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Are avocados healthy?
Underdog
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Registered User regular
My mum got her physical recently and it wasn't great news. High blood sugar as well as cholesterol. She's been eating avocados in place of butter on her toast but she's worried because they seem so creamy that they might not be great healthwise. I've googled around a bit and most signs seem to point to them being good for the body but I can't really interpret some of the data. So are they a good food choice for my mom? Can she eat too much? She seems to go through about 1 a week right now.
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One avocado a week? I wouldn't worry about it.
EDIT: From a random Google search...
"Avocados are indeed high in fat, but they're high in monounsaturated fat, the good fat, the kind of fat that may actually help lower blood cholesterol levels. And as you rightly said, avocados contain no cholesterol — no plant foods do."
https://twitter.com/Hooraydiation
So as a replacement for butter, definitely an improvement. As a replacement for oatmeal or an apple, probably not as a good choice.
They should be fine with her just keep in mind they have a lot of calories.
Wud yoo laek to lern aboot meatz? Look here!
toast is probably worse for her than avocados
Amen.
Wud yoo laek to lern aboot meatz? Look here!
https://twitter.com/Hooraydiation
Sorry, not true.
You need some fat, and avocado is less unhealthy than many alternative fats, but generally speaking fat is the worst thing you can eat even if it is monounsaturated.
To put in perspective, one avocado has 45% D.V. of fat, and 21% D.V. of saturated fat. Of the sources of fat out there, they're not bad. Problem is that on top of everything else she eats they're probably a significant source of fat in her diet.
We have found perhaps the biggest culprit for the drastic change. Cheese. She was eating those single sliced processed cheeses for like 2 months now because she thought she could get some more calcium (she's already taking calcium pills and these other pills to prevent osteperosis). Otherwise she consumes a lot of green veggies (go Chinese diet), only eats a mixture of brown/wild rice. Oatmeal and fruit or whole wheat toast and avocado are her usual breakfast. Outside of her lunch which I don't really get to see (I know it's never a lot, she never eats too much in a single meal), she eats pretty healthy. So given that does 1 avocado a week sound like a lot?
I'm gonna get her to ask her doctor about the avocados and about her diet in general.
I can't seriously imagine eating a bit of avocado sometimes is going to make any difference to one's blood sugar levels or cholesterol levels.
Go try and figure out if a glass of wine is good for you.
You will never, ever be so hopeful again.
Btw, leafy green vegetables, especially bok choy, are an excellent source of calcium. Oats too. And tofu, if she eats that. Fortified OJ is probably healthier than cheese if she's still having trouble hitting the RDA.
(Off-topic: How does she keep the avocado fresh and green for tomorrow's toast after it's cut open?)
The trick I use is to ensure that the seed is touching the flesh when you cut it in half. It's similar to the technique when making guacamole. Essentially the seed inhibits the oxidation that normally occurs with the flesh and will allow it last a bit longer.
Wud yoo laek to lern aboot meatz? Look here!
what is so bad about fat
The OJ wouldn't be good for her blood sugar though right? Fruit juices still have a lot of sugar in them. Leafy green veg are pretty much a staple in the household. Maybe once or twice a week we'll have a veg that doesn't qualify (i.e. cauliflower, cabbage, "sui choy"). We do tofu maybe once a week. She's also gotten into making soya bean drink from scratch which is essentially soya beans blended with water and then cooked. She takes her unsweetened.
As for avocado storage, what she usually does is she just carves a lengthwise chunk out of it and leaves the rest whole, skin and seed together. Imagine those chocolates shaped like oranges that you smash and then take a few slices out of. Like this:
http://e4rtht0ne.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/chocolate_orange.jpg
Seems like a bit of avocado in her diet won't be a bad thing and might even be a good one. Thanks guys.
This may help, but I'm pretty sure it's more of an old wife's tale. It turns brown due to an enzymatic process, so anything that slows down enzymes will inhibit the browning. Much more effective would be to soak it in an acid solution. lemon or lime juice, for example, both inhibit the discoloration. Refrigeration should also help.
For example, for 1 cup, plain pasta is like 220cal while whole wheat is 170. What's even lower calorie is not having any pasta, and replacing it with more veggies. Same with rice -- switching from white rice to brown rice is a little better, but cutting your rice portion in half with dinner will cut a lot more calories.
Is your mom overweight? I think there's a lot of research that shows that high blood sugar, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure are relatively common things from simply being overweight, as the typical diets that cause the weight gain (too many calories, including fats and non-fats) end up increasing all the "bad things" that a lot of people end up being criticized by their doctors about.
My dad is pretty fat, not in a roly-poly way but in a "dude looks like a pregnant woman" way, and he's got high cholesterol (round 240), and his diet overall is decent. He still slathers on the "extras" though like mayo, butter, and so on, so those calories (and the associated fats) end up kind of sabotaging the relatively positive things that he eats. This might be similar to your mom's problem -- a good diet overall, but generally might overeat.
