Face-off: sweet potatoes vs. white potatoes

With the sweet potato coming to rise in popularity, many of us have come to view its white counterpart as the evil, fattening twin, but is this actually the case? When breaking down their respective nutritional values and comparing them against one another, you'll come to realize that white potatoes are not as bad as you may have thought. In fact, the two are more similar than you may think!

Sweet potatoes are known for their many nutrients, which include high levels of beta-carotene (aka vitamin A), vitamin C, vitamin B6, magnesium, iron, copper, manganese, and potassium. White potatoes on the other hand are associated with the unhealthy foods with which they are commonly made, being potato chips and french fries. These fried foods are most typically made with loads of hydrogenated oils, which can be detrimental to a healthy diet.

Because sweet potatoes are more commonly steamed or boiled, they're viewed as the healthier potato option. Say though that white potatoes were prepared more similarly to sweet potatoes. In this case, much health benefit could be derived from them. Similar to sweet potatoes, white potatoes are full of vitamin C, vitamin B6, magnesium, iron, manganese, and potassium amongst other nutrients.

Another important fact to take into account is that both potatoes come in at around the same number of calories, carbohydrates, fat, and protein.

Now, I'm not saying that sweet potatoes and white potatoes are completely equal, for sweet potatoes do have a lower-glycemic index than white potatoes (the lower the index, the longer you feel full) and also contain plenty of vitamin A, where as white spuds do not... but it should also be noted that the amounts of vitamins and minerals shared by both potatoes vary. Certain nutrients may be high in the white potato but low in the sweet potato, and vice versa (for example: sweet potatoes contain higher levels of calcium, but white potatoes contain more of vitamin B6).

With this information in mind, white potatoes should not be neglected. It's about time they received some credit!