An Avocado A Day Will Keep The Doctor Away

There is nothing like hitting a goldmine when it comes to primal/paleo food. There are countless foods that I have discovered that are full of nutrition, extremely versatile and incredibly delicious. Avocado happens to be one of them. Since going primal about 3.5 months ago, I have eaten more and more avocado. It amazes me that I did not touch this food before 2010. I used to HATE avocado. Today, it is possibly my favorite food.

Why is it my favorite food? Well, it goes with everything. Literally. I add it to smoothies, on top of meat, throw it in salads, enjoy guacamole, eat it with eggs, enjoy it on it’s own and more. To me, there is nothing NOT to like about avocados.

When I look at the nutritional profile of a raw California avocado, I can almost label it as the perfect food. Now, I am NOT going to do this because I doubt you could live off of avocados. But, if you were going to only live off of 10 foods, avocado would be one of them; at least for me.

There are many different varieties of avocados, but for the sake of this post, I am going to look at California avocados since those are the ones I eat even though I currently live in Michigan.

Nutritional Information

I enjoy eating primal foods and not worrying about if I am getting all the nutrients. But, when you look at an individual food, I do enjoy looking up the nutritional information of that food since it is so easy in the modern world. I mean, why not? If you are able to find out that avocados are jam packed full of nutrition, then why not eat them daily?

The following stands out to me

227 Calories, 175 Calories from Fat (Perfect!)
21 g Fat – 2.9 Saturated, 13.3 Monounsaturated, 2.5 Polyunsaturated
2.3 g Omega 6 Fatty Acids (not too high)
12 g Carbs – 9 from Fiber, 0 from Sugar
3 g Protein – with all 9 essential amino acids
20% Vitamin C
13% Vitamin E
36% Vitamin K
11% Riboflavin
13% Niacin
20% Vitamin B6
30% Folate
20% Pantothenic Acid
10% Magnesium
20% Potassium
12% Copper
10% Manganese

This data was taken from this page.

Doesn’t this list look attractive?

I think so. Sure, you might not eat a whole avocado in one sitting. I usually eat 1/2 an Avocado, but often times I find myself eating a whole one. If I remember correctly, these California avocados run at $1 each. With this much nutrition, I label avocados as a bargain food. I buy as much food as possible from the farmers market and continue to up the percentage, but I love avocados…

How do you like your avocados? With what food? Are they one of your favorites?

Photo Credit

Filed Under: Nutrition Tagged With: avocado

http://herofit.tv Bill Pairaktaridis

It’s true! Avocado kicks ass! Too bad it’s not readily available around here. I’ll have to seek it out…
- http://primaltoad.com Toad
  
  Yea, its not readily available here either. We buy California avocados from the supermarket…
  - Ben
    
    Bummer. They’re all over the place here in TX. $.77 a pop. Suckers!!
    - Mike
      
      Sprouts had em on sale, 4 for $1
      A month or so ago:) I ate them like crazy the entire week.
      - http://primaltoad.com Toad
        
        That’s insane… I would have bought every single on available, lol.
Peggy

Yummy avocados! For some reason, here in Colorado avos are $1.99 EACH!! outrage! However, a netbag of 3 organic ones is the same price – go figure.
I like to smoosh them & use as salad dressing. I also recently discovered that the chocolate “pudding” you can make with one is truly delicious!

You got it Toad, avos are one of the top 10! (fill a half with shrimp pico, yum!)
- http://primaltoad.com Toad
  
  That is mighty expensive as they are $1 each here for the large ones with all the nutrition.
  
  An avocado a day will keep the doctor away…. This should be the headline of this post…
http://www.primaljournal.com JP

When I help people better their diet, I always make them replace junk food snacks with nuts, avocados and fruits. That’s step 1 and it works great.
PrimalJapan

I love avocados. They’re even available here in Japan for 100 yen each, that’s $1, so no major price difference.

For a quick guacamole I cut an avocado in half, mash up the green goodness, shake on some cumin and a bit of cayenne pepper. The shell serves as a good bowl. Then I smear it on my steak or dip veggies into it.
- http://primaltoad.com Toad
  
  I will be having a T-Bone steak on Saturday I believe… I will have to try that!
  - Mike
    
    Add a tiny shot of lemon juice too, that won’t change the flavor really but it will help slow down the oxidation a bit.
    
