Avocados Are Healthy Calories

Ripe Avocados

The avocado is frequently called the butter pear for good reason. A ripe avocado is smooth, silky and  as satisfying as butter. It also has a reputation for being almost as bad for you as butter is.

Avocados Calories

I do not know how many times I have heard “I can’t believe you eat avocados; they are so high in calories (or fat)!” Actually, when avocados are in season which is in the winter here in Pennsylvania, I probably eat a half of one a day. A perfectly ripe avocado is better than butter! One whole avocado is 165 calories. Does anyone eat a whole avocado? On occasion I may eat one whole half of an avocado in one sitting, but most often I have  about a quarter of one at a time.

The avocado is a fruit which actually is a berry from a tree that is native to the Caribbean, Mexico, South and Central America.  Most avocados eaten in the US now are grown in Florida and California.

Avocado Nutritional Information

The nutritional advantage to eating avocados far out weights the calories and fat.  Your body  needs fats to stay healthy and avocados have the fats that we should be seeking out.  When you look at the nutritional information, avocados have the good, monounsaturated fats in them. The total fat content of a WHOLE avocado is 14.66 grams. Butter has 11-12 grams per tablespoon.   What makes avocados so good for you though is that 9.80 grams of the fat is monounsaturated fat and 2 grams are polyunsaturated. This leaves less than 1.75 grams of saturated fat. Butter is almost totally reversed with three-quarters  of the fat being saturated fats.  In addition to the good fats, other nutrients found in avocados include substantial amounts of magnesium, calcium, phosphorus ,  potassium, iron, and a wide variety of B vitamins.

Avocados Health Benefits

Avocados may be high in fat compared to other berries, or vegetables as we think of them, but  they are the good fats! Studies have shown that a diet high in avocado will reduce blood serum cholesterol levels.  Some studies have gone so  far as to report a 17% decrease in total serum cholesterol levels in 7-10 day tests.  The same studies have also showed a 22% decrease in both LDL (bad cholesterol) and triglyceride levels and 11% increase in HDL (good cholesterol) levels.*

The relatively low carb addition to your diet is also a good fiber source. Stop giving avocados the bad rap. Make avocados a part of your healthy diet program and dd them to your meal plans.  Enjoy the pleasures of a rich good-for-you  food.

Eat Avocados For Your Health

It is easy to incorporate avocados into your everyday  diet and improve your health.  You do not have to eat a whole one.  Just incorporate them into a wide variety of dishes in almost any meal.

• Spread them on your toast
• Add them to salad
• Cut one in half and fill the hole with a low fat salad dressing and just eat it
• Chop and toss with prepared salsa and serve over fish or chicken
• Sprinkle it over cream or bisque soups (I love it chopped into tomato soup.)
• Make guacamole
• Stir into your stir-fry

Avocados ripen after picking so buy one that is slightly soft and then allow it to ripen at room temperature until it is soft when pressed with the flat of your thumb.  It is almost like picking a ripe peach.

Recipe For Easy Avocado Guacamole

We frequently buy guacamole in the prepared section of the grocery store, but it is easy to make.  Just peel and cube the avocados, then mash with the following ingredients  and allow to sit for an hour or so before serving with tortillas, celery or any dipper.

2 ripe avocados
½ cup onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
1 ripe tomato, chopped
1 lime, juiced
salt and pepper to taste

*National Institutes of Health, Office of  Dietary Supplements

Flax Seed Adds Essential Fats To Diet

Flax Seeds High In Essential Omega-3 Fats

The health benefits of flax seeds were well known to many long lost eras. Flax was popular for medicinal purposes during the era of the Roman empire. Hippocrates, the Greek physician born in 460 BC praised flax for its medicinal value, yet by the 19th century flax had been demoted to a commodity used to make paint and linens, and to roll cigarettes. Today, flax is returning to popularity, due to the “new” research on the seeds that show a very highly concentrated source of protein, soluble fiber and essential omega 3 fats.

Flax High Omega 3 Fats

Omega 3 fats are those found in fish oils and are essential or necessary to our body’s metabolism because we are not capable of manufacturing these essential fats or nutrients. Anyone who attempts to eliminate all fats from her or his diet is only sabotaging the body’s ability to maintain an ideal weight and immune system.  All healthy diets include good fats.

Add Flax To Your Diet

Omega-3 fats and other essential fats allow your body to perform all the duties necessary to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Although flax seed is rarely eaten alone, it is easy to add to other food items.

• Add ground flax seed as a topping to yogurt, cereal or salads
• Many cereals have flax seed incorporated into them-check the ingredient lists
• If you make homemade granola, add some ground flax seeds into it
• Flax oil can be mixed into baked recipes like breads or cakes
• Mix flax oil with your salad dressings
• Stir flax oil into cottage cheese or even a portion of yogurt
• Sprinkle ground flax seeds over cooked vegetables

Flax Seed Needs Refrigerated

Your flax oil and seed need to be refrigerated to maintain freshness. Actually, fresh seeds store well in the freezer. Grind seeds prior to eating so that you get all the benefits from them. Grind only the amount you need as the seeds lose nutritional value quickly after grinding. If purchasing pre-ground seeds, get a small amount at a time and be sure to store them in the freezer.

Fats Are Good For You!

Teach Kids To Eat Right Fats Means Lifelong Health

It is important to teach your children from a young age to eat healthy fats. Starting as young as possible, show your kids an appreciation of the healthy fats.  The healthy fats, the fats that will ensure good health, are in fish, nuts, seeds, and plant oils.  By eating a little less meat and avoiding the saturated fats and trans fats which are in most processed foods, fast foods and junk foods - your children will lower their total fat calories and enjoy more of the benefits that healthy fats have to offer. As your children get older, the exposure to these foods will show up in the choices they make their entire lives.  It takes 14 exposures to a new food for a child to be willing to try it, so start when they are young and you will impact their whole life.

A study published in the American Heart Association’s journal of August 2007 focused on more than one thousand children in Finland who were followed from the age of 7 months through age 14.  The researchers found that children who were taught to focus on the healthy fats in fish, nuts, seeds, and plants had slightly lower cholesterol levels compared to children who ate a “bad fat” diet by the time they reached the age of 14.  This is good news, and the real important piece of this is that with the habit of eating the right foods, focusing on the good foods, they will be able to maintain good cholesterol levels into adulthood.  Good fats keep cholesterol in check!

Good Fat VS Bad Fat

Check the ingredients list of all your processed food purchases. The healthy fats are listed as unsaturated fats, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated.  The unhealthy fats are saturated fats and trans fats.  With better fat-focus, your children will live a longer and happier life! All natural diets include good fats.

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