California Avocado Commission - Hand Grown in California

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Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005

Make Better Food Choices - Dietary Guidelines

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans and MyPyramid are designed to help you choose foods that provide all the nutrients you need and to reduce the risk of chronic diseases, including heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Detailed dietary eating guidelines can be found by visiting the MyPyramid.gov.

Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005

The new guidelines emphasize choosing foods that provide substantial amounts of vitamins and minerals and relatively few calories. Fruits and vegetables are two of the major food groups that you are encouraged to eat more of to keep you healthy.

How Avocados Fit Into a Healthy Diet

The new dietary guidelines recommend 2 cups of fruit and 2 1/2 cups of vegetables daily.

• A serving of avocado on MyPyramid.gov is 1/2 of a medium avocado, which counts as 1 fruit and 3 fat servings.
• The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends a 50-calorie serving equal to 1 ounce which is about 1/5 of a medium avocado or 2-3 thin slices or 2 Tbsp mashed avocado. This counts as 1 serving of fat on MyPyramid.
• When used instead of other fats, avocados contribute nearly 20 vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients and can be part of a calorie-reduced diet.

Avocados Provide Mono- and Polyunsaturated Fats

Avocados contribute nearly 20 vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients, including 4% of the recommended Daily Value (DV) for vitamin E, 4% vitamin C, 8% folate, 4% fiber, 2% iron, 4% potassium, with 81 micrograms of lutein and 19 micrograms of beta-carotene. Fresh avocado on sandwiches and toast or substituted as a spread in place of many other popular foods may help reduce dietary intake of calories, fat, saturated fat, sodium and cholesterol.