Without doubt, to stay healthy, much attention should be paid to diet. Picking out the right diet can really be a challenging situation for anyone, let alone people with health conditions that are sensitive to food. Potato nutrition has been gaining traction of researchers from various academic and food institutions, and they have found that it has great nutritional benefits to stay healthy. However, considering the natural sweetness of potatoes, people have always questioned if they are healthy or should be avoided by those with diabetes.
What you should know about potatoes and diabetics
Potatoes are categorized as healthy foods for almost everyone, being characterized as a vegetable with nutritional vitamins. Hence, it could be a really great choice of food for diabetics. However, there are other things to be considered, including the glycemic index and glycemic load.
Like any carb-contained food, potatoes can increase the sugar level in the blood, but that would be if poorly managed. As you might have known, potatoes have different ways whereby they are cooked. Now, depending on how prepared, the saturated fat level and the carb content can be higher than usual.
A cup of raw potato contains 11.8g of carb, a boiled cup of potatoes contains about 15.7g, while a deep-fried batch contains about 36.5g. And the recommended carb intake, by gram, recommended for a diabetic patient is a 20g minimum low per day and 150g high. So, if properly managed, potatoes can be a healthy choice for a diabetic person.
Glycemic index (GI) and glycemic loads (GL) are vital factors that would also say if potato nutrients are healthy for a diabetic, however, these values are relative. The GI and GL of potatoes can vary by type and cooked means. The cumulative GI or GL would also depend on the quantity consumed per day. GI and GL pf potatoes can be lowered by cooking them with the skin, which would serve as a dietary fiber to be the main flesh. When cooked with lemon juice or vinegar, or mixed with other protein diets, it reduces the effect of sugar level in the body.
Why People may want to avoid potatoes:
There is no real reason for diabetics to abstain from potatoes, except they do not know how to monitor their consumption rate. To solve that challenge, though, they might want to buy potatoes in specific gram measures for individual consumption.
Moreover, people with severe diabetes may avoid eating potatoes cooked via deep frying, oven baking, and microwaving.
The best type of potatoes for diabetes:
Sweet potatoes are usually the best and most suggested potatoes for a diabetic patient. It is rich in fiber, calcium, and vitamins. Carisma potatoes can make a good low GI choice, too.
