Fun and Fitness for the 40-Something

Did you celebrate National Guacamole Day last week? I totally missed it—too distracted by International Talk Like a Pirate Day, I guess. Fortunately, there’s still time to dip into Spicy Guacamole Day in November. And Wholly Guacamole’s 100-calorie snack packs make a great way to celebrate the holiday and enjoy the health benefits of avocados.

Now, I know that I’ve written before about the “dangers” of snack packs, but I think those theories apply more to things like potato chips and M&Ms (which were the snacks used in the studies I cited). Those come in units, unlike guacamole, plus they have little nutritional value. Guac, on the other hand, boasts multiple health benefits.

Avocados—the main ingredient in guac—strike fear in some people because of their high fat content. It’s true that a medium-sized avocado has 30 grams of fat, as much as a quarter-pound burger. Nutritionists have found, though, that most of the fat is the good kind, monounsaturated, which reduces cholesterol levels. One Wholly Guacamole 100-calorie snack pack has 8 g of fat but only 1 g of saturated fat and no trans fat. By comparison, a 2-tablespoon serving of butter or mayo serves up 22 g of fat and 200 calories.

Research suggests that the avocado mirrors that staple of healthy Mediterranean diets (or what used to be healthy Mediterranean diets!), the olive. It’s monounsaturated fat suppresses blood changes that can cause clogged arteries and clots that trigger heart attacks. It also reduces blood insulin levels that can damage arteries. Studies indicate that increasing the intake of monounsaturated fat can pay off for people with heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure. Avocados also contain a load of disease-fighting antioxidants.

Finally, according to CNN, “avocados help the body absorb phytochemicals from other foods. Researchers from Ohio State University … reported that pairing avocados with salsa or salad allows for better absorption of antioxidants in those foods. The lycopene in tomatoes or the beta-carotene in carrots may be better absorbed if there’s a slice or two of avocado in the bowl.”

So we’ve established that avocados should be welcomed into your diet, not shunned. My problem is that I don’t really like their texture, so I’m unlikely to eat them in sandwiches, wraps or salads. I love guac, though, and Wholly Guacamole makes the best commercial version I’ve tried. It’s very fresh but not at all bland, which you sometimes see with homemade guac. Like the best homemade guac, it comes with chunks of avocado. Store-bought guac is often suspiciously smooth and thin, more like a green yogurt than real guac. This is thick enough that you might break some chips in it.

Wholly Guac is never frozen by the manufacturer and you shouldn’t freeze it, either, but it will last for days if you tightly wrap a regular-sized container (assuming you exercise restraint). A package of the snack packs includes three pouches. One pouch equals about a quarter of the regular-sized container—plenty to make a satisfying serving size.

Of course, the real risk with guac may lie in the chips. It’s easy to lose track of how many you’ve consumed when you have a good guac in front of you. Rationing the guac into 100-calorie servings might help, though. And I’ve heard rumors that some people actually eat guac with carrots, celery, etc., instead of chips.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 26th, 2008 at 7:50 am and is filed under Health and Wellness, Products and Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.