Calories in an Avocado.....Too many for weight loss?

Here is what Bob Bergh ,Department of Botany and Plant Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA,  has to say:

“It is unfortunate for both avocado growers and the consumer public that weight-conscious people often shun the avocado because of the mistaken idea that eating it will tend to increase one's weight. In fact, three experiments that tested this possibility all found that adding avocado to the diet resulted in a small average weight loss (see Cholesterol section later in this paper).

For weight stabilization, the avocado appears to have several benefits:

1)  Its high nutrient density (preceding section) can make the diet more wholesome and better balanced, thus promoting better general health and well-being, which can minimize fattening food cravings.

2)  Furthermore, its high fat content makes the diet more palatable, which encourages filling up on the wholesome food in such a sound diet.

3)  Its high fat content gives a quicker feeling of satiation, which (especially when accompanied by bulky vegetables and fruits) helps reduce overeating.

4)  Avocado weight control appears to extend beyond the above explanations; a speeding up of the human basal metabolic rate has been hypothesized (D. Colquhoun, M.D., private communication).”

He goes on to say:

 
“However, different health groups and even dietitians keep warning about the avocado's high calorie content. How valid is that concern? The number of kilocalories in an avocado fruit vary with its botanical origin, variety, size, and degree of maturity; in California, the average is about 300 Cal (Slater et al., 1975). Also varying with several factors are the number of calories that a person needs per day; for an age of 19-50 and a "moderate" activity level, a 71 kg man needs about 2800 Cal and a 57 kg woman about 2100 Cal (UC Berkeley Wellness Letter, 5/91). That calculates at 9 and 7 avocados each-so much that satiation is likely well before the daily calorie "allowance" is reached.

Among the many foods (Rinzler, 1987), avocados have been rated as only moderate in calories per servings, with such items as beans, bread, pasta, rice-less caloric than most nuts and seeds, most cheeses, sugar, butter, etc. A lengthy analysis in Fit health magazine (8/82) concluded that somehow the avocado has gotten blamed for "fictitious calories ... avocados have received the undeserved reputation of being fattening'"

Contributing to this misconception has been the tendency of even some nutritionists to accept the "fat is fat" oversimplification, overlooking both the avocado's predominance of monounsaturated fat and its very high nutrient density. Contributing further is the public's tendency to accept the oversimplification that "if it tastes rich, it's bad for you;" what's "good" for us is supposedly only the less appealing foods like carrots, lettuce, spinach.

In any case, it has been repeatedly found that increased avocado consumption did not cause weight gain.”