Is Your Personal Food Pyramid Ready to Crumble? Avocados Can Help
Avocados Make Eating Pyramid-Perfect Easy

The 2005 USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans and MyPyramid form the principles of healthy eating. Did you know that Hass Avocados can help you meet those guidelines, and serve as a component of a diet that may help you maintain a healthy weight and reduce the risk of developing many chronic diseases?

The 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend 2 cups of fruit and 2½ cups of vegetables each day for a standard 2,000 calorie-per-day diet. As a delicious fruit, avocados can help you meet your daily quota for fruits and veggies when incorporated into your diet. One ounce of a fresh avocado has 50 calories and contributes nearly 20 vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients to one's diet.

The Dietary Guidelines recommend choosing a variety of nutrient dense foods that deliver a considerable amount of nutrients, relative to their calories, within and among the basic food groups. Fruits and vegetables are two of the major food groups of which consumers are encouraged to increase their intake.

The Dietary Guidelines also encourage limiting the intake of saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, added sugars, sodium and alcohol. Avocados are a great choice, as they contribute primarily mono and polyunsaturated fat. Additionally, they are low in saturated fat and naturally free of trans fats and sodium. Avocados help in meeting major nutrition goals of reducing saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium in the diet, when they are consumed in place of foods containing those nutrients.

To view the full 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans report, visit www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines.

To learn more about MyPyramid and to see how avocados fit within the program, visit www.mypyramid.gov.