Sweet potatoes offer a tasty addition and creamy texture to your meals, and they're great when eaten alone, too! 

They're found in desserts, they can take the place of regular potatoes as a healthy (but still tasty) french-fry alternative and they continue to gain recognition and popularity at the dinner table. Aside from being the only veggie you can get your kids to eat, they come with a huge range of benefits you might not have known.

They're good for your heart. Because of the great source of B6 vitamins and potassium, sweet potatoes contribute a great deal to heart health. The Harvard School of Public Health says the B6 vitamins found in sweet potatoes are great at breaking down homocysteine, a substance that hardens the blood vessels and arteries. 

Potassium is also super heart-healthy. According to the Heart and Stroke Encyclopedia by the American Heart Association, potassium helps to balance and maintain the heart's normal rhythm, as well as maintaining fluid balance. 

They can help you de-stress.Yes, there's a healthy food that can help keep your stress level in check. Although sweet potatoes alone won't relieve all your life-related stress (we wish!), they contain magnesium, which is the original "chill pill," according to Psychology Today. Magnesium promotes relaxation, calmness and a good mood.

They can maintain blood sugar levels & stabilize appetite. A 2007 study done at North Carolina State University found that sweet potatoes might just be the secret weapon against diabetes. Sure, they're sweet, but they have a low glycemic index and release sugar slowly into the blood stream, which reduces the risk of sugar spikes and unbalanced levels of blood sugar. 

In addition to maintaining healthy blood sugar levels, the mineral element manganese, which is found in sweet potatoes, also helps the body metabolize carbs, utilize antioxidants and stabilize your appetite, according to a report done on manganese by the Micronutrient Information Centre at Oregon State University.

They help prevent cancer. There are anti-carcinogenic properties in sweet potatoes, thanks to the beta-carotene found in orange veggies. Purple sweet potatoes have also shown to have cancer-fighting abilities, with a positive effect on cancer cell growth.

If you want to take advantage of these health benefits but don't know how to incorporate sweet potatoes into your family's meals, check out these recipes:

Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
Roasted Sweet Potato Soup
Breaded Fish Fingers with Sweet Potato Oven-Fries
Curried Chicken and Lentil Soup with Sweet Potato