Table of Contents
People have been on deliberations whether eating avocado is good or bad for your health, irrespective of whether you have been diagnosed for diabetes or not. But, this is just a myth.
Avocado, agreed, is a food with high amounts of fat. But this fat is ‘good’ fat, which helps the body than damages it.
Off-late, people have realized the nutritional benefits of including avocado in their diet plans, shattering the myth that eating fatty foods will make you fat.
Can Diabetics Eat Avocado?
Avocado is a superfood that is beneficial to people with and without diabetes alike.
When you have diabetes, your primary concern is to watch out for your carbohydrates intake. Carbohydrates break down into sugars, and these sugars are not right for your blood sugar levels.
Avocado contains a minuscule amount of carbohydrates. These carbohydrates are majorly in the form of fiber and not starch and sugar. Including fiber in their diet can prove beneficial to people having diabetes in controlling their sugar levels.
Avocado is one of the fruits that will not affect your blood sugar even if you eat an entire avocado or just half of it.
4 Benefits of Avocado
Including avocado can be a game-changer for someone who has diabetes. Benefits of avocado for a diabetes person are-
- Rich Source of Fiber- Avocado is rich in fibers. A majority of carbs in avocado are in the form of fiber, making it easy for a person to digest and assimilate in the body.
Doctors often suggest a high-fiber diet to a person having Type 2 diabetes as it has proven to reduce the blood sugar levels (fasting).
2. Helps in Weight Loss- Watching that weight and blood sugar level is crucial for a person having diabetes. It is one of the most important ways to ensure that they have a healthy lifestyle.
Avocado contains healthy fats. Consuming these healthy fats keeps you from getting hungry now and then. It reduces the chances of over-snacking and gaining those extra calories.
3. High Monounsaturated Fats- An single avocado contains 71% monounsaturated fats, 16% saturated fats, and 12% polyunsaturated fats.
High monounsaturated fats can help improve insulin sensitivity. In other words, it can help your body to use insulin effectively.
Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats help in alleviating good cholesterol and reducing bad cholesterol. High levels of bad cholesterol are also causes of various heart diseases.
4. Maintains Blood Sugar- Avocados have a low content of carbohydrates. Because of this low concentration of carbohydrates, avocado does not massively affect or cause fluctuations in the blood sugar level.
Some FAQs About Avocado and Diabetes
Avocado is known as one of the best foods for people who have diabetes. Have a look at some of the frequently asked questions about avocado and diabetes–
Do Avocados Raise Blood Sugar?
No, not at all. Avocados contain quite a negligible amount of carbohydrates. When it comes to increasing blood sugars, carbs are the main culprits.
Avocado also contains a large number of fibers, but these fibers do not spike blood sugar levels either as other high-fiber food items do.
Is Avocado Good for Gestational Diabetes?
Avocado has proven to be useful for people with all kinds of diabetes, be it Type 1, Type 2, or even gestational diabetes.
The high content of fiber and monounsaturated fats along with lower content of carbohydrates that break down into sugar makes avocado ideal for people having diabetes.
Is there a lot of Sugar in Avocado?
The sugar levels in avocado are low. Avocado is rich in fibers and fats.
According to the findings of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), 150 grams of avocado contains around 240 calories with 12.79 grams of carbohydrates and less than 1 gram of sugar. 10.1 grams are fiber, and about 22 grams are fat.
Is Avocado Oil Good for Diabetics?
Yes, avocado oil is beneficial for people having diabetes, specifically Type 2 diabetes.
The antioxidants that are existent in avocado oil help in reducing the risk of heart diseases in people with Type 2 diabetes.
How much Avocado should a Diabetic eat?
Before adding or reducing anything from their diet, as a thumb rule, people diagnosed with diabetes should consult their doctors or dieticians.
Since avocados are nutritious food benefitting a diabetes person in numerous ways, the intake of avocados needs monitoring. It depends on person-to-person how much to eat.
You can either have half an avocado or eat an entire one as long as it does not affect your blood sugar level.
Summary
Avocado has many benefits when you have diabetes and include them in your daily diet.
Avocado as a whole can be useful for people having Type 1, Type 2, or gestational diabetes. Not just the fruit, but even the leaves and avocado oil can help in combating diabetes.
With the low concentration of carbohydrates and sugars along with a high concentration of fats and fibers, avocado helps in stabilizing blood sugar levels in a diabetic person.
Avocado oil is rich in antioxidants and is useful in reducing the risk of chronic heart diseases, mainly in people with Type 2 diabetes.
There is an interesting correlation between avocado leaves and diabetes.
Avocado leaf extract helps in reducing high blood sugar (fasting). However, there is no clear information about the compound that exists in avocado leaves because of limited research conducted on this matter.
Avocados contain monounsaturated fats that help in improving insulin sensitivity. People with insulin sensitivity can benefit from eating avocados.
A diabetic person can try out various avocado recipes for diabetics. Or can add some avocado slices to their salads. Or add avocado to the smoothie they have for breakfast.
Avocado oil is drizzled onto salads, and the leaves of avocado are edible too. Due to the versatility of the fruit, avocado is eaten as a snack, appetizer, and dessert.
To sum it up, avocado is a versatile food item for diabetics and non-diabetics alike. People include this wonder fruit in their diet to help them reduce weight. And people with diabetes may add avocados to their diet to maintain their blood sugar levels.