Sweet potatoes, the best of anti-cancer foods

According to a study by the University of Tokyo’s Institute of Medicine, Sweet potatoes have a cancer inhibition rate of 98.7%, ranking first among 82 kinds of vegetables with anti-cancer effects.  Sweet potatoes, which used to be an oral crop with nothing to throw away, such as roots, stems, and leaves, are highly nutritious alkaline foods that are rich in carbohydrates and contain evenly protein, fat, dietary fiber, minerals, and vitamins, so they can be substituted for staple foods.

Sweet potatoes are rich in health functions such as beta-carotene, anthocyanin, polyphenol, and dietary fiber, helping to maintain health in the cold autumn and winter, and beta-carotene contained in sweet potatoes is effective in preventing stomach and lung cancer, and the darker the yellow, the higher the anticancer effect.

Today’s news reports statistics show that the number of colon cancer patients in Korea continues to increase, and eating sweet potatoes regularly is effective in preventing and treating colon cancer as well as lung cancer, preventing cell aging, and suppressing cancer cell proliferation.

sweet potato

The current Korean name sweet potatoes are from the Joseon Botanical Hyangmyeong Collection (Joseon Museum Research Association, Jeong Tae-hyun et al. 3, 1937) written in Japanese colonial era.

The name of the sweet potato is recorded in Joam’s travel document “Haesa Ilgi,” saying, “There is a place called Gamjeo in Daemado Island, which is also called Hyojama and “Goguwima.” Therefore, it is believed that the etymology of sweet potatoes was rooted in the Daemado dialect of the time, “Gokkoimo.” “Gokko” in “Gokko-imo” means “‘行”, and “imo” dictates “taro, yam”, etc. It was named “Gogoimo” because sweet potatoes saved the starving residents of Daemado Island during the Daehanggeun of Gyo in 1732.

sweet potato

Sweet Potato

Dicotyledonous perennial of the genus Megal and American morning glory

Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.

The genus name Ipomoea is a compound word of homoios, which means similar to the Greek word ip-, which means insect, and is named because plants belonging to this genus crawl like caterpillars. The name batatas is derived from the South American language of sweet potatoes.

The origin of sweet potatoes

The center of the sweet potato origin is estimated to be the Yucatan Peninsula in Central America, which has a long history of cultivation, and the mouth of the Orinoco River in Venezuela in South America.

A dry root in the form of a sweet potato found in a cave in Chilca Gorge, Peru, and it is claimed that people in the Maya, Asteca, and Inca empires of the New World grew and improved their varieties, and a sweet potato relic estimated to be around 2,000 BC was also found in the Cosma Valley of Peru.

Sweet potatoes introduced by Columbus in the late 15th century were introduced to Europe and Spain, again to the Philippines via Cape of Good Hope and the Indian Ocean, and to North America in the early 17th century by Peruvians.

Sweet potatoes that came to China from the Philippines in 1594 by merchants from the Ming Dynasty were introduced to Japan in 1605 by envoys of the Ryukyu Kingdom (Okinawa).

The first time sweet potatoes came to Uni Nara was in October 1763, when Joam, who went to Japan as a communication official, saw sweet potatoes from Daemado Island and brought them to Busan, and they were sent to Lee Eung-hyuk, the chief monk of Busanjin, and were planted again in Dongnae and Jeju Island in the following spring.

The effectiveness of sweet potatoes

Sweet potatoes are rich in potassium, vitamins A, B, and C, and vitamin C has a 70-80% residual rate even when heated, contains a lot of essential amino acids, and the lysine content that helps children grow is higher than corn or rice.

Orange beta-carotene and purple anthocyanin are representative antioxidants that remove active oxygen to prevent aging and disease, and beta-carotene, a precursor to vitamin A, is also effective in destroying cancer cells and removing carcinogens.

According to the University of Tokyo’s Institute of Medicine in Japan, sweet potatoes ranked first among 82 kinds of vegetables with anti-cancer effects with 98.7%, and sweet potatoes were first selected as 10 health foods by the U.S. Food and Nutrition Movement Center (CSPI).

According to the Journal of the Diabetes Association (2004.02), anthocyanins in purple sweet potatoes and chaiapo in white sweet potatoes promote insulin secretion.

Jalapin, a milky white liquid that is rich in dietary fiber and comes out when cutting raw sweet potatoes, is effective in relieving constipation and preventing colon cancer.

Potium, which is contained a lot in sweet potatoes, lowers blood pressure, reduces stress, and prevents fatigue, and is rich in vitamin E, which prevents aging and antioxidants.

Sweet potatoes have the effect of releasing sodium, which is the cause of blood pressure increase, out of the body. Sweet potatoes contain calcium in a state that is easily absorbed by the human body, so sweet potatoes are effective in using calcium.