Keto Avocado Mint
Half a cup of avocado cubes is 75 grams. With unsweetened almond milk, the glass stays near 10 grams of carbohydrate.
Ingredients on the card
- 1/2 Ripe avocado
- 8 Fresh mint leaves
- 1 cup Unsweetened almond milk
- 4 Ice cubes
Blend order
- Scoop the avocado into the blender.
- Add mint, almond milk, and ice.
- Blend until completely smooth.
- Add a squeeze of lemon if you want a brighter taste.
Keto Avocado Mint is half an avocado, a small bunch of mint, a cup of unsweetened almond milk, and ice. The name "keto" describes the ingredient list people expect: no banana, no honey, no fruit juice. It does not describe a lab result. This page will not tell you that the drink produces ketones. It will tell you the total carbohydrate in weighed amounts, beside the FDA Daily Value of 275 grams of total carbohydrate, so you can compare the glass with whatever ceiling your own clinician already set.
Avocado flesh, not the pit and not the skin
FDC 171705, raw avocados, all commercial varieties, lists 1 cup of cubes at 150 grams. Half of that cup is 75 grams, a concrete stand-in for "half an avocado," which can otherwise mean almost anything. Per 100 grams the entry shows 160 kilocalories, 2.0 grams of protein, 8.53 grams of carbohydrate, 6.7 grams of fiber, 14.66 grams of fat, 485 milligrams of potassium, 81 micrograms of folate, and 21 micrograms of vitamin K.
Seventy-five grams is about 120 kilocalories, 1.5 grams of protein, 6.4 grams of carbohydrate, 5.0 grams of fiber, 11 grams of fat, 364 milligrams of potassium, 61 micrograms of folate, and 16 micrograms of vitamin K.
The NLEA serving on the same entry is 50 grams. If you scoop 50 grams instead of 75, scale by two-thirds: about 80 kilocalories, 4.3 grams of carbohydrate, and 7 grams of fat. Write the grams on a sticky note the first three times you make the drink. After that your scoop will be closer to honest.
Fiber at 5 grams in the 75-gram portion is about 18% of the 28-gram Daily Value. Fat at 11 grams is about 14% of the 78-gram Daily Value for fat. Protein is small. This is a fat-and-fiber food that blends into a savory drink, not a protein shake.
Almond milk without sugar
FDC 174832, unsweetened shelf-stable almond milk, cup of 262 grams: about 39 kilocalories, 1 gram of protein, 3.4 grams of carbohydrate, and, on this entry, a large calcium number (about 482 milligrams) that reflects the beverage as analyzed, often fortified. Sweetened almond milk, oat milk, and dairy milk are different products. Dairy milk adds about 12 grams of carbohydrate per cup of 2% (244 grams, FDC 171267 lists 4.8 grams of carbohydrate per 100 grams). That swap alone can double the carbohydrate of this recipe. If you are counting tightly, do not "use whatever milk is open."
Mint
The recipe says about 8 leaves. FDC 173475, spearmint, fresh, is 44 kilocalories per 100 grams in the search row retrieved for this project, and peppermint (FDC 173474) is 70 kilocalories per 100 grams. Eight leaves are not 100 grams. They are a fragrance. This page will not assign them a fake gram weight. If you blend a packed cup of mint you have made a different, bitter drink, and you should weigh it and look up the herb you used. For the eight-leaf version, count carbohydrate as avocado plus almond milk only.
Wash mint under running water with the other produce. Herbs are on the FDA's perishable list and belong at 40°F or below. No soap on the leaves.
Ice
Ice is frozen water. It adds volume and dilution. It does not add carbohydrate. If you add a large handful, the flavor thins and you may be tempted to pour honey "to bring it back." Honey is 304 kilocalories and 82 grams of sugars per 100 grams (FDC 169640). A 21-gram tablespoon is about 64 kilocalories and 17 grams of sugars. That spoon wrecks the low-carbohydrate point of the recipe. Leave it out. Lemon is the better brightener: 15 grams of lemon juice (FDC 167747) is about 1 gram of carbohydrate.
Two totals you can defend
Version at 75 grams avocado, 262 grams unsweetened almond milk, mint leaves, ice, no honey. Carbohydrate about 6.4 + 3.4 = 9.8 grams. Calories about 120 + 39 = 159. Fat about 11 grams plus about 2.5 grams from the almond milk (0.96 grams per 100 grams times 2.62).
Same drink plus 15 grams lemon juice. Carbohydrate about 11 grams. Calories still near 162.
Nine or eleven grams is about 4% of the 275-gram Daily Value. It is half of a 20-gram personal cap, if that is the cap you were given, and the rest of breakfast still counts. Coffee with milk, a square of dark chocolate, and a handful of berries are how a careful morning becomes an accidental high-carbohydrate morning. Log them.
A cup of blueberries, for contrast, is about 21 grams of carbohydrate by itself (148 grams, FDC 171711). This avocado drink is not that cup. Do not "improve" it with a banana. A large banana is about 31 grams of carbohydrate (136 grams, FDC 173944).
Protein gap
About 2.5 grams of protein in the basic glass, against a 50-gram Daily Value, means you will be hungry if this is all you eat, or you will snack an hour later on something you did not plan. That is not a failure of willpower. It is the protein math. If your carbohydrate cap allows it, a separate meal with eggs, fish, or tofu can carry protein. Adding 170 grams of plain nonfat Greek yogurt would add about 17.5 grams of protein and about 6 grams of carbohydrate (FDC 330137), and it would also add dairy. Do that only if the extra carbohydrate fits and you tolerate yogurt. It is a different recipe the moment you do.
Freezing avocado
Avocado that you freeze turns drab and soft. FoodSafety.gov's rule that food kept at 0°F or below remains safe indefinitely still leaves quality on the table. This drink is better with avocado you cut the same morning. If you did freeze mashed avocado, smell it, blend it, and expect a color closer to khaki than to the fruit you remember. Discard anything that smells fermented.
Who should not take the title as medical permission
People with kidney disease, people on medicines affected by big diet swings, people who are pregnant, and anyone told to follow a measured eating plan should show this gram card to a registered dietitian before repeating it for a month. Children are not small adults on a very low carbohydrate pattern. If you feel unwell, stop and call a clinician. Ordinary breakfasts remain allowed. A five-letter rotation that uses this drink as one of the days is on the 30-day page. You do not have to live on mint and avocado alone.
Vitamin K in 75 grams of avocado is about 16 micrograms, much less than a cup of spinach. This is not the high-vitamin-K drink. Greens are.
Sources for the avocado mint glass
- USDA FoodData Central FDC 171705 (avocado, cup of cubes 150 grams, NLEA serving 50 grams), FDC 174832 (unsweetened almond milk), FDC 167747 (lemon juice), FDC 169640 (honey), FDC 171711 (blueberries), FDC 173944 (banana), FDC 330137 (Greek yogurt). Spearmint and peppermint search rows FDC 173475 and 173474, cited only per 100 grams.
- U.S. FDA Daily Values: total carbohydrate 275 grams, dietary fiber 28 grams, protein 50 grams, total fat 78 grams.
- FoodSafety.gov Cold Food Storage Chart, 0°F note.
- U.S. FDA produce washing page, applied to mint.