Avocados: Health food trend or just high-fat?

Are avocados healthy or not? Avocados are everywhere and they’re delicious, but they’re also high in fat.

It feels like avocados are on menus everywhere—mashed on fancy whole grain breads at breakfast, as a topping sandwiches at lunch and and as the main ingredient in guacamole.

There’s even a restaurant in Vancouver called Avocado Bay, which serves up all things avocado.

The trendy fruit is delicious but also very high in fat, which may leave you wondering: can it also be healthy?

“Avocados are high in fat, so you should eat them in moderation. But it’s the good kind of fat - it’s monounsaturated fat, which can reduce your bad, LDL cholesterol and that can actually reduce your risk of heart attack and stroke,” explained Julia Calderone, Consumer Reports' health editor.

If you choose Hass avocados, the small, dark ones with the pebbly surface, you get slightly more fat than Florida avocados, which are larger and a brighter green.

But any avocado is a good choice because they are also chock full of vitamins, including folate, B6, C, E and K. They’re also rich in blood-pressure lowering potassium, plus fiber. Half an avocado contains almost five grams of fiber. Roughly 15 to 20 per cent of the amount you need everyday.

“They also contain nutrients that have been shown to be important for eye health, such as lutein. That can help protect against things like age-related macular degeneration or cataracts,” said Calderone.

The fat also benefits your body by helping absorb antioxidants—not just from the avocado itself, but from other fruits and vegetables. So tossing avocado chunks into a salad or a smoothie or pairing guacamole with fresh veggies are good dietary strategies.

And if you’re wondering how to choose the perfect avocado, experts at Consumer Reports suggest choosing an avocado that is firm and leaving it out in the sun or in a paper bag with a banana. It should ripen in three to four days.