Superfood avocado "oil" trap! How to make dietary substitutions without gaining weight?

In recent years, avocado has been hailed as a "superfood" for its smooth taste and rich nutritional value, setting off a global trend of eating avocado to increase oxidation capacity, control blood lipids and improve intestinal health. However, as the trend of eating avocados becomes more and more popular, many nutrition experts have jumped out to remind people that avocados are full of oil, so be careful not to gain weight by eating too much. Before eating avocados, don't forget to learn how to replace the amount of "fat"!

Nutritious, beautiful and delicious, avocados are popular in many countries

Avocado, also known as alligator pear or alligator pear, is rich in nutrients and has been found to protect body cells from damage by free radicals, enhance the body's antioxidant capacity, reduce bad cholesterol in the blood and promote intestinal peristalsis. Its unique taste and bright colors that are suitable for taking photos and uploading to social media have made Europeans and Americans crazy about it. They will eat it in the form of avocado milk, avocado salad or avocado sushi.

The fat composition of avocado is similar to that of extra virgin olive oil recommended by the American Heart Association. Moderate intake has a heart-protecting effect.

Avocado is a "high-fat fruit", and the riper it is, the fattier it is!

This trend of eating avocados has been quietly brewing in Taiwan in the past two years! Hou Wenyi, director of the Nutrition Department of St. Martin's Hospital, said that although avocado is a fruit, it is a "high-fat fruit"! Like other fruits, avocados are rich in dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals in a variety of ways. But what’s special is that the fat content of avocados is about 5% of its total weight, compared to most fruits which do not exceed 0.3%, making it even more “oily”!

According to the Food and Drug Administration's Food Nutrient Database, every 100 grams of green-skinned avocado contains an average of 72.5 calories and 4.8 grams of fat. The fat content also varies with the degree of ripeness. For the same 100 grams of avocado stored at room temperature for 0 days, 3 days, and 6 days, the fat content is 5.9, 6.8, and 7.6 grams, respectively. In other words, the riper the avocado, the oilier it is!

Eating too much "good oil" will still make you fat and affect your overall health, so you need to make food substitutions when eating avocados.

Fatty acid ratio of avocado oil has a set of heart protection

However, the "oil" in avocado is of very high quality! Nutritionist Hou Wenyi said that the fat composition of avocado is 29% saturated fatty acids, 49% monounsaturated fatty acids, and 22% polyunsaturated fatty acids, which is similar to the extra virgin olive oil recommended by the American Heart Association. Moderate intake has the effect of protecting cardiovascular and heart health.

The reason why olive oil can protect cardiovascular health is that many studies have confirmed that monounsaturated fatty acids can lower bad cholesterol and increase good cholesterol! A survey found that the average daily intake of monounsaturated fatty acids in Taiwanese people is only 36%, and it is recommended that this percentage should be raised to 46%. Generally speaking, if the monounsaturated fatty acid percentage of oils is between 45 and 53%, it is a good choice.

"Good oil" is still oil! Keep in mind the avocado oil replacement principle

It should be noted that eating too much "good oil" will still make you fat and affect your overall health, so you need to make food substitutions when eating avocados. However, what is replaced in this era is not fruits, but "oils, fats and nuts and seeds". As for how to replace? Nutritionist Hou Wenyi said that the Chinese dietary guidelines recommend that each person should consume 3 to 7 teaspoons of oil per day. Each teaspoon is about 5 grams, which is equivalent to the amount of fat contained in 100 grams of avocado. Therefore , for every 100 grams of avocado you eat, don't forget to reduce the amount of cooking oil you eat by 1 teaspoon that day to avoid gaining weight from excessive fat intake.