The Hass Avocado Board Launches Marketing Campaign During National Diabetes Awareness Month
HAB supports National Diabetes Awareness Month with a robust awareness campaign that focuses on how eating a healthy diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables, like fresh avocados, can help decrease the risk of diabetes or help manage diabetes successfully.
Diabetes is the 7th leading cause of death in the United States, which is why every November the community comes together to bring attention to diabetes and its impact on millions of people in the U.S. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 122 million Americans are living with diabetes (34.2 million) or prediabetes (88 million).
Type 2 diabetes, which accounts for approximately 90% to 95% of all diagnosed cases of diabetes, is one of HAB’s strategic health pillars, and so we have been communicating the benefits of avocados for type 2 diabetes management since the inception of Love One Today® in 2013.
HAB has invested millions of dollars on its nutrition research program to better understand the unique benefits of eating avocados on human health and nutrition, as well as to communicate them to health professionals and consumers. There are several ways avocados can play a role in combating diabetes. The American Diabetes Association recommends limiting added sugar, saturated fats and adding good fats, like the naturally good fats found in avocado. Healthy and versatile, avocados are sugar, sodium and cholesterol-free and a good source of fiber. A serving of avocado contains 4 grams of carbohydrates. In fact, the carbohydrates found in avocado is 79% fiber. Fiber slows down the absorption of sugar into the blood stream.
For this year’s awareness campaign, HAB plans to educate health professionals, work with credible social media influencers and spread creative visual and strategic media placements to raise awareness among general and Hispanic market audiences.
As part of the continuing education (CE) program for health professionals, they can earn a CE unit through our podcast highlighting HAB diabetes-focused research. The clinical study supported by the Avocado Nutrition Center investigated 31 overweight or obese adults and how replacing carbohydrates with avocado in a breakfast meal affected their glucose and insulin levels. The research found that including a half or a whole avocado at breakfast decreased the participants’ glucose and insulin when compared to the control breakfast. Although conclusions cannot be generalized to all populations, the findings align with a growing body of evidence supporting avocados as beneficial for a type 2 diabetes diet.
Our latest handout, The Dish on Avocados and Type 2 Diabetes is created with health professionals in mind where they can learn the latest research, nutrition tips and recipe inspiration all in one place. They can download free educational material on type 2 diabetes at LoveOneToday.com.
While supplies last, health professionals are invited to request free magnets in English or Spanish of the Diabetes Plate Method, a meal planning tool to remind clients to prioritize non-starchy vegetables and fruits, like avocado, to keep blood sugar levels within target range. Working with influencers to spread the word, general and Hispanic market consumers can obtain this visual reminder of the Plate Method by downloading it from LoveOneToday.com or SaboreaUnoHoy.com and post it on their fridge.
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Bring your passion for the avocado industry’s growth to the Hass Avocado Board as a new board member and help shape the future of our industry.
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We created the Avocado Sustainability website, which was launched in October of 2023. The site includes over ninety sustainability studies, which are avocado centric in their content.
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