Jicama is a fruit that is shaped like a turnip. It is extremely nutritious and provides a lot of health benefits to all those who consume it on a regular basis. However, you have to be extremely careful while you are a patient of diabetes and need to think twice before including anything in your diet.

In this article, let us understand the relationship between diabetes and jicama.

What is Jicama?

Not many people know about jicama or how does it look like, taste like. This is a common fruit used in salads in different parts of the world, particularly in Indonesia. The fruit has its origin in parts of the Mexican region and has a round shape much like the one you have seen in turnips.

Nutritional Profile Of Jicama

Jicama is known to be a rich source of several nutrients and vitamins that are required by the body on a daily basis. The following is the nutritional profile of the food item:

• The food does not contain any type of saturated fat or trans fat whatsoever
• Per serving of the fruit will give you around 4 milligrams of sodium
• The total concentration of carbohydrates that are present in the fruit is around 9 grams. Of this, around 5 grams is the much-needed dietary fiber
• You will get around 1 gram of protein in every per unit serving of the fruit

In the light of the above nutritional facts of jicama, let us understand the various advantages that you can get from eating the fruit if you are someone who happens to suffer from diabetes.

Advantages of Jicama for Diabetes Patients

Following are some of the advantages that Jicama has for all the diabetes patients:

• It is a rich source of vitamin C. vitamin C is very good for the diabetes patients. It acts as an antioxidant and can prevent a number of complications that diabetes patients are usually known to face.
• Potassium present in the jicama goes a long way in building up the immunity system of the body. Having a good immune system is very important as diabetes is an autoimmune disease and those suffering from the disease have low immunity.
• The jicama plant is also a rich source of fiber. Fiber, in turn, plays a very significant effect in helping to deal with some of the complications that diabetes is known to bring about in the patients
• Another important benefit of eating jicama is derived from the fact that the fiber present in the fruit contains oligo fructose inulin. A lot of benefits can be derived from this compound itself. Some of its benefits include the following:
• The compound goes a long way in promoting the bone health of the body
• Another important benefit is that due to this compound, the body gets a lot of good bacteria. The good bacteria are important to boost the much-needed immunity system of the body
• The glycemic index is very low for this food item. The glycemic index, as we know, is an important determination as to how the food is digested and how it causes an increase in the levels of blood glucose in the body.Patients who have diabetes are often recommended to eat food items that have a low value of glycemic index.
• All important vitamins such as folates, riboflavin, amongst others present in jicama go a long way in helping to promote good health of the patients
• Eating the food regularly further helps in preventing the risks of contracting cardiovascular diseases which is really common in all the diabetes patients

How to Choose a Good Jicama?

Jicama is available in a number of forms in the market. Some of the best ways of looking for the best Jicama is as follows:

Jicama is best if it is firm and round. It should be stored in a cool place that is not wet. When you have cut through the fruit, it is better if the same is kept inside the fridge. Else, it will get spoiled.

How to Include Jicama in Your Diet?

There are a number of ways in which this fruit can be included in the diet. Some of the ways include the following:

• Make it a part of your fruit salad just like you do in case of other fruits like oranges, apples, bananas, amongst others
• You can make soups out of it
• The fruit can be made a part of the chicken and other types of seafood as well
• You can just cut the fruit and add a little of salt, lime juice, and red chili powder to make it flavorsome

Thus, you can eat jicama if you are a diabetes patient. However, you need to remember that you should consult your doctor before taking the fruit and should in no way go overboard in consuming the same!