On the outside, sweet potatoes and yams look quite similar, but the two vegetables pack an extremely different nutritional punch on the inside. In fact, the sweet potato is a member of the morning glory family, while the yam is a member of the lily family. Before choosing one vegetable over the other, it is important to understand the nutritional value of yams versus sweet potatoes.
Calories
When cooked or baked in the skin without salt, one ounce of a sweet potato delivers just 25 calories. One cup of sweet potato, which generally weighs in at about 200 grams, therefore delivers roughly 180 calories. A yam, on the other hand, provides just slightly more calories. When cooked, boiled or baked without salt, the same one-ounce serving size of a yam delivers 32 calories. One cup of the yams, however, weighs just 136 grams, providing a lower calorie content of just 158 calories.
Carbohydrates
Just over 160 calories from the 180 in a one-cup serving of sweet potato come from carbohydrates. With 41.4 grams of carbohydrates per cup, the vegetable delivers an impressive 6.6 grams of fiber, almost 30 percent of your recommended daily allowance. The remaining carbohydrates are split evenly between starch and sugars, with 14.1 grams and 13.0 grams, respectively. Yams feature a similar carbohydrate profile, with nearly all their total calories coming from carbohydrates. A one-cup serving of yams provides 37.4 grams of carbohydrates, with 5.3 grams coming from fiber. However, the remaining bulk of carbohydrates comes from the starch, not sugars.
Vitamins
Sweet potatoes have been classified as an "excellent source of vitamin A" and "a very good source of vitamin C," according to the World's Healthiest Foods website. In fact, the vegetable delivers a whopping 769 percent of your daily recommended value of vitamin A. It also delivers 65 percent of your vitamin C and 29 percent of vitamin B6. Unfortunately, yams do not provide nearly as much vitamin A as sweet potatoes. In fact, the root vegetable provides only 3 percent of your daily allowance. It does, however, deliver 27 percent of your daily vitamin C allowance and 16 percent of your vitamin B6 allowance.
Minerals
Sweet potatoes are an excellent source of manganese, delivering 50 percent of your recommended daily allowance in just a one-cup serving. The root vegetable is also quite high in potassium; a one-cup serving provides almost 30 percent of your daily requirement. A yam delivers slightly less bang for your buck, in terms of minerals. Although it too delivers almost 30 percent of your recommended potassium intake, it only delivers 25 percent of your recommended daily manganese intake. Sweet potatoes also provide significantly more magnesium, phosphorus and copper than yams.
Other Nutritional Data
At just 72 milligrams of sodium per cup of sweet potato, the vegetable provides a powerful punch of nutrients with very few disadvantages. Although yams provide a lower amount of sodium, with just 11 milligrams per cup, they pack a less powerful nutritional punch than sweet potatoes. However, both vegetables are quite low in saturated fat and cholesterol.
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