Incidentally the avocado topping is probably better than the toast by itself. 1 tbsp of avocado is 25 calories; 1 piece of whole wheat toast is 80.
http://numberblog.wordpress.com/
1. Trans fats - These are probably the biggest culprit in the average American's diet when it comes to cholesterol. If you're trying to reduce cholesterol, drop your trans fats to zero. Anything that says "0g Trans Fats" has trans fats. Yes, that's right, that just means they're rounding.
2. Saturated fats - Next biggest culprit. About 30% of your calories should come from fat (with one gram of fat being about 9 calories). Of that, if you're on a cholesterol lowering diet, no more than 10% of your fat intake should be saturated fats.
3. Monounsaturated fats - These are good for you. You want them as high as possible, preferably 95%ish of your daily fat intake.
4. Omega-3 fatty acids - Very good for you, primarily come from fish. Tuna is a fantastic source of omega 3s.
5. Dietary fiber - At least 25 grams per day. A good bowl of hippie cereal in the morning with nonfat milk is a great way to get this.
6. Cholesterol - Yeah, really, doesn't affect your cholesterol much. Possibly not at all. The amount of saturated fat and trans fat you get is way more important.
As for blood sugar, the key there is to increase your intake of complex carbohydrates - fruits, vegetables, whole grains (not multi-grains, not just "wheat," but whole grains; this includes bread and brown rice), while decreasing your intake of simple carbohydrates (white bread, most fruit juices in the U.S., any sort of non-water, caloric liquid, white rice, etc.). Also, spreading your eating up throughout the day rather than eating larger meals can help to prevent spikes. So, instead of three 600-calorie meals, your mom should try one 500-calorie breakfast, and 5 250-calorie meals. This helps to normalize the blood sugar level so that it doesn't have spikes and valleys quite as much.
And finally, exercise. Your mom should probably be at least walking for at least half an hour every day. That will help with both the blood sugar and the cholesterol.
She eats like... 2 spoonfuls of rice for dinner. I don't think quantity is really the problem here. She's never really been much for eating a lot in one sitting. Or even snacking for that matter. Plus God himself couldn't get her to stop eating rice entirely and he'd have a pretty tough fight on his hands just trying to get her to go down to 1 spoon. And by spoon I mean chinese spoons. Google that if you don't know what they are.
Overweight? Yeah but not overly so. She's not in great shape but not to the point where I'd even label her roly-poly. Chubby is probably more accurate. 5ft 1, 110lbs.
The avocados do get a bit brown but because she keeps the skin on and leaves the seed in, only a really small part is actually exposed to air. And even then, I think she just eats it anyway. I don't think it changes the taste, it just doesn't look very nice.
Edit: I didn't see Thanatos's post until I posted.
About the 0 trans fat thing. I've noticed that a lot of products here (I'm in Toronto) will actually list as little as 0.1g. Does that mean I can trust a 0g label? Not that it applies to her. She doesn't eat anything pre-made in terms of meals. I will check her crackers and stuff that she keeps in the car as snacks though.
2. Now that was why I made the thread in the first place. I saw how much saturated fats were in avocados and started to wonder. Wiki lists it as being 2.13g of the 14.66g that's in avocados. Is that a yay or nay for the creamy fruit then?
Huh. I'll keep an eye out on the whole grain deal for bread now. Thought wheat was enough. Luckily our usual brand (Country Harvest) advertises as being whole grain.
Yeah I've tried to get her to do the smaller, more frequent meals thing but it's a no go. Her eating schedule is so up and down because she's jetting around the city trying to make it to appointments and chasing down clients. I'll try it again.
Now the exercise deal. She does. I think she goes out for nearly an hour of walking everyday. I'm wondering if it's enough. She hates the idea of the gym and will likely fight me tooth and claw if I ever try to make her go.
Check the ingredients for partially hydrogenated oils. I think in the US if it's less than 1g you can call it 0g, but it may be different up there.
It sounds like your mom is also in a high-stress position, possibly? That doesn't help with either blood sugar or cholesterol.
I'd suggest she keep a bag of carrots or a couple of apples or something in the car for snacking on. That will really help a ton. And a relatively big, healthy breakfast can help a bunch, too.
Think you could get her to take up jogging instead of just walking?
http://www.spacedoc.net/saturated_fat_is_good_for_you_1
With links to scientific papers
Sugars and grains and things of that nature are what are worst
Yeah I'll take up the fruit/veggie snack with her. Maybe wake up early to prep it for her so she won't have any excuse.
Jogging will be a tough, tough sell. I'll try though.
Edit: I would've never guessed avocados had fibre though. They're so creamy!
walking helps
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I mean, it's loaded with sodium, but if your goal is weight loss and you don't really care if you have a heart attack in the next few years, that doesn't really matter.
145 calories and 14g of fat with most of it being mono unsaturated.
A quarter to a half of an avocado seems like really reasonable amounts of those things.
I suppose that's true. I generally think of dieting as being a part of being healthy. Someone just trying to get skinny enough to fit into their bikini could feel otherwise.
Something about sodium increasing water retention, though?