With the warm summer upon us and lots of fresh, colorful produce coming into the season, it’s a great time to focus on all the delicious ways to add more fruits and vegetables to meals, snacks, and even desserts!
Did you know that eating more fruits and vegetables is one of the easiest ways to eat less sodium? It works because you’re replacing some of the salty, highly processed foods that are commonly consumed with naturally sodium-free ones. All plain fruits and vegetables are good for you. But avocados are one of my favorites because they also provide “good” fats.
Our bodies need fats to absorb certain fat-soluble nutrients, like vitamins A, D, E and K. But saturated fat can raise LDL cholesterol levels and increase risk of developing heart disease and stroke. So it’s important not to eat too much of it. Most of the fat in avocados (about 75%) is unsaturated good fat (primarily monounsaturated and some polyunsaturated), which makes them a great substitute for foods higher in saturated fat.
Smarter snacking
When avocados are the go-to choice for a snack, the chance for picking other poor choices goes down. One of my patients who often snacked on whatever was in the office tried eating 1⁄3 of an avocado for her daily snack, instead of the chips or candy usually available. She started losing weight, and with that had a decrease in her blood pressure.
Research-backed benefits
A new analysis of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES 2001–2012, 27,684 U.S. adults ages 19 years and older) data, compared avocado consumers to non-consumers and found that consuming avocados may be associated with an overall better diet, higher intake of essential nutrients, lower body weight, lower Body Mass Index (BMI) and smaller waist circumference.[1] Although the findings don’t show causation, they suggest that avocados can be recommended as part of a healthy diet.
See published study here.
The avocado nutrition facts
- Avocados provide about 20 essential nutrients.
- They’re a good source of fiber, folate, vitamin K and pantothenic acid (vitamin B5).
- They provide potassium (6% DV), which can help lessen the effects of sodium on the body.
- Avocados do not contain any sodium, sugar, cholesterol or trans fat.
- One serving (about one-third of a medium avocado) provides 6 grams of unsaturated fats (good fat) but just 1 gram of saturated fat, and 80 calories.
- Avocados fit into a variety of healthy eating patterns such as those recommended by the American Heart Association and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
Love One Today® compensates the experts
1O’Neil, C.E., T.A. Nicklas, V.L. Fulgoni. Avocado Consumption by Adults is Associated with Better Nutrient Intake, Diet Quality, and Some Measures of Adiposity: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2001–2012. Internal Medicine Reviews 2017.
