Is Avocado Keto Friendly?

We’ll get right into it; avocado is one of the best foods to have while doing a keto diet, period.

Believe it or not, avocados are actually considered a fruit, despite being used mostly as vegetables.

Avocados are really unique when compared to most other types of fruit. Many fruits are primarily made up of carbohydrates, while avocado is mostly healthy fats.

Keep reading to find out more about what makes avocados so great for keto diets (and why they’re so great in general), as well as how to use avocados and other ways you can supplement your keto diet.

Why Is Avocado Keto Friendly?

If you’re just starting out your keto diet, you really can’t afford to skip on the avocado. Avocados are loaded with tons of healthy substances, and they’re not just good for you if you’re on a keto diet, they’re pretty great for you in general.

So what makes the stuff in avocado so awesome and healthy in particular? We’ll break down for you the main things about avocado that make it a keto essential.

It’s an incredible source of potassium.

Avocados actually have more potassium than bananas, which are known for being top-notch sources of potassium.

In a standard 100 gram serving of avocado (which is only about one-third of a medium-sized avocado), you get 485 milligrams of potassium. That’s a little over a tenth of your daily recommended potassium intake right there!

And think about it, that’s just from a third of an average avocado. If you eat two avocados in a day, that’s probably at least 75% of your potassium intake covered.

Having avocados daily is especially important at the very beginning of your keto diet. When you cut carbs out of your diet, the glucose levels in your blood decrease, and your insulin levels also decrease.

It also causes you to lose a lot of the sodium and potassium in your body. Losing a lot of potassium is what causes some of the symptoms of keto flu, like cramping, constipation, fatigue, lightheadedness, and headaches.

It’s very low in carbs.

If you’re familiar with the keto diet, you know that you’ll have to vastly cut back on your carb intake. It can be quite tricky, especially considering that so many common food items like bread, potatoes, cereal, and beans are all high in carbs.

But luckily, there are still plenty of tasty foods out there that are low in carbs, and avocado is one of them.

How low in carbs is it? Well, first, you should know that on a keto diet, you will usually have to restrict your carb intake to between 20-50 grams of carbs daily.

One half of a medium avocado contains, on average, nine grams of carbs. So two avocados would have 36 grams of carbs, right?

Not so! You see, most of the carbs in avocados come from fiber, which passes through your digestive system without being used by your body. So for every nine grams of carbs from avocado you eat, your body only ends up receiving two grams.

That’s only eight grams of usable carbs in two avocados! As you can see, this clearly makes it one of the best keto foods out there.

It’s loaded with healthy fats.

Despite being rightfully seen as a healthy food, avocados actually contain tons of calories and fat. In fact, 77% of the calories in an avocado come from its fat content alone. In terms of plant-based food, it’s one of the fattiest foods that exists.

But it’s the type of fat in avocados that matters here. This type of fat is called monounsaturated oleic acid, which is said to offer numerous health benefits.

Oleic acid can help reduce inflammation in your body and has been shown to have positive effects on cancerous genes. It’s also good for cardiovascular health.

The fats in avocado also help it resist oxidation due to heat, which makes avocados and avocado oil great for cooking with.

The Benefits of Eating Avocado

Don’t get us wrong; avocados aren’t just good for keto diets. They’re a great kind of food to have no matter what your usual diet is. Here are some of the main health benefits associated with avocados:

They’ve got tons of different vitamins and nutrients

Avocados are jam-packed with all different types of healthy vitamins and other substances. See for yourself; here’s a list of all the nutritious things an avocado contains.

With a list like that, there’s no doubt that avocados are very worthwhile to include in your diet. Avocados also contain antioxidants and are totally free of sodium.

Avocados are great for lowering your cholesterol.

High cholesterol levels can lead to heart disease later in life, which is the most common cause of death in the world. It’s a shame because so many delicious foods like red meat, desserts, and cheese contain a lot of cholesterol.

But eating avocados regularly has been shown to be effective at lowering cholesterol and fat levels in your blood.

There are actually two types of cholesterol; LDL cholesterol, which is is unhealthy, and HDL cholesterol, which your body needs. Eating avocados not only lowers your bad cholesterol levels but increases your levels of healthy cholesterol. Pretty amazing, right?

They can help you get more nutrients from other foods.

Some nutrients in foods are fat-soluble, meaning that once you eat them, they have to be combined with fat in your body in order to work. A few examples of nutrients that are fat-soluble are vitamins A, D, E, and K.

As we already know, avocados contain lots of healthy fat. So making a salad with avocado and other veggies can help you get the most nutrients out of the other vegetables you’re eating.

They’re filled with antioxidants.

Avocados contain tons of antioxidants and also help you absorb more antioxidants from other food sources.

Antioxidants are extremely beneficial to your body. They primarily help your cells recover from oxidative damage.

In particular, avocados contain the antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin. These antioxidants are vital to the health of your eyes. They help prevent cataracts and macular degeneration, which are conditions that affect lots of people, particularly when they’re older.

They can help you lose weight.

There is evidence to suggest that eating avocado more often can help you feel full for longer and prevent you from excess snacking.

In one study, people who ate avocado with a meal reported feeling more satisfied than people who didn’t eat avocado and remained satisfied for longer afterward.

This is probably because avocado is so high in fiber, which is known to help you feel more full for longer periods of time after eating a meal.

How To Prepare Avocado

Here’s yet another great thing about avocado: you can eat it in basically any way you want.

Raw avocado is delicious. It’s got a smooth texture, and it tastes rich and buttery. And it’s incredibly easy to incorporate avocado into other meals.

You can make a quick guacamole with just a few other ingredients and 10 minutes of your time. You can cut an avocado into slices and fry or bake it. You can even puree it and use it as a substitute for mayonnaise.

Because avocados are high in protein, you can use them as a substitute for meat in a lot of dishes as well! The possibilities with avocado are just about endless.

Supplementing Your Keto Diet

Obviously though, despite how good for you they are, you can’t eat avocados for every single meal. In fact, sticking to a keto diet, in general, might be pretty tough, depending on what foods you like to eat.

Luckily, you’ve got options if you’re having a tough time sticking to the keto diet. There are lots of companies that sell keto-friendly snacks and supplements that can help give you an edge in your diet.

One example of these companies is Perfect Keto. Perfect Keto has a massive selection of keto supplements and snacks that are great if you need to go a little bit further to get your ketones up to the level you want.

They have powders, capsules, protein bars, keto coffee, and more. They also sell testing equipment like ketone strips so you can monitor your ketone levels and make sure your diet is going according to plan.

You should definitely look to Perfect Keto if you’re struggling with maintaining your keto diet and need something to make up the difference.

Summary

Not only are avocados great for a keto diet, but they’re also great to have in general as well. They’re chock-full of nutrients and vitamins, and they’ve been shown to have lots of benefits to your health if you eat them regularly.

But avocados aren’t the only thing you should be eating if you’re on a keto diet. Like any diet, it needs to be nutritionally balanced in order for you to reap all of its benefits. If you are struggling with the Keto diet, these cookbooks will also help!

And if you need that extra little boost to your ketone levels to see the results you want, you can always supplement your keto diet with any one of Perfect Keto’s products.

Good luck with starting your keto diet!