One of the biggest issues and misconceptions your clients with diabetes may raise is that they need to eat special diabetic foods, or eliminate certain foods and nutrients from the diet—especially dietary fats—in order to lose weight, improve health and manage blood sugar. Yet, simply following a healthy diet and eating pattern, like what is recommended by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA), can be appropriate for this population.
As health professionals, it’s important you help your clients understand the beneficial role good fats can play within a diabetes diet. Among several potential benefits, good fats can help enhance nutrient absorption, and do not raise LDL cholesterol levels.
Good fats include:
- Monounsaturated fats (MUFAs)
- Polyunsaturated fats (PUFAs)
- Omega-3 fatty acids
- Omega-6 fatty acids
Good fats are predominantly found in:
- Fresh avocados
- Vegetable oils
- Nuts and seeds
Fats to limit include:
- Saturated fats
- Trans fats
Fats to limit are predominantly found in:
- Processed meats or other cuts with higher amounts of saturated fat
- Baked goods and foods that contain partially hydrogenated oils
To help your clients build a healthy diabetes-friendly meal plan, try following the recommendations from the DGA. The DGA recommends replacing saturated and trans fats with small amounts of oils—fats with a high percentage of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats—where possible and staying within calorie needs, rather than adding oil to the diet. Oils are naturally present in foods such as avocados, olives, nuts and seafood.
For instance, substituting a food containing mostly saturated fat on a sandwich with one serving of sliced avocado (1/3 avocado) can help an individual achieve the major dietary goal of reducing the amount of saturated fat in their diet. Avocados are cholesterol and sodium free and more than 75 percent of the fruit’s fat content is unsaturated, making them a great choice to include as part of a balanced meal or snack. In fact, the Hass Avocado Board is supporting research to improve understanding of the unique positive benefits of avocados to human health and nutrition. Clinical studies are currently underway to investigate avocados’ potential positive role in weight management and diabetes.
Science Snapshot
In a randomized, double-blind, crossover feeding study, 42 adults with elevated triglycerides completed two 3-week diets: one including a daily Hass avocado and a matched control diet. The avocado diet lowered non-HDL (“bad”) cholesterol by about 5%, VLDL cholesterol by about 9%, and triglycerides by about 17%.
In a randomized crossover study of 27 adults with prediabetes, researchers compared the effects of three evening snacks: whole avocado, a low-fat control, and a macronutrient-matched processed snack. The study found that while glucose, insulin, and inflammation markers were unchanged, post-breakfast triglycerides were lower 180 minutes after the avocado snack.
These studies were funded by the Avocado Nutrition Center. The results cannot be generalized to larger, more diverse populations.
