Is Avocado Good For You?

Over the years many people have come to fear avocados – I hear it all the time…”Oh no I don’t eat avocados, they have way too much fat”!

The fear we have of fat, it’s everywhere. It largely comes from the weight loss/ low fat industry pushing us toward low fat diets.

You see, the common thinking is that if we eat fat, we’ll end up getting fat, get high cholesterol and end up with heart disease. But this is a completely false dietary myth, which means you’ve been avoiding avocado for absolutely no reason at all!

There are tons of diet myths out there, things we all believe are true, but they’re actually false. We go about our merry ways believing that public health or big organizations have our best interests at heart so surely the info they give is right? Right?

Well not exactly. Unfortunately food companies are at the head driving our food choices. Our entire environment is filled with foods we shouldn’t really be eating, but we eat tons of them – sugar is one of them and look at the troubles it’s causing us – obesity, diabetes, heart disease and more.

So foods like our wonderfully natural avocado have been wrongly victimized.

All I’m sayin is eat avocado – they are one of the healthiest foods you can eat!

The Fat In Avocado Is Heart Healthy

The fat found in avocado is 71% monounsaturated fat, 13% polyunsaturated, and 16% saturated fat.

Monounsaturated fats provide us with valuable heart healthy benefits:

Eating a diet rich in monounsaturated fat from avocados helps to lower cholesterol and has a beneficial influence on glycemic control in people with type 2 diabetes – that means it can help those of us without diabetes too.
Even after 7 days of eating a high avocado diet, total cholesterol level has been shown to decrease by 17% in hypercholesterolemia patients, 22% decrease in LDL and triglycerides, and an 11% increase in HDL (good) cholesterol.
“High-monounsaturated-fat diets reduce fasting plasma triacylglycerol and VLDL-cholesterol concentrations by 19% and 22%, respectively, and cause a modest increase in HDL-cholesterol concentrations without adversely affecting LDL-cholesterol concentrations” Source
Being that monounsaturated fats have such a great impact on cholesterol levels, that means they are great for cardiovascular health – funny, we always thought fat was bad for cholesterol…
The high levels of potassium also help promote good blood pressure control
Avocados have the highest amount of fat-soluble antioxidants of all fruits and vegetables, and it’s believed these reduce the oxidized LDL known to increase risk of plaque and stroke

All and all this equals a fruit that is fabulous for cardiovascular health.

Avocado Promotes Weight Loss NOT Weight Gain

Let’s just bust the low fat myth shall we, because eating healthy fats does not make you fat. In fact, eating avocados can help improve your weight loss results.

Eating avocado does not negatively affect weight loss or cardiovascular health, and it’s been shown that people who regularly consume avocados have lower body weight, BMI, and waist circumference.
Avocados are low in sugar but the type of sugars found in them (D-mannoheptulose) helps support weight management.
The combination of fiber and fat increases satiety (the feeling of being full) and therefore helps to decrease appetite and snacking.

So are you convinced that avocados are okay to eat?

Well I hope so but just in case, let’s take a look at the nutrition facts.

Avocado Nutrition Facts

As you can see, avocado is FULL of valuable vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber.

So Is Avocado Good For You?

Absolutely YES!

The average person eats 1/2 an avocado at one sitting and that’s perfectly fine but if you were to eat a whole avocado that would be fine too.

Go ahead and enjoy avocados – they are a very healthy food!

10 Ideas For Eating More Avocado In Your Diet

Top your gluten free toast with avocado and tomato
Place some avocado slices inside a veggie filled omelet for that extra fill effect
Mash some avocado with a small tin of tuna, a pinch of salt and pepper, and a dash of balsamic vinegar for an instant energy boosting salad
Make a guacamole and dip in carrot sticks, celery, or crackers
Scoop out a little of the avocado, just enough to make room for a cracked egg. Crack the egg in the middle then bake it for a delicious breakfast
Blend some avocado, a teaspoon thyme, a little olive oil, and a dash of red wine vinegar together for a dressing that can be used on meat patties, chicken, or fish
Just grab a spoon and eat the avocado as it is
Use avocado as the base of a chocolate mousse and enjoy a healthy dessert
Serve some tender pan fried chicken pieces topped with avocado slices and a simple side salad for a perfectly balanced meal
Throw some slices on top of salads, steamed veggies, or stir fry’s