Avocados provide you with monounsaturated fats, which can be used as an energy source within the body. They are low in carbohydrates and packed with nutrients, including potassium, vitamin C, and protein.

Here are some of the ways that your health can improve from avocado consumption:

1. Weight Loss:  Because of the healthy fats and low carbs in avocados, they can help to curb your appetite and keep you satiated when you are on a diet.  Many people try to cut back on carbohydrates for weight loss purposes, and they find that they are constantly hungry because they are lacking a good energy source.  The healthy fats in avocados provide a great energy source, and can help to get rid of those hunger cravings.

2. Blood Sugar Management:  The fiber within an avocado is helpful for a number of health conditions, including blood sugar management.  When you are eating a good source of fiber, it can help to reduce spikes in your blood sugar levels, which can be beneficial for anyone suffering from blood sugar problems.

3. Better Digestion:  Another benefit of the fiber in avocados is the fact that it helps to improve your digestion. When you are getting enough fiber, it keeps everything moving through the digestive tract optimally.  Additionally, soluble fiber is known to feed the good bacteria in your gut, in order to improve your gut health.

4. Improved Nutrient Absorption:  Certain nutrients in our food are “fat soluble,” which means that they need a good source of fat in order to be used within the body.  Avocados provide the good fat sources to help with the absorption of certain nutrients, such as vitamins A, D, E, and K. So, you benefit from the nutrition within the avocado, and you also maximize the nutritional benefits from other types of foods as well.

5. Less Joint Pain:  If you are suffering from arthritis, or you want to prevent the development of arthritis, then avocados might help.  Research studies have found that avocados contain specific extracts that might help to reduce arthritic inflammation and pain.

6. Heart Health: You can protect your heart by eating avocados regularly, because they help to increase the good cholesterol and decrease bad cholesterol in the blood.  The high potassium levels in avocado may help to decrease blood pressure, which in turn helps to decrease the risk of strokes and heart attacks.

7. Vision and Eye Health: Antioxidants within avocados can help with a number of health conditions, and those antioxidants can have a direct impact on your eyes.  Avocados have two specific nutrients that are beneficial for eye health:  zeaxanthin and lutein.  These nutrients help to reduce the risk of both macular degeneration and cataracts.

8. Decreased Free Radical Activity: Another benefit that you can gain from the antioxidants in avocados is a decrease in free radical activity.  Free radical activity can lead to abnormal cell growth, causing certain health problems such as cancer and heart disease.  When you are consuming higher amounts of antioxidants, then those antioxidants can work to decrease the free radicals that are present in your body.

How to Eat Avocados

You will need to remove the peel in order to gain access to the fruit of the avocado.  The fruit should be somewhat soft to the touch, and if it is too firm then you should leave it on the counter for a few days so that it can ripen.  When you are ready to eat the avocado, use a knife to cut the fruit in half lengthwise. You won’t be able to cut straight through, because the seed will be in the way, so cut around the seed.

Hold each half of the avocado in either hand, and then twist the halves in opposite directions to pull them apart.  Use a spoon to scoop out the seed, and then the spoon can be used to scoop the fruit out of the peel.

There are many different ways to eat an avocado.  You can slice it into thin pieces and add it to your sandwich, you can cut it up into chunks and add it in your salad, you can mash it up and serve it along with some salsa and the list goes on.  But one unique way that I like to use avocado is to add it into my smoothie.  I know it sounds weird… and you probably never thought about adding avocado in a smoothie before, but it works!  Give it a try… here’s one of my favorite avocado smoothie recipes.

Chocolate Avocado Smoothie

Prep Time: 3 min
Cook Time: 0 min
Ready in: 3 min
Yield: 1 large smoothie

Ingredients:

• 1 cold avocado

• 2 - 3 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder (you can adjust depending on how chocolatey you like your smoothie to be)

• 1 medium - large frozen banana (I always have a a few peeled frozen bananas in the freezer for smoothies)

• 1 scoop of whey protein (optional for added protein)

Directions:

• Blend everything together in a blender until it’s very creamy.  Add water until it’s the desired thickness.

• Serve immediately or keep covered in the refrigerator for up to one day.

Adding an avocado into your diet can really enhance your health and boost your fat burning… especially if you’re following a low carb diet similar to what I recommend in my Lean Body Diet.  If you’re active doing effective exercises, like the ones found in my MAX Workouts program and you’re cutting down on your carb intake, you have to increase your fat intake.  Lowering your carbs will help you burn more fat, but you need to substitute those lost calories from fat (…not protein).  Making sure that you’re getting ample healthy fats from foods like avocado into your diet, will ensure that you’re optimizing your fat burning when you’re on a low carb diet.