Still Afraid of the Fats in Avocado? Read This

Guacamole is one of the most identified foods with this holiday. And there would be no guac without avocado. It’s unfortunate that some people don’t partake in avocado, simply because of the outdated notion that it’s full of fat.

Yes, it’s true, avocados are high in fat!  But it is good fat, and your body will thank you for it. A medium sized Haas avocado weighs between 4-5 ounces. An avocado serving is considered 1 ounce, so you’ll get about 4 servings from a single avocado.

A one ounce serving of avocado has is about 50 calories.

It contains 4.5 grams of fat, 2.5 grams of carbs, of which 2 are fiber, and less than 1 gram of protein.  So if you do the math, about 40 of the calories in avocados come from fat.

Here’s the important thing to know about fat in avocado: of the 4.5 grams, only half a gram is saturated fat. The rest are “heart healthy” fats, with 3 grams of monounsaturated fats, and the rest polyunsaturated.

When thinking about your fat intake, the daily recommended amounts is 65 grams of fat, of which no more than 20 grams are saturated. That would be about 3 whole avocados!

Ounce per ounce: Avocado has 4.5g of fat, salmon 2g, chicken breast 1g, lean beef steak 2g, almonds 14g.

Ounce per ounce: Avocado has 0.5g of saturated fat, salmon 0.25g, chicken breast 0.3g, lean beef steak 0.8g, almonds 1g.

Bottom line: Fear not the fats in avocados. Add it to your salads, as a mayonnaise replacement in sandwiches, or use it for guacamole dip.