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Avocados are not only rich in fiber but also meet the criteria set by the Food and Drug Administration to be identified as a good source of fiber. According to the FDA, it is required for one serving of food to provide 10% of the required daily fiber intake for It to qualify as a good source of fiber.
One serving of avocado weighing 50g (1/3rd of whole fruit) contains slightly over 3.3g of total dietary fiber. This is well over 10% of the minimum daily fiber requirement of 25g (=2.5g) as stipulated by the World Health Organization and the FDA according to a trusted Journal.1
In this article we’ll take a look at the types of fiber you’ll get from eating avocados, the fiber content of different portion sizes of the fruit, and whether avocados can be classified among high-fiber foods.
What type of fiber do avocados have?
Like most other fruits, avocados have both types of dietary fibers which are soluble and insoluble. You may want to find out more about the two types of dietary fibers as covered in detail in a previous article.
The two types of avocados consumed in the United States differ in their fiber content just as they also differ in their fat content as highlighted in an earlier article. Table 1 below shows the percentage of soluble and insoluble fibers contained in the California hass and Florida avocados.
| Avocado type | Percentage of Insoluble fiber content | Percentage of soluble fiber content |
|---|---|---|
| California Hass | 63% | 37% |
| Florida | 82% | 18% |
Dietary fibers play important roles in health maintenance and promotion. The two types of dietary fibers offer different health benefits. Whereas the soluble fibers help in lowering cholesterol and sugar levels, the insoluble fibers promote digestive health.
Generally, both types of avocados have greater amounts of insoluble than soluble fibers so they both have a positive impact on digestive health but the Florida type has more of this.
Depending on your health needs, one type of avocado may be more beneficial to you than the other. If your problem is heart health and blood sugar spikes, the California Hass will serve you better among the two. On the other hand, if your problem is constipation and hemorrhoids, the Florida avocado will be more beneficial.
Are avocados high in fiber?
Avocados are among the top high-fiber content foods because they are not only good sources of fiber as defined by the FDA, but they also help you meet the daily dietary reference intake set by the United States Institute of Medicine for high-fiber diets.
The dietary fiber recommendation for adults ranges from 25-30g as published in the National Library of Medicine.2 The exact amount of dietary fiber you need is directly proportional to the amount of calories you consume daily. Every 1,000 calories taken Is expected to go with 14g of dietary fiber according to the Department of Agriculture (USDA). So it doesn’t come as a surprise men need more fiber since they consume more calories on average than women.
Studies have shown North Americans are usually only able to meet up with half the daily dietary fiber intake requirement, avocados boost your chances of reaching the daily fiber requirements in addition to high quantities of healthy unsaturated fatty acids your body needs.
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How much fiber is in an avocado?
The amount of fiber you’ll get in an avocado varies considerably with the size in question. The bigger an avocado the more fibers it offers. Eating larger portion sizes translates to taking in more fiber.
An avocado that weighs 150g offers you about 10g of dietary fiber whereas a much bigger fruit weighing 201g offers you as much as 13.5g. 100g of the fruit provides 6.7g of fiber. (source)
How much fiber is in a half avocado?
The amount of dietary fiber in a half avocado will depend on the original size of the reference fruit. For a medium-sized avocado weighing 150g, you’ll get about 5g of dietary fiber but when dealing with an avocado of up to 201g you’ll get up to 6.75g of dietary fiber as shown in table 2.
I reckon with the fact there could be a lot of approximations in arriving at the provided figures. Perhaps a more meticulously calculated amount of fibers in half an avocado could be about 4.6g as given by the National Library of Medicine.3
How much fiber is in a medium avocado?
The medium-sized avocado is often the reference size in calculating the nutrients In avocados, weighing about 150g. From Table 2 below you can see a medium-sized avocado offers you about 10g of dietary fiber. No matter the type of avocado, much of this is insoluble fiber which helps digestive health.
Fiber in 1/4 avocado.
The amount of dietary fiber you can get from a quarter of an avocado will depend on the original size of the avocado. For a medium-sized avocado, you’ll get about 2.5g of dietary fiber whereas a larger fruit of up to 201g will offer you about 3.38g.
The logic behind this is straightforward. Knowing the amount of fiber contained in a whole avocado fruit will help you to easily calculate the fiber content of a quarter of the fruit. For instance 10g ÷ 4 = 2.5g.
Below is a table of the fiber contents of several amounts, serving sizes, and whole avocado fruits.
| Size of avocado. | 1 whole medium-sized avocado weighing 150g |
|---|---|
| 1/4 avocado weighing 37.5g | 2.5g |
| 1 NLEA serving (50g) | 3.35g |
| 1/2 an avocado weighing 75g | 5g |
| 100g of avocado | 6.7g |
| 1 cup of sliced avocados weighing 146g | 9.78g |
| 1 cup of avocado cubes weighing 150g | 10g |
| 1 whole medium-sized avocado weighing 150g | 10g |
| 1 whole large avocado fruit weighing 201g | 13.5g |
| 1 cup of pureed avocado weighing 230g | 15.4g |
Are avocados a good source of fiber?
According to the FDA, for a food to be regarded as a good source of dietary fiber it must provide up to 10% of the daily dietary fiber requirement in one serving and to be taken as an excellent source of fiber, it should have up to 20% in one serving. As stated earlier in this article, adults need a minimum of 25g of dietary fiber daily.
10% of the minimum daily dietary requirement for adults is 2.5g (25g ÷ 10). One serving of avocado, according to the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA), offers 3.35g of dietary fiber as shown in Table 2 above. This is well above the 10% of daily dietary requirement so places avocados as certified good sources of dietary fiber.
References.
- Mamat Ibrahim, S. F. K. ., Ali, A. ., Kamarudin, K. S. ., Ibrahim, N. H. ., & Hasim, A. S. . (2022). Habitual Dietary Fibre Intake and Lifestyle Characteristics in Relation to Functional Constipation Among Adults in Malaysia. Malaysian Applied Biology, 51(6), 47–55. https://doi.org/10.55230/mabjournal.v51i6.2391 ↩︎
- McKeown NM, Fahey GC Jr, Slavin J, van der Kamp JW. Fiber intake for optimal health: how can healthcare professionals support people to reach dietary recommendations? BMJ. 2022 Jul 20;378:e054370. doi: 10.1136/bmj-2020-054370. PMID: 35858693; PMCID: PMC9298262. ↩︎
- Dreher ML, Davenport AJ. Hass avocado composition and potential health effects. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2013;53(7):738-50. doi: 10.1080/10408398.2011.556759. PMID: 23638933; PMCID: PMC3664913. ↩︎
