Since NASA selected them for their space missions, sweet potatoes are among the cheapest and healthiest vegetables in the world, and one day even in space.
They might even qualify as a "superfood."
One Washington University study set out to identify the vegetables that offer the best nutritional value for the money.
In the video below, "Anti-Cancer Potential of Sweet Potato Proteins," a graph of nutrition versus availability for various foods is displayed.
Sweet potatoes received the highest scores for being the most nutrient-rich food per dollar, while dark green leafy vegetables scored as one of the healthiest foods and one of the least expensive.
In addition to being nutrient-dense, sweet potatoes also have anti-cancer properties. Sweet potatoes were found to have a special protein in 1931.
In actuality, a protease inhibitor type of protein, which has potential anti-cancer properties, makes up 80% of the protein in sweet potatoes.
The proteins from potatoes were initially tested for their ability to inhibit the growth of leukemia cells in a petri dish, a blood cancer.
You are probably wondering how a sweet potato protein can enter into the bloodstream.
The moment majority of proteins hit the stomach, they start to digest. In order to get around the problem of digestion, scientists tested sweet potato proteins against cancer cells on tongue, having in mind that they certainly touch our mouth.
Since patients with tongue cancer are generally treated with chemotherapy, and the chemo drugs they use have harmful effects, discovering alternative therapeutic strategies is necessary.
The protein of sweet potatoes diminished the in vitro cancer viability in just couple of days, which led scientists to suggest that sweet potatoes may be beneficial for tongue cancer in humans.
But can sweet potatoes aid in the treatments of other cancer types too?
Researchers tested this unique class of proteins on 9 women with advanced cervical cancer, 2 of which showed that this protein class survives the digestion process and can be absorbed in the bloodstream intact.
It was not long ago when sweet potato proteins were tested on one of the most common as well as deadly type of cancer, the colorectal cancer.
The colon is removed surgically while in the early stages, since very often there are “micrometastases” which appear outside the colon and can result to recurred cancer and death. This is why scientists have been looking for anti-metastatic agents.
The sweet potato protein does a lot more than slowing down the development of colon cancer cells. It also reduces the cancer cell invasion and migration.
Sweet potatoes are linked to reduced rate of gallbladder cancer, although this was never tested.
Sweet potatoes are delicious snack. If you heat them and put them in your pockets during winter, they can be your natural hand warmers at first, and then an instant healthy snack.