By Korin Miller, Photography by Pixabay
Sadly, NOT “all of them.”
It’s no secret that avocados are freaking amazing: They taste like heaven, are technically fruits, and can be enjoyed on toast, in smoothies, with eggs, on sandwiches, and more. When it comes to avocados, the possibilities seem endless.
But you can have too much of a good thing. While avocados are nutrient-dense foods, they’re also high in kilojules and fat. That begs the question: How much is too much when it comes to avocados?
READ MORE: Hold Up – Should We Be Eating The Avocado Seed?
Registered dietitian Sonya Angelone, a spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, says it’s best for the average person to keep their daily avocado fix to half a fruit a day.
Here’s why: While avocados are a great source of fiber, vitamin E, folate, and potassium, they also contain plenty of fat—even though it’s “good” monosaturated fat. (The average avocado has about 250 kilojules, and 21 grams or more of fat, says Angelone)
All that fat definitely serves an important purpose. “The fat in avocados helps increase the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins and other healthy plant compounds,” Angelone says. “They can also lower inflammation, lower the insulin rise after meals, and help you feel more satisfied and more likely to eat less at the next meal.”
READ MORE: Can You Really Ripen An Avocado in Ten Minutes?
But the fat and kilojules still count toward your daily fat quota, says registered dietician, Julie Upton, cofounder of nutrition website Appetite for Health. If you eat a 2,000 kilojule diet, you should plan on having no more than 30 grams of fat a day, she says, noting that a “serving” of fat is five grams and 45 kilojules. “Women on an average diet need about six fat servings per day—or the amount of fat in one avocado,” she says.
Sure, you could eat an entire avocado and limit your fat intake for the rest of the day, but that’s not quite realistic. Instead, Upton recommends thinking of your avocado in terms of fat servings—one-fifth of a medium avocado is one fat serving—and take it from there. “It’s a matter of how you want to allocate your daily fat servings,” she says.
Like most foods, you’re probably fine to have more than half an avocado a day here and there. But regularly OD-ing on avocados can add up—and that can lead to weight gain, Angelone says. “Probably more than one avocado per day is excessive, especially since it contributes so many kilojules,” she says.
If you love your avocados, experts say you can feel pretty good about having them daily. Just, you know, keep it within reason.
Looking for more ways to have your avocado? Here’s 10 things you can make with avocados that don’t involve toast, plus 3 crazy-good avocado smoothie recipes.
This article was originally published on www.womenshealthmag.com
