Sweet potato nutrition: calories, carbs, GI, protein, fiber, fats

by Elen Khachatrian | Last updated on September 23, 2023

Medically reviewed by Ani Harutyunyan

Carbohydrates in Sweet Potato

To get a full picture of sweet potato’s carbohydrate content, we will look at three different forms of this root vegetable - raw sweet potato, boiled sweet potato without skin, and baked sweet potato with skin.

Carbohydrates per 100g

The carbohydrate content of raw sweet potato is not so different from whole baked sweet potato.

Raw sweet potato contains 20.12g of carbohydrates, while baked sweet potato has 20.71g.

On the other hand, boiled sweet potato without skin contains 3g fewer carbohydrates than sweet potatoes with skin.

Carbohydrates per Serving Size

The average serving size per person can be considered the same for all forms of sweet potatoes - 1 cup in cubes or one medium-sized sweet potato, both weighing 133g.

Baked sweet potato with skin contains 27.5g of carbohydrates per one serving, while the same serving size of boiled skinless sweet potato provides 23.5g carbs.

Carbohydrate Breakdown

The carbohydrate content of sweet potatoes consists predominantly of starch (53%), followed by sugars (31%). Even though dietary fiber is in last place (16%), a 100g serving of sweet potato with skin can provide 13% of the daily needed value of dietary fiber.

Besides starch, sugars such as maltose, sucrose, glucose, and fructose can be found in sweet potatoes.

Removing the skin of sweet potatoes can reduce their dietary fiber content by 24%.

Net Carbs

Baked sweet potato with skin provides 17.41g of net carbs per 100g serving and 23.2g of net carbs per one average serving size.

Baking sweet potatoes can lower their starch content from 64% to 53%. Removing the skin reduces the net carb content by 2g.

Soluble and Insoluble Fiber

The dietary fiber content of sweet potatoes consists mainly of insoluble fiber (67-75%). The soluble fiber fraction constitutes 25 to 33% of the whole fiber (1).

Soluble fiber slows down and improves digestion, while insoluble fiber relieves constipation.

Calories in Sweet Potato

If you’re worried about a high calorie intake, you can remove the sweet potato skin when cooking.

A 100g serving of baked sweet potatoes with skin provides 90 calories, while the same serving size of boiled skinless sweet potatoes contains 76 calories.

Similarly, one average whole baked sweet potato serving has 120 calories, while skinless sweet potato contains 101 calories.

What Do 90 Calories or 100 Grams of Sweet Potato Look Like?

The picture below illustrates what 100 grams of sweet potato looks like to help you visualize its weight and calorie content. As you can see, approximately one-third of a medium-sized cooked sweet potato makes up 100 grams or 90 calories. This implies that a whole sweet potato weighs about 300 grams and contains 270 calories.

Comparison to Other Foods

In the table below, you can see how the calorie content of sweet potatoes compares to the caloric values of other tuberous roots.

Burning Estimates

Using a method called Met or Metabolic Equivalent of a Task, we have calculated how much of which physical activity will burn the number of calories (120 cal) provided by one medium-sized baked sweet potato with skin (2, 3).

References

1. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0889157599908190
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4428382/
3. 2011 Compendium of Physical Activities

Author name: Elen Khachatrian

Education: Nutrition & Microbiology at YSU

Last updated: September 23, 2023

Medically reviewed by Ani Harutyunyan