Common Mistakes You Are Making With Avocado
Avocado is a favorite green fruit for many—it tastes great in guacamole, on toast or flatbread, in grain bowls, salads, soups, and even ice cream. Plus, it’s trendy, so it’s a no-brainer that you’ll want to incorporate it into your diet as much as possible.
And it’s also nutritious, with healthy fats to improve heart health and fill you up faster, as well as magnesium to repair muscle damage and give you that sense of calm. Even better, avocados also have fiber and protein in addition to other vitamins to keep your body stocked with good macronutrients.
Yet, as with most good things, too much can be a problem, and you wouldn’t want your avocado habit to backfire, now, would you? Here are a few mistakes you might be making when enjoying avocado, so take note!
You’re Eating Too Much!
Avocado is highly nutritious but it’s also high in calories and fat, so you only want to stick to a serving or perhaps a bit more at a time. Especially if you’re on a high fat diet, like keto. That means ¼ or ½ of an avocado should do the trick, where you’re getting about 80-160 calories, as well as 6-12 grams of fat.
A full avocado has 322 calories and 29 grams of fat, so don’t throw that whole thing in the blender when making a smoothie. That will add to your daily intake and may take you over the top, where you may start gaining a few pounds.
You’re Not Including Bright Veggies
Certain vitamins need fat to be absorbed and readily used by the body, such as Vitamins A, D, E, and K, all of which are fat-soluble. These vitamins are needed for heart, eye and skin health, as well as blood clotting function.
For instance, pair avocado with beets, greens like spinach and kale, orange and yellow foods like carrots and bell peppers, and fish, like salmon or canned tuna, to make sure you’re maximizing absorption when consuming these vitamin-rich foods.
You’re Eating Snack Foods With It (And Too Much of Them!)
Polishing off a whole serving of guac and chips is easy to do, as you’re dunking those salty, delicious chips in one after the next without registering fullness or what’s left. Pretty soon that whole bag and the guac are gone!
Plus, you’ll likely get thirsty, since chips have sodium, which can lead to more mindless munching on saltier (and carby!) snack foods. Instead, pair that guacamole with healthier foods, like veggies or a whole grain cracker that has fiber to slow digestion and fill you up better.
You’re Eating More High Fat and High Calorie Foods with Avocado
Want peanut butter but also avocado in a smoothie? Choose one or the other. Both are high in calories and fat per serving, so you don’t need two servings in one meal. You can of course halve both to equal one serving if you like, or just choose one for this meal and then go with the other for a future recipe.
Adding filling and calorie-dense avocado to a recipe that has a list of other similar ingredients will cause the calories to skyrocket, which can lead to weight gain. Plus, that’s just lots of fat in one sitting and your body will end up storing it for later – and no one wants that.