    Btw, You’re getting owned on MDA Toad, you gonna stand for that?!
    - http://primaltoad.com Toad
      
      I am getting owned on MDA? Where???
      - Mike
        
        Check out your last two comments, the one on today’s post, and yesterday.
      - http://primaltoad.com Toad
        
        Jeff and I are not friends. Do you know who he is? Why do you think he cares so much about the fact that I do not have a job and live with my parents. He knows nothing about me… He seems to be very curious about something.
        
        Any ideas?
      - Ben
        
        Think its that same guy that posted here on day one?? Remember that?
      - http://primaltoad.com Toad
        
        That’s exactly what I was thinking. I don’t know the guy but he holds a grudge against me… Something is on that guys mind.
      - http://herofit.tv Bill Pairaktaridis
        
        What’s that guy’s problem?
      - http://primaltoad.com Toad
        
        Hes crazy, thats all….
  - PrimalJapan
    
    Its definitely worth a try. The lemon idea sounds pretty good too. I’m more of a guy, however.
http://www.mymodernprimallife.wordpress.com brooki

‘To me, there is nothing NOT to like about avocados’ I would like to agree with you there Toad except for 1 thing…..they are sooooo expensive because they are out of season here. That is the only thing I hate about them at the moment. In summer time when they are less than a dollar each again, I will love them again. But for now I have to buy them as a ‘treat’. Damn winter…
- http://primaltoad.com Toad
  
  Yea, we don’t buy local ones. They are so nutritious and they have a thick skin so I am not too worried about the pesticides. This is one of few foods that I may always enjoy year round. They are not too expensive when you consider the fact that they are truly loaded with vitamins and minerals and have other awesome properties.
http://thecoconutmama.blogspot.com/ Tiffany@ The Coconut Mama

Wonderful info! I love avocados! They are a great baby food as well. My 11 month old eats a whole avocado a day.
- http://primaltoad.com Toad
  
  Thats awesome! Keep feeding it to him! It beats store bought baby food anyday!
TrailGrrl

Love me some avocados!
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http://freethewolf.blogspot tracy

I love, love, love avacados! I have always enjoyed them, but even more since I went primal. I luave avacado salad,on a burger, on chicken…on anything!
http://unlockfitness.com Eric

I love avocados. From eating them diced in salads, straight out of the skin with a spoon, in guacamole, heck, even in my super awesome banana-avacado smoothie (I posted the recipe a few weeks ago), I just love ‘em. Primal superfood for sure.
- http://primaltoad.com Toad
  
  Oh, I LOVE the banana avocado smoothie combo!! I like avocados more and more everyday!
http://www.crunchyourhealth.com/ Dave

I made a killer chocolate mousse out of avocados. The kids even liked it until they found out it was made with avocados.
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http://www.bmptopng.com Sandra E

Jesus Christ I’m really starting to get hungry here… it’s the avocado
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http://www.fitchutney.com FitChutney

I blogged about avocados recently and had no idea that they were effectively a “super-food”. I think for extra health benefits, you really need to make sure your avocados are grassfed!
- http://primaltoad.com Toad
  
  Lol. Grass-fed avocados… hmm….
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http://www.facebook.com/yarralea Michelle Cupcakesodread Kenned

Love them. But my question is, can you have too much of them? I make a guacamole with a small red onion finely chopped, the juice of a lemon or lime, a small chilli pepper, and as much coriander as I have handy (cilantro to the statesiders) attack it with a fork until it is all combined and the avocado is free of chunks and then try not to eat the whole lot with a spoon. Although bacon also makes a nice vehicle, if you can get the pastured bacon.
- http://primaltoad.com/ Todd Dosenberry
  
  I mean if you were to eat nothing but avocados all day for years then that would probably be too much. I think not worrying about if you are eating too much of this or that but instead just eating intuitively (it takes practice) is best. Your body knows what it wants. If you ate a lot of avocados it’s likely that you would get sick of them after a short bit.

An Avocado A Day Will Keep The Doctor Away

Nutritional Information

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