I used to have a problem picking out the best, ripe avocados....the ones that looked perfect, like the one in this picture. Many times I would cut it open, but much to my chagrin, it would either be spoiled or not quite 'ready' to eat yet. Unfortunately, once the avocado has been split open, you've already taken the gamble. It's either eat it nasty or suffer in silence as you throw away the wasted, untouched avocado in the trash. But over the past six months, my "technique" for picking out the ideal avocado has significantly improved. Call it my avocado intuition by giving it the right 'feel' with my hands or my ability to calculate my chances of more 'hits' vs. 'misses.' Whatever the case may be, that problem has been replaced by a new one: an avocado addiction.Loving guacamole just isn't enough anymore. I MUST have avocados almost every day to feel 'satisfied.' So much for my new healthier ways. Sure, avocados are high in the good kind of fat, but surely the USDA wasn't anticipating a 29 year old woman like myself would be consuming them like a fiend. And to think people could have been worried about my margarita intake! Ha.
Can too many avocados have the reverse effect? Can it clog my arteries for life like my hardcore bacon consumption did in my childhood years? Sigh. Oh my. Whether it's on my salads, on my veggie burger sandwiches, with tortilla chips, or simply on the side, it's become problematic. I may just start shitting avocado pits soon if this continues. Not good, NOT good! I need to go on avocado strike. Or maybe there's a meeting for other Avocado Addicts. Did I mention I have an avocado in my desk drawer that I brought to work today? When I went to Dominick's on Friday, there was a mesh bag full of four small avocados for $3.99; I just couldn't resist! Oh, sorry I was daydreaming.
Ok, I'm getting hungry now.....
4 comments:
So I just looked up info on the health benefits of avocado (to justify my guilty feelings!) and hooray. Good news! I knew there was a reason I was embracing the avocado as my new best friend. Two words: weight control. There is a culinary god out there. :)
According to regenerativenutrition.com:
"Weight control"
"Contrary to popular assumptions, the avocado can be a helpful part of a successful weight-management program. It brings several advantages."
"Its monounsaturated fat speeds up the basal metabolic rate, as compared with saturated fat.
Its high fat content gives a quicker feeling of satiation ("fullness"), thus helping to reduce overeating."
"Its high fat content makes an overall sound diet more palatable, reducing the temptation to binge on foods high in sugars or saturated fats."
"Its rich supply of vitamins and minerals also makes the diet more wholesome and satisfying and thus more conducive to overall health and to moderation in consumption."
"The high fat content of most avocados (up to 90% of its calories) will make some people dubious about its positive effects on weight control. Not only does fat have over twice as many calories per unit weight as does carbohydrate or protein, but also if excess calories are consumed, the body apparently burns about three times as many calories when storing calories from carbohydrate or protein as it burns when calories from fat are stored. Recent evidence, however, suggests that calories are not the whole story for body weight, with timing of both consumption and exercise as factors and with calories from fat also a possible added handicap."
"So, what is known from experiments with the avocado? In each of the three studies, there was an average small weight loss associated with avocado consumption. In the most pertinent experiment (Grant, 1960), a mean of just over one California avocado a day for a mean of 33 days increased average daily calories by a calculated 24% and fat by 54% but resulted in a weight loss averaging approximately 1 kg (2.2 lbs). This remarkable result (under exceptional and tightly controlled hospital conditions) should not be taken as a universal guarantee; individual results will vary depending upon complex individual metabolic histories and interactions. What can be said is that eating avocado has been shown to be fully compatible with good weight control."
"Very few people will have rapid weight loss as a result of increasing their consumption of avocado; however, the more slowly one loses weight, the less likely one is to regain it. It has become clear that an effective solution to the widespread overweight problem will not come from simply eating less.
"Indeed, such 'dieting' can actually make things worse by causing muscle loss so that the usual 'yo-yo' weight rebound leaves one fatter than ever and subsequent weight loss more difficult to achieve than ever. Goodrick and Foreyt reported in the October, 1991, issue of the American Dietetic Journal that even a combination of behavioral self-management training plus sharply reduced calories gave a discouraging 90% eventual relapse level. Part of the reason is genetic: we tend to inherit our body fat amount and distribution. Part of the solution is more exercise which, of course, is good for us for other reasons."
There IS hope for me (and weight loss!) after all. Who knew!
Have you shit any pits yet?
Not yet. But the day is still young!
Dude,
I don't know what the problem is here, avocados are one of the 5 power foods recommended by Dr. Oz, and Oprah loves Dr. Oz, and therefore he is God of all and knows best. Stuff yourself until you are shitting pits out of your ears. It's not the avocados that I would be worried about missy, it's your freaky attraction toward Jewish santas!
--Helen
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