Thursday, March 3, 2011

An ode to the avacado or thank goodness for fat

On day three of the juice fast, fats are added back in.  In this case, in the form of avocado and cashews.  I enjoyed a handful of cashews on my salad last night and in the afternoon had an avocado smoothie.  It was divine.  I blended avocado into a juice prepared with garlic, broccoli, kale and some other yummy things.  The garlic gives it a serious bite, but I love spicy food.  Putting it in the blender creates this wonderful texture, smooth, creamy and decedent.  It felt rich and fatty and it felt deserved after two days of no fat.

I know it may seem counterintuitive to consume fat when trying to lose weight, but the body needs fat. Now I am not trying to sound all healthy experty here, because I am not.  But there are plenty of people out there, much wiser than myself, who have studied how the low-fat craze can be harmful to your overall nutrition.

 Obviously, there is a big difference between the fat in a Big Mac and eating healthy, naturally occurring fats in nuts, seeds, meat, eggs and yes… avocados. I found, after two days of the juicing fun, that I really am craving fat. But, and I take this as a very good sign, I am not craving a doughnut or ice cream. The avocado really made my day.  I knew avocados were good for you, but this experience made me a bit more curious.  I did a little research...Avocados are high in a zillion vitamins, full of antioxidants and help with weight control.  And I get to drink that yummy juice/soup/smoothie again tomorrow-- fantastic motivation to keep going.

5 comments:

  1. Mmmmmmmmm fat. We eat a crazy amount of nuts and seeds. And we all love avocados. You definitely need it! Apparently, there is some thought now that skim milk is not really a great idea and that we should be drinking whole milk. Have you heard that?

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  2. Yeah for avacados... I ate one last night for dinner too. We tried feeding some to Jeremy recently, but no luck... he's still thwarting solids. I love the updates... I'll be checking back often.

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  3. Yes, there seems to be a lot of evidence that removing fat from good natural sources of it, like milk really is not good for you. Sort of like creating empty calories. I have a good link on the milk thing, I will find it and post it here.

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  4. @ Barb, Nikolaj is anti-solids too!

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  5. I go back and forth because the hormones and antibiotics in not-organic milk are apparently fat soluble. Since we can't afford organic (though we get the Dean's "our farmers promise no growth hormone" stuff), I debate whether to get skim, whole, or cut out milk altogether. There is so much conflicting information!

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