Just a few reasons to include avocados in your diet!

I believe in eating a healthy fat at every meal and avocados is one of my favorites! Avocados often are looked at as an unhealthy choice in the fruit and vegetable world but I’m here to tell you it’s a healthy choice. I hear ‘smack talk’ about avocados all the time!  “I love avocados, too bad they are not good for us!” or “I don’t eat Avocados because they contain way too much fat” and this is my favorite, “Carol, I can’t believe you eat things like guacamole and stay so slim!”

Did you know that you must eat fat, to lose fat? Of course, it must be the right type of fat! Fats like avocados, butter, coconuts, meats, fish, nuts, seeds and olives are not only delicious, they provide essential benefits to help your body function properly, improver your vital immune system, aid in heart disease, reduces inflammation, and helps balance your hormones. Without adequate amounts of dietary fat, you can become deficient in many important vitamins and minerals as they are not absorbed into our system. And we need the fat in order to utilize the protein. Without fats, the important nutrients in your other foods will not be absorbed and will be lost. It’s why I am not a fan of low fat diets.

I clearly went off on my little fat sermon – one I preach often – now where was I? Oh yes, avocados! These fruits are full of heart-healthy, monounsaturated fat and one of my favorite healthy fats for weight loss. Avocados contain over 20 vitamins including vitamin E which is something we need in order to keep burning fat all day long. When you combine other fat burning foods with avocado, you can improve your nutrient absorption up to 400%! Two tablespoons of avocado has just 50 calories and 4.5 grams of fat, 4 grams of which are unsaturated.

So go ahead! Eat it right from the skin or mix it up! The possibilities are endless!

  • Spread some on your bagel then top with a fried egg
  • Slice some and toss on your salad
  • Make a Creamy Avocado salad dressing
  • Make Holy Heathy Guacamole and have it with these healthy chips
  • Avocado makes for a great substitute for mayonnaise
  • Slice it up and add to a turkey sandwich
  • Mixed in with tuna for a salad or sandwich
  • Mix in Black Bean Soup
  • Make a salsa – chopped avocado, black beans, corn and chopped onion

If you don’t eat the whole fruit, you can store it for later. To keep fresh longer, slice it and leave the seed in half of it. Use what you need then place the pieces back together and wrap tightly in saran wrap. The browning of the avocado due to oxygen so try and keep the air out. I do this method and it’s easy and the extra fruit lasts for days. You can also sprinkle with lemon, if needed.