Q & A: Why are sweet potatoes healthier than white potatoes?
A: Sweet potatoes are trendier than white potatoes, but they are not “healthier.” When it comes to calories and fiber they’re virtually identical 
. Sweet potatoes have more vitamin A, and white potatoes have more potassium. (White potatoes are a potassium powerhouse – they even beat out bananas per gram and per calorie.). If you are asking, are Sweet Potatoes Healthier Than White Potatoes then you might also ask the next question.
Next question: Will potatoes make you fat?
If you only eat them deep fried they’re going to pack in the calories… but, you know, deep fried food is, um, food fried in a deep reservoir of fat… deep frying anything makes it delicious, but also adds tons of calories. Take the undeservedly demonized white potato:
· by itself a russet potato has 79 calories per 100 gram serving 
· deep fried those French (freedom?) fries have 312 calories per 100 gram serving – that’s 233 more calories (390% more!) for the same amount of food 
It’s worth noting that the extra calories in French fries come from fat because of the fat that all deep fried foods are fried in. The people who tell you that plain (un-fried) potatoes make you fat are the same people spreading nutrition lies such as “fruit will make you fat.” No, so-called “healthy fat” (there’s no such thing as “healthy fat”) does not have fewer calories than “regular fat.” All fat has 9 calories per gram, or 120 calories per tiny tablespoon.
Medium Dive on Sweet 
vs White Potato:
In the interest of fairness, all numbers below are for identical quantities (100 grams) of raw tater (short for potato). Also, I used Russets for white potatoes because they’re the best potato, and I am not biased at all, and I had to pick just one when answering are Sweet Potatoes Healthier Than White Potatoes:
Calories – Tie
Sweet: 86 calories
White: 79 calories
Avocado (100g): 191 calories
I included 100g of avocado to contrast calorie density of the trendy avocado vs the out-of-fashion potato. Fat calories add up fast.
The 7 calorie difference between russet and sweet is pretty minimal, so I’ll call it a tie.
Fiber – Tie
Sweet: 2.4 grams
White: 2.3 grams
1/10th of a gram of fiber won’t change anyone’s life, or stool; but 5 grams of fiber will!
Protein – white potatoes wins
Sweet: 1.33
White: 2.63
The absolute difference (1.3 grams) isn’t much, but white potatoes have almost double the protein, so they win here.
Vitamins and such – mixed bag of ties, wins and losses
· Vitamin D, iron & calcium – both negligible
· Potassium – white by a landslide, and white potatoes have far more potassium than the same amount of banana… and none of the banana diarrhea (or constipation) that happen with some people.
Sweet: 222 mg
White: 550 mg
Banana (100g): 358 mg
· Vitamin A – sweet by a landslide
Sweet: 783 mcg
White: 1 mcg
· Vitamin C – tie
Sweet: 12.3 mg
White: 12.9 mg
So, in the end they’re about the same. Pick the one you like best, or mix and match, or white if you struggle with potassium.
Tater Hater
In 1997 the Atkins’ New Diet Revolution began it’s 5 year residence on the NYT Bestseller list, and we’ve been (wrongly) blaming obesity on carbs ever since. (Keto is the new Atkins.) Science writer Gary Taubes (Good Calories, Bad Calories) picked up the low-carb and keto mantle (tiara?) around the time of Atkins’ death.
Gary raised $40 million for research to settle the debate of “is it carbs or calories that make us fat?” Gary agreed, in writing, to the design and set up of the initial studies, however, when the results were not what he expected he claimed the studies were flawed. 
I don’t need to get into the finer points, however the title of this article says it all:
Calorie for calorie, dietary fat restriction results in more body fat loss than carbohydrate restriction in people with obesity
Important points:
· Low fat diets resulted in more fat loss. Fat not weight, and losing excess body fat is what matters for both health and aesthetics.
· 67% more fat was lost on the low fat diet vs the low carb diet. This is because your body can only make teeny-tiny amount of new fat from carbohydrates per day, whereas dietary fat arrives as fat so there is nothing for your body to convert before storing the fat.
· Everyone (low fat and low carb) ate the same number of calories, and everyone was confined to their own room for the entire experiment. Nobody got out for snacks or workouts. All food was weighed meticulously and prepared in the lab’s kitchen.
Bottom Line
So are Sweet Potatoes Healthier Than White Potatoes…Remember, nutrition is about OR, whereas exercise is about AND. Meaning, just because a food has positive qualities does not mean you should add it to your diet. Adding food means adding calories, and too much food is too much, and excess body fat (especially when stored in our organs) is bad news for your health.
Either kind of potato is potentially a part of a healthy diet, but don’t add taters on top of what you already eat and expect anything positive.
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