Find out whether guacamole is good for weight loss or fattening so you don’t mess up all your hard work with one tasty dip.
The first thing to note is that guacamole recipes can vary a lot in nutrients. This article focuses on a relatively healthy recipe.
This type of guacamole is relatively low in calories, high in fiber, and contains nice amounts of vitamins and minerals.
Eating more of this dip will likely fill you up enough to consume smaller portions of foods that are worse for weight loss.
In turn, you can say that the right guacamole recipes are generally good for weight loss.
On the flip side, you do need to know that just adding guacamole on top of your current diet may not be enough to see results.
The other changes need to happen too.
Additionally, suboptimal guacamole recipes with certain ingredients like extra sugar can hinder your weight loss efforts.
Guacamole recipe used in this article
While there are general tendencies, guacamole recipes can vary in terms of ingredient ratios and in turn, how weight-loss-friendly they are.
Below you can find what quantities of ingredients the guacamole in this article will “contain”.
Avocado, onions, lemon juice, and salt are a relatively basic but relevant mix in terms of general tendencies.
In reality, many recipes also use ingredients like garlic, jalapenos, lime juice, tomatoes, cumin, pepper, basil, and many more.
These ingredients make guacamole usually a vegan-friendly food.
This article will use the nutritional values for the following simple guacamole ratio of ingredients (1):
- 400 grams of avocados
- 5 grams of raw onions
- 5 grams of raw lemon juice
- 3.6 grams of salt
When making your own (hopefully weight-loss-friendly) guacamole recipe, you want to pay more attention to some ingredient quantities than others.
For example, adding one tablespoon of olive oil to this portion of guacamole would add 126 calories (2).
This comes down to about 24 calories extra per 100 grams. This is more than certain low-calorie vegetables contain per 100 grams!
Calories in guacamole
How many calories guacamole does not say everything but it is still helpful information when trying to lose weight.
The guacamole recipe in this article contains about 155 calories per 100 grams (1).
While certain food groups like vegetables and fruits tend to do even better, it is fair to say that guacamole is relatively low in calories compared to many foods.
With only 1.95 grams of net carbs per 100 grams, this guacamole also tends to be keto-friendly.
In short, guacamole is relatively low in calories which is generally good when trying to lose weight.
Looking at where these calories come from can benefit your weight loss diet efforts too.
Fiber in guacamole for weight loss
When you are considering a recipe with mainly plant-based ingredients like guacamole for weight loss, you definitely want to take a look at the fiber in it too.
The guacamole in this article contains about 6.5 grams of fiber per 100 grams (1).
This is a relatively high amount of fiber. Even compared to many other whole foods.
Fiber is generally good for weight loss because it is really filling without really adding absorbable calories to your diet.
Many people struggle with hunger and cravings so this in itself is a big plus.
Additionally, fiber can benefit the composition of your microbiome which can in turn, benefit weight loss.
However, this second area needs more research and will very likely have more nuances than this.
So guacamole is relatively high in fiber which is typically helpful when trying to lose weight.
Vitamins and minerals in guacamole
It is hard to make very specific statements about how much the vitamins and minerals in guacamole will benefit weight loss.
Partly because how much you already consume of these vitamins and minerals will often influence the results you get.
That being said, it is generally smart to consume enough of these micronutrients when trying to lose weight.
100 grams of this guacamole recipe contains the following vitamins and minerals (1):
- Vitamin K: 25% of the DV (Daily Value)
- Folate: 20% of the DV
- Vitamin C: 17% of the DV
- Sodium: 14% of the DV
- Vitamin B6: 13% of the DV
And some other vitamins and minerals in smaller amounts.
There are more impressive foods too but guacamole contains a nice amount of vitamins and minerals.
While this may not be priority number one, the extra nutrients in guacamole are generally at least slightly beneficial for weight loss and health.
Does guacamole help you lose weight?
Overall, this guacamole recipe is relatively low in calories, high in fiber, and contains nice amounts of vitamins and minerals.
The result is that eating more of the “right” guacamole will likely make you feel a lot fuller and help you eat less of foods that are worse for weight loss.
In turn, it is fair to say that guacamole can often help you lose weight.
On the flip side, you still need to make these other changes to see a lot of positive results.
There are also many examples of store-bought guacamole that contain sugar and other sweeteners.
These will generally be a lot less helpful for weight loss (although potentially still ok).
Is it OK to eat guacamole every day?
While there are conditions, it is often OK to eat guacamole every day.
The first condition is that you eat one of the healthy guacamole recipes.
Ones with sugar are likely not the end of your health but you generally want to take it easier with these.
Secondly, certain individuals, often people who lift a lot of weights, will find guacamole so filling that it is hard to consume enough of certain nutrients.
In this exceptional case, you could argue that eating guacamole every day is not ideal.
What to eat with guacamole for weight loss
Since you likely don’t eat guacamole by the tablespoon, you want to keep in mind what you eat it with.
Some of the better foods to eat with guacamole while losing weight include raw vegetables like carrots, celery, cucumber, slices of bell peppers, cauliflower, and so on.
Other combinations like guacamole with crackers, toast, sandwiches, etc. are typically not as optimal for weight loss.
FAQ
Does guacamole burn belly fat?
Guacamole in itself does not really burn belly fat in significant amounts.
At the same time, it is worth mentioning that guacamole is relatively good for weight loss which can benefit your belly fat burning efforts overall.
Is guacamole healthy or fattening?
The right guacamole recipes tend to lean more in the direction of being healthy, not fattening.
At the same time, you want to keep in mind that the rest of your diet and lifestyle habits are important too.
