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Food · Fruit · Tropical
food source · 2
Avocado has about 480 mg of potassium per 100 g of flesh, a little more than the same weight of banana. Most of its calories come from fat, but people who need to limit potassium still have to count it by weight.
Mechanism · Potassium in a fruit that is not sweet
Most people eat too little potassium and too much sodium. Avocado is barely sweet and gets most of its calories from fat, and its potassium sits in the same flesh without any load of sugar. People who need to limit potassium still have to count it by weight: a fatty fruit is not a low-potassium fruit.
Numbers · The potassium in one avocado
Avocado has about 480 mg of potassium per 100 g of flesh, a little more than the same weight of banana (about 358 mg); a medium Hass avocado has about 150 g of flesh. High potassium is good news for most people, but people with more advanced chronic kidney disease, or on drugs that make the kidneys hold on to potassium (such as ACE inhibitors, sartan blood-pressure drugs or spironolactone), should follow their doctor's advice on how much high-potassium food to eat. Avocado is not an omega-3 source either; that is what fish is for.
Avocado has about 7 g of fiber per 100 g, which is high for a fruit; most of its 9 g of carbohydrate is fiber, so the net carbohydrate that can raise blood glucose is small.
Mechanism · Most of the carbohydrate is fiber
Most fruit is mainly sugar and water. Most of avocado's carbohydrate is fiber that gut bacteria can ferment, so little sugar reaches the blood. Its fat also slows the emptying of the stomach, and together the two keep it from raising blood glucose quickly the way a sweet fruit does.
Numbers · Low carb is not low calorie
Avocado has about 7 g of fiber per 100 g; most of its roughly 9 g of carbohydrate is fiber, so the net carbohydrate is small. But it also has about 15 g of fat and around 160 kcal per 100 g, with most of the calories coming from fat, so it is not a low-carb fruit to eat without limit. Counted as a serving of fat, a third to half of a medium avocado a day is a reasonable amount for most people.