What Are the Health Benefits of Avocado, and Can It Help You Lose Weight?

We constantly nosh on avocado toasts and flaunt our trendy, avocado smoothies, but do we even know what an avocado is? Vegetable or fruit? Weight loss hero or just diet hype? Admit it — you have no idea.

Well, avocado lovers, we’re here to put your questions to rest. Below, we’ve uncovered every avocado FAQ ever asked, including what they are, what dietitians really think about them, and whether they are truly the perfect food for your waistline.

What Are Avocados Exactly?

According to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), the Central American avocado tree originated in southern Mexico and Colombia around 7,000 years ago. By the 16th century, the Aztecs and Incas shared the avocado with Spanish conquistadors, who then named them aguacate. Later nicknamed “alligator pears” by English colonists for their green, scale-like skin and pear shape, avocados have assimilated into North American culture to such a degree that there are now 80 Californian varieties — Hass avocados being the most popular of their kind. (1)

But what is their kind? Are they considered a fruit or a vegetable?

You may be surprised to learn that avocados are actually a fruit! Indeed, according to the California Avocado website, the avocado is botanically considered a berry because of its fleshy pulp and large single seed, and because this fruit is the product of a tree. (2)

According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), these are the nutrition facts for about one-half, or 68 grams (g), of an avocado: (3)

• Calories 114
• Dietary fiber 6 g
• Total sugar 0.2 g
• Potassium 345 milligrams (mg)
• Sodium 5.5 mg
• Magnesium 19.5 mg
• Vitamin A 43 micrograms (μg)
• Vitamin E 1.3 mg
• Vitamin K 14 μg
• Vitamin B-6 0.2 mg
• Monounsaturated fatty acids 6.7 g

Overall, avocados contain quite a bit of potassium, dietary fiber, and fats. Avocado oil alone is almost two-thirds (71 percent) monounsaturated fatty acids  — aka the “good fats” shown to lower LDL, or “bad,” cholesterol and increase HDL, or “good,” cholesterol, according to the Dairy Council of California. These important contents add to a number of health benefits, notes the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s MyPlate guidelines.

The price of avocados fluctuates, but because of their “healthy-fat” status, avocados have become a popular food among people following the ketogenic diet, also called the keto diet for short. In fact, in February 2019, The Wall Street Journal reported that high-fat foods like avocados are rising, likely due to the increased popularity of high-fat diets such as keto and the Atkins diet. Other high-fat foods, including olives and olive oil, have also increased in price, the article notes.

The California Dairy Council notes that potassium is a main health component of the fruit — a nutrient that helps promote healthy heart contraction and reduces high blood pressure, and is on average sorely neglected in the American diet, according to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. (5) But just one avocado can contain almost 15 percent of the daily recommended potassium intake, which is 4.7 g. That’s as much potassium as in one and a half large bananas (.73 g) or two small bananas (.72 g).

Additionally, avocados are loaded with nutrients such as vitamin C, vitamin K, vitamin B, vitamin E, and vitamin A.

Avocados are also a good source of dietary fiber, which helps reduce the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and obesity, according to the California Avocados website. (6) Dietary fiber is known to create a feeling of satiety, which can prevent snacking throughout the day. For this reason, avocados are often considered great foods for weight loss. But is this true?

Abbey Sharp, RD, who is based in Toronto, Ontario, and blogs at Abbey’s Kitchen, says avocado may help you lose weight because it contains monounsaturated fat.

Another characteristic that makes avocados waistline-friendly? Their fiber, Sharp says. Not only is the monounsaturated fat in avocados good for you, but their fiber fills you up, she says. For every 100 g of avocado, you get about 7 g of fiber. (7)

Research supports Sharp’s praise. In a small study published in BioMed Central, 26 overweight adults reported a 28 percent reduction in hunger and a 23 percent increase in satisfaction after adding half an avocado to their daily diet. (8)

Sharp points out that adding avocado to your diet may promote a healthy complexion. Its vitamin C may help reduce skin inflammation, accelerate wound healing, and soothe dry skin.

Avocado oil may boost collagen production, further reducing signs of aging, research suggests. (Take that claim with a grain of salt, as the study was done on rats who were fed the oil.) (9)

In addition to the possible health and beauty benefits of avocados, they offer very few dietary risks. Sharp says that other than allergenic concerns, the only reason a person might worry about eating too much of the fruit is if they’re trying to lose weight.

“Because they are so high in calories,” she says, “consuming them in excess could add extra calories to your day, which may cause weight gain if they’re not compensated for elsewhere in the diet.”

Be sure to work with your doctor or a registered dietitian to find out how much avocado you can safely eat without sabotaging your weight loss goals.

When it comes to the culinary boundaries of avocados, there are none! Though we are accustomed to seeing avocados spread on toast, tossed into salads, or blended in smoothies, the Dairy Council notes that it’s common to see pureed avocado milk in the Philippines and even avocado ice cream in Brazil. All in all, this versatile fruit goes incredibly well with almost anything,  including soups, salads, dips, desserts, smoothies, and as an addition to breakfast, or even on its own, sprinkled with salt and pepper.

Here are some great recipes to start with:

• Avocado-Corn Salsa
• Low-Carb Chili With Creamy Avocado
• Avocado-Shitake sushi