Avocados are easily one of my favorite sources of tasty whole-food fats. I noticed huge changes when I stopped eating oils and focused on getting my essential fatty acids from whole foods instead. Check out my article “The Truth About Oils: Are Oils Really a Health Food?” explaining why I no longer recommend regular consumption of oils in a healthy diet (even the supposedly heart healthy oils!)

My husband and I bought raw land here in Hawaii 14 months ago and luckily it came with 7 well established avocado trees. Having a few mature, fruit-bearing trees on our land has been an absolute game changer! I really notice how picking food right from the source is incredibly nourishing for my body, mind and spirit and I truly believe that reconnecting to our food source is one of the keys to healing a disordered relationship with food.

As an excellent source of magnesium, great for plant-based facial masks and stacked with 20 different vitamins and minerals, avocados have become a staple ingredient in our household, although I do watch my intake of them since they are a very high fat fruit and don’t eat them excessively, simply because they are “raw”. I personally don’t like overdue my fat intake and prefer to keep it around 15% of my total caloric intake.

With such love for avocados naturally comes a recipe for guacamole! Guacamole is one of the most complete yet simplest snack meals in my diet.  It can be as smooth or as chunky as you like. You can add eat it with tacos, fresh veggies and flavor it anywhere from sweet to spicy. Not to mention it tastes great, supports digestion, heart health and boosts immunity!

Here’s a simple guac recipe. You can play with this however you like but I prefer to hand mix mine in a kitchen bowl with a regular fork so that some avocado chunks remain but the juices and flavors combine.

Quick and Easy Guacamole Ingredients:

• 1 Avocado
• 1/2 medium tomato
• Diced cilantro to taste
• Juice from 1/2 a lime
• Lightly topped with some all-purpose (salt-free) seasoning

I no longer add salt to my dishes. If you haven’t read my report on how salt can affect your weight, you can find it here: My Unexpected Journey to Weight Loss.

Feel free to experiment and add some of your favorite fruits or herbs. You can also add diced chili pepper, garlic or onion as you prefer.

Enjoy!

Aloha from the Big Island of Hawaii!

Laura Dawn, Author of Unhooked: A Holistic Approach to Ending Your Struggle with Food as well as Mindful Eating for Dummies.