Purple Sweet Potatoes as an Alternative to Support Reducing the Number of Diabetics

Thebestindonesia.com – According to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), COVID-19 has mild symptoms, and about 98% of infected people survive the disease. More than 80% of cases are mild cases, and people can recover by isolating themselves in their homes. According to IDF (2020), the number of complications of COVID-19 in people with Diabetes Mellitus (diabetes epidemic) in Indonesia is still increasing, especially in type 2 diabetes. Indonesia is the sixth-ranked country in the world after China, India, the United States, Brazil, and Mexico, with around 10.3 million people with diabetes aged 20-79 years (American Diabetes Association & IDF, 2020). In 2018 it was shown that the prevalence of diabetes mellitus in Indonesia based on a doctor’s diagnosis at the age of more than 15 years showed a figure of 2%. This figure shows an increase compared to the prevalence of diabetes mellitus in residents over 15 years old on the results of Riskesdas in 2013 of 1.5% (Ministry of Health RI, 2018). Type 2 diabetes is more common in adults and the elderly. However, type 2 diabetes is also starting in children and adolescents. Type 2 diabetes patients can experience various symptoms, including the appearance of blackened body parts, wounds that are difficult to heal, and blurred vision. However, these symptoms take a long time to appear and be felt by sufferers. This condition has the potential to go unnoticed until complications occur.

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Diabetes is divided into two types, namely diabetes type 1 and type 2. Diabetes type 1 can develop rapidly within a few weeks or even days. In type 2 diabetes, many sufferers do not realize they have had diabetes for years because the symptoms tend to be non-specific. Some of the features of type 1 and type 2 diabetes include:

1. Often feel thirsty.
2. Frequent urination, especially at night.
3. Often feel very hungry.
4. Losing weight for no apparent reason.
5. Reduced muscle mass.
6. There are ketones in the urine. Ketones are a waste product from the breakdown of muscle and fat due to the body’s inability to use sugar as an energy source.
7. Limp.
8. Blurred vision.
9. Wounds that are difficult to heal.
10. Frequent infections, for example, in the gums, skin, vagina, or urinary tract.

Several other symptoms can also indicate that a person has diabetes, including:

1. Dry mouth.
2. Burning, stiffness, and pain in the legs.
3. Itching.
4. Erectile dysfunction or impotence.
5. Easily offended.
6. Experiencing reactive hypoglycemia occurs several hours after eating due to excessive insulin production.
7. The appearance of black spots around the neck, armpits, and groin (acanthosis nigricans) is a sign of insulin resistance.
8. Some people may experience pre-diabetics, a condition when the glucose in the blood is above average but not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. Someone with pre-diabetics can have type 2 diabetes if not appropriately handled.

Diabetes expert Professor Dr. Sidartawan Soegondo explained that treating diabetes mellitus at the mildest stage does not require medication but only changing lifestyles to a healthy lifestyle. Sidartawan, in his interview at Suara.com Jakarta, said, “If diabetes is known, has just been discovered, and there are no complications, the medicine is not using drugs but changing lifestyles.” He emphasized that treatment for people with diabetes varies depending on the patient’s condition when it comes to medical personnel. If a person with diabetes has experienced various complications, more drugs will be given. In addition, education is needed to regulate patterns of sugar levels and how to process purple sweet potatoes into diabetes medicine for the community, especially in rural areas. The village community still lacks knowledge of diabetes management, especially those living in remote or remote areas. Even though diabetes mellitus is a non-communicable disease (PTM) category, it remains a significant public health problem globally, nationally, and locally. Especially people in rural areas. This is also a type of metabolic disease that always experiences an increase in sufferers yearly in countries worldwide. Diabetes is a series of chronic metabolic disorders caused by the pancreas not producing enough insulin, causing absolute and relative insulin deficiency, resulting in an increase in glucose concentration in the blood.

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Purple sweet potato is a tuber originating from America and developed in Japan. Regarding taste, purple sweet potato has a variety of flavors, such as sweet, slightly sweet, slightly bitter, and bitter. Biologically, purple yams and potatoes are still in the same family. The purple color of sweet potatoes occurs because this tuber plant is rich in a substance called anthocyanins, which are safe for human consumption. Various nutrients are contained in purple sweet potatoes, such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, sodium, iron, and potassium. Purple sweet potatoes also contain vitamins such as B1, vitamin B2, vitamin B3, vitamin B6, vitamin B9 (folate), vitamin E, vitamin K, and vitamin A. Raw purple sweet potatoes are rich in complex carbohydrates. Purple sweet potato has several benefits, which are very good for the health of the body. The way to get the benefits of purple sweet potatoes is by boiling them or adding them to other processed foods. Purple sweet potatoes or often called sweet potatoes, can easily be found in traditional markets. This purple sweet potato has the scientific name ipomoea batatas, a traditional food with many benefits (Agustin, 2021).

Purple sweet potato anthocyanin is a natural red anthocyanin pigment extracted from purple sweet potato roots or stems. They are stable and have the functions of antioxidant, anti-mutation, anti-tumor, liver protection, hypoglycemia, and anti-inflammatory, which gives them good application prospects. However, there has been no comprehensive study of purple sweet potato anthocyanins. Extraction, structural characterization, stability, functional activity, applications in food, cosmetics, medicine, and other industries of anthocyanins from purple sweet potato and their biotransformation in vitro or by intestinal microorganisms are reviewed in this paper, which provides a reference for further development. And utilization of anthocyanins. The content contained in purple sweet potato contains anthocyanins and vitamin C, which act as antioxidants. These compounds can increase immunity and protect the body from dangerous diseases. Anthocyanin in purple sweet potato is also a type of polyphenol antioxidant. The anthocyanins in purple sweet potato have an anti-inflammatory effect and help increase the production of cytokines that regulate the immune response. Regularly eating polyphenol-rich fruits and vegetables has been linked to a lower risk of cancer and other chronic diseases. Thus, purple sweet potato is an alternative effort to prevent diabetes, more precisely, diabetes mellitus type 2. According to Lukman, the advantages of sweet potato or purple cassava are different nutritional content, and one of the micronutrient compounds found in purple sweet potato has an essential role for humans. Including pigments. The benefits or benefits of purple sweet potato are quiet a lot because cassava has a lot of substances that are beneficial for maintaining a healthy body. The benefits of cassava itself include preventing cancer, maintaining bone health, and especially overcoming diabetes. In addition, this purple sweet potato can be easily found in rural areas so that village people can start a healthy life to reduce the number of diabetics in Indonesia.

The method chosen is by steaming or boiling purple sweet potatoes that have been cleaned and then putting them in a pot filled with clean water and the skin and sprinkling them with a bit of salt to make them taste more delicious. However, it is necessary to avoid overcooking it to keep sweet potatoes’ glycemic index, which requires a relatively long digestion time when consumed. Avoid boiling sweet potatoes by removing the skin. Wash the entire skin surface with clean water until it is spotless and then boil it along with the skin. When it is cooked, you can eat it cold and immediately with the skin because there are many essential nutrients in sweet potato skins.