保持健康血压。密歇根大学生物化学家、营养科学副教授戴夫·布里奇斯说：“人体一直在努力保持钾与另一种电解质钠之间的平衡。”他解释说，钠会使身体保持体液，增加血液容量；他解释说，如果钠摄入过多，血压就会变得过高。钾能刺激肾脏排出钠，也使血管放松。
They won’t spike your blood sugar.
它们不会令血糖骤升。
Sweet potatoes get their signature flavor from naturally occurring sugars; one medium sweet potato has around nine grams. “For some context, that’s about a quarter of what you would find in a regular soda,” Dr. Bridges said.
红薯的独特风味来自于天然糖分；一个中等大小的红薯大约含有九克糖分。“在某些情况下，这大约是普通汽水的四分之一，”布里奇斯说。
But unlike a sugary beverage, sweet potatoes are relatively high in dietary fiber (about four grams per potato). Fiber is a lot of work for the body to digest, which slows down the breakdown of sugar, said Judy Simon, a clinical dietitian at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle. Blood sugar levels spike when you consume soda, but when you eat a sweet potato, blood sugar levels rise gradually.
但与含糖饮料不同，红薯的膳食纤维含量相对较高（每个红薯约四克）。西雅图华盛顿大学医学中心的临床营养师朱迪·西蒙说，人体消化纤维需要做很多工作，这会减缓糖的分解。喝汽水时，血糖水平会骤升，但是吃红薯的时候，血糖水平是逐渐上升的。
High-fiber foods, including sweet potatoes, can even boost the body’s production of GLP-1, the hormone that drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy mimic, Ms. Simon said. GLP-1 stimulates the release of insulin and slows down digestion, which helps you feel full for longer.
西蒙说，包括红薯在内的高纤维食物甚至可以促进人体分泌GLP-1，这种激素是胰妥赞(Ozempic)和诺和盈(Wegovy)等药物所模仿的。GLP-1刺激胰岛素的释放，减缓消化，帮助你长时间保持饱腹感。
They’re rich in vitamins and minerals.
它们富含维生素和矿物质。
One medium sweet potato contains more than 100 percent of the recommended daily amount of vitamin A — primarily in the form of beta-carotene, which gives the vegetable its vibrant orange color. In addition, a medium sweet potato contains roughly 20 percent of the recommended daily amount of vitamin C. Both vitamins are powerful antioxidants that can neutralize free radicals — unstable oxygen molecules that can damage cells and DNA, increasing the risk of cancer and other diseases. Vitamin A is also an important building block for proteins inside the retina that detect light, making it essential for vision, Dr. Bridges said. And the body needs vitamin C to absorb iron, Ms. Simon said.
一个中等大小的红薯的维生素A含量就已经超过了每日推荐量——主要以β-胡萝卜素的形式存在，它使得红薯呈现出鲜艳的橙色。此外，一个中等大小的红薯含有大约20%的每日推荐量的维生素C。这两种维生素都是强大的抗氧化剂，可以中和自由基——它是一种不稳定的氧分子，会破坏细胞和DNA，增加患癌症和其他疾病的风险。布里奇斯说，维生素A也是视网膜内检测光线的蛋白质的重要组成部分，因此对视力至关重要。西蒙说，人体需要维生素C来吸收铁。
Sweet potatoes also contain high levels of copper and manganese, which the body uses to produce antioxidants in-house, Dr. Bridges said.
布里奇斯说，红薯还含有大量的铜和锰，人体可以利用这两种物质在体内产生抗氧化剂。
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