Many people make the mistake of assuming that if a food is high-calorie or high-fat it must be unhealthy, and they should avoid it. This is not true. Although consuming an excess of calories is something you should avoid, unless your fitness goal is to gain weight instead of lose it, high-calorie foods themselves are not fattening, nor are they necessarily unhealthy. Many such foods contain rich amounts of vitamins, minerals, protein and fats that are good for your health and physique.
Peanut Butter
Many grew up eating peanut butter, especially in the form of the iconic peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Despite its popularity, surprisingly few people know that besides being delicious, peanut butter is also incredibly healthy.
Peanut butter has a very high amount of fat in it. Though at first this may seem unhealthy, all fats are not created equal.The main constituent of peanut butter's fat content is monosaturated fat, which if consumed in moderation may reduce your body's levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or bad cholesterol.
According to Nutrition Data, peanut butter contains high levels high levels of vitamin E, vitamin B3, iron, potassium, copper and calcium. Natural peanut butter is generally superior to more refined varieties, as processing peanut butter may cause it to lose valuable vitamins and minerals and often involves adding hydrogenated oils to the peanut butter to maintain consistency. As a result natural peanut butter has less total and saturated fat than regular varieties.
A single tablespoon of peanut butter, 16g, contains 97 calories, giving it a calorie per gram ratio of 5.87. Peanut butter thus provides a high caloric content and great nutritional value.
Avocados
Another high-fat but healthy food is the avocado, a seed-bearing fruit originating from the equatorial regions of North and South America. As with peanut butter, the majority of the fat in an avocado is monosaturated and thus heart-healthy.
According to Nutrition Data, avocados have high levels of the important mineral potassium, an important electrolyte also used by the body to control brain and muscle function. In addition to this avocados contain 40 percent of the RDA for fiber in only one serving, and high levels of vitamins B5, B3, B6, B9, vitamin K and vitamin E, as well as appreciable amounts of the minerals calcium, magnesium, phosphorous and zinc.
A single avocado, 201g, contains 322 calories, which works out to a ratio of 1.6 calories per gram.
Buffalo Meat
Protein is important for athletes and those who engage in active lifestyles. Without adequate intake of protein, the body cannot repair itself and adapt to the demands of exercise and stress. However, many high-protein foods contain large amounts of saturated fat, a known risk factor for developing cardiovascular disease. The number of high-protein, high-calorie foods which do not contain large amounts of saturated fat are quite low. Beef, a staple protein source of traditional Western diets, is perhaps the most notable example of this.
Fortunately a leaner alternative to beef has recently become more widely available. The meat of the American bison contains approximately equal amounts of protein compared to beef, but with much lower amounts of fat and cholesterol.
According to Nutrition Data, in addition to its high-protein content, bison meat provides nutrition through its high levels of iron, zinc, potassium, copper, phosphorous and vitamin B12.
A 3-oz. portion of broiled bison meat contains 202 calories, working out to 2.4 calories per gram, bison meat provides great nutrition with a high-calorie punch.
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