Avocados: Your Favorite Fruit Smoothie Ingredient

When I think of avocados, chips and guac pops into my head. Finding them as an ingredient on the smoothie menu? Not so much. But there it was, ‘Avocado, hemp, and honey.’ Quite the ingredient list, simple, but yet so much nutrition happening. 

I did hesitate. I must share, I hate thick smoothies. Your face feels like it’s going to fall off from sucking on the straw so much. When I read avocado, I pictured guacamole in a cup. Being a Leo though, curiosity always wins. I know avocados are full of healthy fats and hemp is rich in omegas. “What have I got to lose?”

At first sip, I fell in love with my avocado, hemp, honey smoothie. It was smooth, light, and surprisingly, it ended up being my morning breakfast. I loved discovering with a couple of whirls the nutrient dense avocado is smoothie magic. I’ll always love chips and guacamole, but if you’re looking for avocado’s health benefits, it’s all about a smoothie.

What makes the avocado super fruit so good for you? It gives you close to 20 vitamins and minerals, including potassium (which helps control blood pressure), lutein (which is good for your eyes), and folate (which is crucial for cell repair and during pregnancy).

Interestingly, avocados have more potassium than bananas. I thought bananas were the potassium holy grail, but nope. Avocados are the better post workout recovery snack. Slice a halve before you head into the studio, and replenish afterwards like none other.

You’re getting vitamin B, which is great for fighting off disease and infection. It also gives you vitamins C and E, plus natural plant chemicals that may help prevent cancer. Avocados must be in the same league as coconuts. What can this super fruit not do? 

Here’s a little more avocado dazzle for you. It’s low in sugar, and high in fiber as well. It’s why avocados are a great way to start the day. Flip the script when you eat avocados. After a lifetime of guacamole and chips, rethink how you eat this fruit. Avocados smoothies give you the right serving size, instead those large scoops with salty chips.. 

Have I inspired you to get a little funky with your breakfast? Why not? Avocado’s a fruit. Add it to your rotation. Mix it up a little. Add avocado into your smoothie recipes, and you’ll physically notice the difference. Your skin and hair say hello after making it a regular part of your life.

Monounsaturated fats in avocado are the magic behind making your skin glow. It does this by maintaining moisture levels in the epidermal layer of your skin. In addition, the Omega-9 fats in avocados help reduce skin redness and irritation. Avocados can actually help repair damaged skin cells.

Additional beauty benefits also include protecting your skin from wrinkles with its antioxidant properties, carotenoids. Vitamin E helps guard against photo-aging from sun exposure. Last but not least, vitamin C in avocado creates elastin and collagen for maintaining your skin’s elasticity and firmness.

Check out these smoothie recipes to help change your regular guacamole fiesta into a low cal, low fat party instead. Create your own. It’s the best part of making smoothies a regular part of your life. Always new healthy creations to invent.

Avocado Kale Superfood Smoothie

• 1 frozen banana, chopped in small chunks
• 1/2 cup blueberry yogurt
• 1 cup kale (or spinach) leaves, chopped
• 1/2 ripe avocado
• 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk

Apple, Pear, Avocado and Spinach Detox Smoothie

• 2 red apples (they’re sweeter than green)
• 1 pear
• 1 small avocado
• a large handful of fresh spinach leaves

Blueberry Hemp Smoothie Recipe

• 1 cup hemp milk (substitute almond or coconut milk or water)
• 1/3 avocado
• 1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
• 2 tablespoons shelled hemp seeds or hemp protein powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 tablespoon honey to sweeten

Avocado: The Good Fat

I have always been really careful with avocado, as I know that it's a fruit that's really high in calories - but I have always loved the taste of it. Just recently I found a product that I feel allows me to enjoy avocado without the worry.

Thanks to Dr. Oz I have been introduced to a super special 100 calorie pack of guacamole, "Wholly Guacamole," which helps you measure how much is "too much".

Regardless of the number of calories, there are numerous health benefits to adding the fruit to your diet. Avocados are full of the "good" kind of fat that actually lowers cholesterol, (monounsaturated).

It's also the best fruit source of vitamin E, an essential vitamin that protects against many diseases, including breast cancer, and helps maintains overall health. Also, I mean, it's an all natural snack! So no having to worry about pesky preservatives or extra ingredients. Just cut and go.

This combination gives it an exceptionally diverse range of dietary advantages. And it's so easy to eat! The avocado can be served as an hors d'oeuvre, soup, salad, dip, sandwich spread, garnish, half-shell spoon-out, entree, dessert, or drink. My favorite is to make a turkey sandwhich on Ezikiel Bread with one packet of avocado for the spread. Pretty amazing! I can now add this oil-rich, nutrient-rich deliciously-flavored food in to my diet without any concern. Buy the Snack packs here and let us know how you liked them!

Bethenny Frankel's Mock-a-mole!

Guacamole is one of my own personal favorite dishes, but the problem is when too much dairy or cream (or mayo even) is added to the mixture. Also, too many avocados might be a little too harsh on the tummy - not to mention calorie heavy.

Skinny guru Bethenny Frankel has the solution - in her NY Times Best Seller book, The Skinnygirl Dish, she includes a low fat mock-a-mole, which, as she explains, has more fiber and less fat than its "regular" cousin.

Try it out and tell me what you think on your blog or in the comments below!




* 1 avocado, peeled, pitted, and mashed

* 1 cup cooked green peas

* 1/4 cup chopped fresh tomato

* 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro plus more for garnish

* 1 tablespoon chopped red onion

* 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

* 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice

* 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

* 1 teaspoon garlic salt

* 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

* 3/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce

* Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl and blend with an immersion blender until smooth. Garnish with cilantro. Serve with tortilla chips, whole grain crackers, and raw vegetables.

Use any of these variations, or mix and match them according to your tastes

* Variation 1: Instead of cooked peas, try an additional avocado.
* Variation 2: Instead of tomato, try chopped pear, grape, or cherry tomatoes.
* Variation 3: Instead of cilantro, try doubling the amount of parsley.
* Variation 4: Instead of red onion, try: Any other onion -- scallions, white parts and some of green -- chives.
* Variation 5: Instead of fresh parsley, try adding 1 extra tablespoon fresh cilantro.
* Variation 6: Instead of fresh lime juice, try other citrus juice.
* Variation 7: Instead of Worcestershire sauce, try soy sauce (including tamari or shoyu).
* Variation 8: Instead of garlic salt, try: 1 clove garlic, minced, plus ¾ teaspoon regular or seasoned salt.
* Variation 9: Instead of Tabasco sauce, try: any other hot sauce -- 1 dash cayenne pepper -- 1 pinch red pepper flakes



*Photos from Bethenny.com.