Learn More about the Health Benefits of Fresh Guacamole

Learn More about the Health Benefits of Fresh Guacamole
Page content

Fresh guacamole offers many health benefits pursuant to all the ingredients. Though there are many recipes and variations out there, we will address the most common ingredients: avocados, garlic, tomatoes, onion, cayenne pepper, and lime juice. Since many of the ingredients contain fat burning properties, this is an excellent recipe for those who are trying to lose weight, or trying to get more fresh fruits and vegetables in their diets.

Avocados

Avocados are rich in essential fatty acids, which play a role in fat burning and many other body processes.

Nutrition Information

1 fruit, without the seed and skin, of the California (most common) variety contains the following:

  • 227 calories
  • 21g fat, 3g saturated
  • no cholesterol
  • 11mg sodium
  • 12g carbohydrates–9g fiber, 3g sugar
  • 3g protein

It contains 4% of the daily value (DV) of vitamin A, 2% calcium, 20% vitamin C, and 5% iron, based on a 2000 calorie diet.

This is a good source of dietary fiber, vitamin K, and folate.

For most recipes, you need at least three full fruits without the seed or skin.

Garlic

garlic

Garlic is excellent for flavor and contains fat burning properties, as well as natural antibiotic properties. Add as much or as little as you like to your recipe based on personal flavor preferences.

Nutrition Information:

1 clove of fresh raw garlic contains:

  • 4 calories
  • no fat
  • no cholesterol
  • 1mg sodium
  • 1g carbohydrate with no fiber
  • no protein.

A garlic clove contains 0% of the daily value (DV) of vitamin A, 1% calcium, 2% vitamin C, and 0% iron, based on a 2000 calorie diet

It is a good source of calcium, phosphorus, and selenium, and very good source of vitamin C, vitamin B6, and manganese.

Tomatoes

tomatoes

Tomatoes are an optional ingredient in many guacamole recipes, but adds an extra element of flavor and health benefits. In addition to the fat burning vitamin C, the lycopene helps support eye health.

Nutrition Information:

1 cup of raw, red tomatoes, chopped or sliced (we suggest diced) contains:

  • 32 calories
  • no fat
  • no cholesterol
  • 9mg of sodium
  • 7g carbohydrates where 2g are dietary fiber and 5g are sugar
  • 2g protein

It contains 30% of the daily value (DV) of vitamin A, 2% calcium, 38% vitamin C, and 3% iron based on a 2000 calorie diet.

It is a good source of: vitamin E, thiamin, niacin, vitamin B6, folate, magnesium, phosphorus, and copper. It is a very good source of dietary fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K, potassium, and manganese.

Green Onion

green onion

In guacamole recipes, you can use any type of onion you want. The recipe my family uses calls for green onion simply because we like the flavor.

Nutrition Data:

1 cup of raw, chopped onion contains:

  • 64 calories
  • no fat
  • no cholesterol
  • 15g carbohydrates, where 3g are dietary fiber and 7g are sugar.
  • 2g protein

It contains 0% of the daily value (DV) of vitamin A, 4% calcium, 20% vitamin C, and 2% iron, based on a 2000 calorie diet.

It is a good source of dietary fiber, vitamin B6, folate, potassium, and manganese, and a very good source of vitamin C.

Cayenne Pepper

cayenne pepper

Cayenne will add a little heat the guacamole, so, unless you like it super spicy, use it sparingly. The point of adding the cayenne pepper is for the fat burning properties it holds.

Nutrition Information:

1 tablespoon contains approximately:

  • 17 calories
  • 1g of fat
  • 2mg sodium
  • no cholesterol
  • 3 carbohydrates–1 g dietary fiber and 1 g sugar
  • 1 g protein.

Cayenne pepper contains 44% of the daily value (DV) of vitamin A, 1% calcium, 7% vitamin C, and 2% iron, based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Lime Juice

lime

This is just a squeeze at the end of the recipe to enhance the flavors of the ingredients. It works well especially if your recipe uses cilantro, because the two complement each other. You will not need to use the entire serving amount listed below.

Nutrition Information:

1 cup of raw lime juice, fresh squeezed contains:

  • 60 calories
  • No fat
  • No cholesterol
  • 5mg sodium
  • 20g carbohydrates where 1g is dietary fiber and 4g are sugar
  • 1g protein

Lime juice contains 2% of the daily value of vitamin A, 3% calcium, 121% of vitamin C, and 1% iron based on a 2000 calorie diet.

It is a good source of potassium, and a very good source of vitamin C, which offers fat burning properties. It is low in cholesterol, saturated fat, and sodium.

All images presented in this article are available from Flickr under a creative commons license. Nutrition information presented in this article comes from NutritionData.com.