Food & Drink/ Health & Wellness

THE NEW HEALTH RULES: 4 Reasons to Eat Avocados

It’s hard to find something that is both crazy delicious and also good for you. French fries are delicious, but not healthy. Kale is healthy, but (hot take!) not delicious. Enter the avocado. If you didn’t already love them, here are 4 more reasons to incorporate them into your diet, excerpted from Frank Lipman, M.D. and Danielle Claro’s The New Health Rules.

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1. Avocados help protect your body from heart disease, cancer, and certain degenerative diseases. 

2. Your body needs fat to flourish—good fats, which are found in nutritious foods like avocados, raw nuts, coconut oil, grass-fed meats, fatty fish, and even butter from grass-fed cows. It’s the bad fats you have to avoid—those in fried and processed foods. Good fats are not the enemy.

3. Vegetables (and some fruits) in a wide range of deep colors (like avocados) should make up most of your diet. Intense color indicates loads of phytonutrients, biologically active substances that protect plants from viruses and bacteria—and offer similar benefits to humans.

4. Get away from fruit and grains in the morning—you don’t need that sugar and gluten. A dose of healthy fats will start your day off right. Have boiled or poached eggs with greens, sardines on gluten-free crispbreads, or half an avocado—score it, spritz with lemon or olive oil, sprinkle with salt and cumin, and eat it like a grapefruit.

If you’re not a big morning eater, have a tasty smoothie with protein powder and healthy fats. A favorite recipe is copied below:

Blueberry-Avocado-Kale Shake

Print Recipe
Serves: 1

Ingredients

  • 4 to 6 ounces water
  • 4 to 6 ounces unsweetened coconut milk
  • 1 serving whey protein or pea protein powder
  • 1 serving greens powder
  • ½ cup frozen or fresh blueberries
  • ¼ small avocado
  • 1 cup kale
  • 4 ice cubes

Instructions

1

Blend the ingredients in a blender until smooth and creamy.


Excerpted From: Frank Lipman, M.D. & Danielle Claro’s The New Health Rules (Artisan, 2015).

1 Comment

  • Reply
    Maddie Rose
    September 20, 2016 at 5:03 am

    I like eating avocados especially when it is blended into a smoothie and mixed together with other fruits.

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