You’re Probably Not Eating Enough: avocado

I’m starting a new weekly feature called You’re Probably Not Eating Enough. It’s sort of self-explanatory. This week’s feature food was inspired by smartblonde’s post about avocado pudding.

Why are avocados so great? First and foremost: deliciousness. I love the flavor and texture. Secondly, the health benefits. According to WHFoods (World’s Heathiest Food, my new go-to website to find out about ingredients), avocados contain oleic acid, a monosaturated fat that may help to lower cholesterol. They’re also a good source of potassium (blood pressure regulator) and folate (nutrient important for heart health).

This is a good time to discuss the difference between good fat and bad fat. As in, there is one.

Good fats = monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats. Both types help lower LDL cholesterol (the bad kind) while increasing HDL cholesterol (the good kind). Mono and polyunsaturated fats are found in nuts, olive and other seed oils, fish and fish oils, and, of course, avocados.

Bad fats = saturated fats and trans fats (these are not so much bad as they are pure evil). Saturated fats are found in meat, dairy, eggs, some oils, and seafood. Even though some studies have shown that they raise LDL cholesterol (some say this isn’t conclusive), I’m not AS careful about sat fat as I am about trans fat. Trans fats were invented by scientists and are found in packaged and fast foods. They’re totally gross. Avoid them at all costs.

The differences in the types of fat mean you can’t just avoid fat altogether. Certain fats are good for you. In fact, you need some (good) fat to burn (body) fat. Okay, now that we’ve straightened that out, let’s go back to the avocado. Since it contains monounsaturated fat, we know that it helps lower bad cholesterol and raise good cholesterol. WHFoods says:

In one study of people with moderately high cholesterol levels, individuals who ate a diet high in avocados showed clear health improvements. After seven days on the diet that included avocados, they had significant decreases in total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol, along with an 11% increase in health promoting HDL cholesterol.

Impressive.

To get more avocado in your life, try adding it to sandwiches (you can use it instead of mayo), salads, Mexican-inspired food (obviously), or just eating it plain. I love it plain. Have a good recipe with avocado? Lemme know.