Diabetes, as we know, is a complicated disease and in order to effectively manage the chronic illness, one has to take a lot of measures with respect to the diet and lifestyle. One of the much-loved fruit all across the world is Avocado. Most of the diabetic patients therefore often ask the question “Is Avocado Good or Bad for Diabetics?” In this article, we shall deep dive and try to analyze the relationship between Avocado and diabetes in detail.
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Facts Related to Avocado
Let us first understand some of the facts related with Avocados.
- The fruit is a rich source of antioxidants and minerals such as potassium, vitamin E as well as Vitamin C.
- The fruit is known to be rich in a number of vitamin B such as riboflavin, pyridoxine, niacin, amongst others.
- They contain high amount of fats but the same is in the form of monosaturated fats, something that is considered good for diabetes
- An average medium sized Avocado has around 17 grams of carbohydrates
Relationship Between Avocado and the Blood Sugar Level
As per the United States Department of Agriculture, an average size of the fruit contains around 17 grams of carbohydrates. Hence, Avocado is a fruit which you can include in your diet without worrying about the increase in the levels of blood glucose. In fact, studies have shown that when you combine this fruit with other foods as part of your diet, any increase in the level of blood glucose is said to decline and stabilize.
Other Benefits of Eating Avocado for People Suffering From Diabetes
Eating and including Avocado has several health benefits apart from the advantage of stabilizing the level of blood glucose in the body. Some of the other benefits of the fruit include the following:
-: The fruit is a rich source of fiber. Fiber is important as it helps in the smooth digestion of food in the body. Fiber also plays an important role in reducing the levels of HbA1c in the body of an individual.
-: Avocados are also rich in what is known as the soluble fiber. This, in turn, helps to improve the level of good cholesterol and reduce risks of bad cholesterol in the body.
-: The fruit helps you to feel full for a longer period of time. This again can help in reducing and shedding all that extra fat that you might have accumulated in the body.
-: High in potassium, Avocados help in the smooth functioning of the heart as well as the pancreas, the organs that are responsible for releasing insulin.
-: As per the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases,the monosaturated fats present in the fruit improves the level of good cholesterol, triglycerides, thereby reducing the chances of getting strokes or even heart attacks.
-: Monosaturated fats present in the fruit also helps in the promotion of insulin levels, which again is an important factor that will benefit those with the chronic illness.
-: Finally, the fruit goes a long way in keeping the levels of electrolytes up. When the body has raised levels of blood glucose due to diabetes, it faces an electrolyte imbalance as the increase in blood sugar is balanced by the kidneys by releasing water. It is important to restore this balance for avoiding a lot of diseases and Avocado helps in achieving the same.
Thus, there are several benefits of Avocado and the fruit can certainly be included in the diets of all the people who suffer from diabetes.
How to Include Avocados in Your Diet?
As seen above, Avocados are a healthy source of food for all those who suffer from diabetes as well as its associated complications. Hence, let us see in the below paragraphs how the fruit can be included in the daily diet of patients:
- You can simply eat the fruit
- You can make good Avocado toast by using the guacamole
- Use the fruit in salads, omelets, as well as use the same in the form of a seasoning
- In fact, you can also use Avocado as a replacement for butter in a number of recipes such as ice creams, different types of cakes, pastries, etc.
- You can also eat baked Avocado egg for breakfast.
- Finally, you can use the fruit with a lot of Mexican recipes such as tacos, whole-grain pizza, amongst others.
How to Choose the Right Avocado for your Diet?
We also need to understand how should we check the right type of Avocado for our daily diet. Experts recommend that eating ripe Avocados are the best. In order to understand when the fruit is ripe, we should know the following:
We first should remove the skin of the fruit and check if the same comes out easily or not. If the skin does not come out easily, our fruit is not ripe enough and you should better avoid eating the same. On the other hand, if the skin can be easily removed while the fruit is green, the fruit is the right one for the diabetes patients.
You should also avoid eating an overripe Avocado. To know this, peel the skin of the fruit. If the same comes out easily and the fruit underneath is brown, with all the brown spots, the Avocado is overripe and you should avoid eating the same.
Recommended Quantity of Avocado for Diabetes Patients
As per the American Diabetes Association, instead of the amount of fat, diabetes patients should be more careful about the type of fat that they are including in their daily diet. Also, you should understand and consider the total amount of calories that you are eating. The whole fruit contains around 250 to 300 calories. And one ounce serving of Avocados contains only as little as 50 counts of calories. Hence after considering everything and properly balancing their diet with the adequate amount of nutrients, vitamins, etc. Avocado can easily be included in the diet of a person suffering from diabetes. You can easily make the fruit a part of your overall diabetic meal plan. Having said that, talking to your doctor and taking his or her medical advice is of utmost importance!
We hope that the above post has been helpful in making you understand the connection between diabetes and the fruit, Avocado. As is clear from the above paragraphs, the fruit is good for all the diabetes patients and should be included in the daily diet of the diabetics. Having said that, you should remember that the disease affects different individuals in a different manner and it is important to take medical guidance with regards to the quantity and quality of the fruit to be included in the diet!