Are Sweet Potatoes Low-Carb (And How Do They Affect Your Blood Sugar)?

Sweet potatoes can be a nice change of pace if you've grown weary of eating other types of potatoes. (Plus, they come in many different colors, which is pretty cool if you like a vibrant-looking plate.) However, you may want to curb your portion size of these popular veggies if you're trying to limit carbs. And you may want to modify your preparation methods if managing your blood sugar levels is important to you.

As their name implies, sweet potatoes have an earthy sweetness that sets them apart from regular potatoes. If you've heard that sweet potatoes are full of nutrients, you've heard correctly. A single 5" sweet potato contains 26.1 grams of carbs, 5.43 grams of sugar, and 3.9 grams of fiber. Plus, each sweet potato offers plenty of beta-carotene, heart-healthy potassium, magnesium, and vitamin A. That said, while one can argue that sweet potatoes are more nutritious than regular potatoes, this also means that sweet potatoes can't be considered low-carb.

How you define "low carb" may differ from the way another person does, and may therefore change the way you feel about eating sweet potatoes. Most adults should be eating anywhere from 130 to 335 grams of carbs daily.

If you're targeting the lower value, one sweet potato is going to get you about 20% of the way there. Accordingly, you may need to reduce the amount of sweet potato you eat if you're following a very low-carb meal plan, such as the keto diet, which aims to keep daily carbs at 50 grams or less. Potatoes are among the standard list of foods to avoid when you're on a low-carb diet.

On the other hand, if you regularly eat upwards of 300 or more grams of carbs every day, a sweet potato is unlikely to put you over your limit. Quite the contrary: When you're focused on upping your carb intake, sweet potatoes may assist you in meeting your nutritional goals.

Despite their relatively higher carb content, sweet potatoes can be beneficial to diabetics. Aside from being nutrient-dense, they may also help reduce your blood sugar levels, provided that you consume them in moderation.

If you're trying to keep your sugar levels from spiking after eating, you might want to add sweet potatoes into your meals. Interestingly, you can lower their glycemic index rating by switching up the way you cook them. A 2012 study in The Open Nutrition Journal indicates that a boiled sweet potato has a glycemic index of just 46, whereas a baked sweet potato has a glycemic index of 94, more than twice as much. The study notes that the variation comes from the way that the available sugars are converted into starch when exposed to heat.

Does this mean you can feel better about choosing sweet potatoes if you're keeping tabs on your blood sugar? Yes, and especially if you cook your sweet potatoes so they have less of an effect on how fast your body needs to process recently consumed sugars. But if you're committed to a very low-carb diet, you may find it difficult to stay on track if you routinely eat whole sweet potatoes.