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You probably know that avocado is an excellent source of healthy fats, but this whole food may also have other unique health benefits.
To learn more, Hass Avocado Board (HAB) is supporting clinical research to investigate various health effects of consuming avocado, especially its benefits for cardiovascular disease, weight control, diabetes, and the ability of this fruit to enhance your body’s absorption of nutrients.
The first of these HAB-supported studies was published in November, 2012.1 The small pilot study conducted by UCLA found that eating half of a fresh avocado with a hamburger (made with 90% lean beef) significantly inhibited the production of the inflammatory compound Interleukin-6 (IL-6), compared to eating a burger without fresh avocado.
According to project manager David Heber, MD, PhD, the findings offer “promising information” on avocado’s ability to help vascular function and heart health. As reported by Medical News:
“The researchers noted a significant peak (approximately a 70% increase), of IL-6 four hours after the plain burger was eaten, but less effect on IL-6 (roughly a 40% increase) over the same period when fresh avocado was consumed with the burger.
Additionally, the study determined that when fresh avocado was eaten with the burger, it did not increase triglyceride levels beyond whatever they noticed after eating the burger only, despite the extra calories and fat from the avocado.
The pilot research also stated that the difference in peripheral arterial blood flow (the flow of blood to various parts of our body, as measured by PAT), a predictor of vascular health, after having the hamburger meal compared to the hamburger-fresh avocado meal was approaching statistical significance.
PAT scores significantly decreased (signifying reduced blood flow) only after the plain burger was eaten (approximately a 27% drop, on average) compared to a burger with fresh avocado (around a 4% drop, meaning less reduction in blood flow).”
Avocado – A Super Fruit
Avocado, currently classified as a fruit, is rich in monounsaturated fats that are easily burned by the body for energy. Eating a whole avocado every day enhances the healthy fat and calorie intake without seriously increasing protein or carbohydrates intake. (See nutrition facts panel below)
Avocado is also rich in potassium and will help balance the critical potassium/sodium ratio.
Dropping grain carbs is one of the best ways to maintain your health and weight, but when you cut down on carbs, you need to boost your intake of healthy fats.
Avocado oil is also great, along with oragnic raw butter, coconut oil, and eggs from organically fed chickens.
Avocado Nutritional facts
Serving size 150g
Amount per serving
Calories 240 – Calories from fat 184
Total fat 22g 34%
Saturated fat 3g 16%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 11mg 0%
Total carbohydrates 13 g 4%
-Dietary fiber 10 g 40%
-Sugars 1g
Protein 3g
Vitamin A 4% Vitamin C 25%
Calcium 2% Iron 5%
Source: NutritionData.com * % Daily value
There’s also evidence suggesting that limiting the amount of protein intake can be helpful for long-term good health and cancer prevention.
At the very least, most people are overeating low-quality protein, such as beef and animal products from livestock raised in confined spaces. Here again, if you reduce animal protein, you need to replenish lost calories with healthy fats such as avocado, coconut oil, olives, olive oil, butter, and nuts.
In general, most people would do well to get more than 50-70% fat in their diet (along with copious amounts of vegetable carbs, moderate-to-low amounts of high-quality protein, and minimal, if any, carbs).
According to the California Avocado Commission, a medium Hass avocado contains about 22.5 grams of fat, two-thirds of which is monounsaturated. Avocado is also low in fructose, which is yet another advantage, and provides nearly 20 essential health-boosting nutrients, including:
-Fiber
-Potassium (more than twice the quantity found in a banana)
-Vitamin E
-B vitamins
-Folic acid
Avocado is one of the safest conventionally grown fruit you can buy, and most experts do not think you need to buy organic ones.
His thick bark protects the fruit within from pesticides. Besides, it was rated as one of the safest commercial crops regarding exposure to pesticides, so there is no actual need to spend more money on organic avocados unless you can afford it.
Avocado has a long list of potential health benefits. For example, in addition to its anti-inflammatory properties, previous research from Japan suggests that this powerful fruit could also help against liver injury.
In one study rats were fed with avocado and other 22 fruits. The rats fed avocado experienced the least amount of liver damage. The chemical-induced liver damages match those made by viruses, so the researchers advised avocado could offer help in the treatment of viral hepatitis. According to one of the principal authors of the study, Hirokazu Kawagishi:
“Besides offering taste and nutrition, avocados seem to improve liver health. People should eat more of them.”
Due to the raw fats content, avocado gives your body a more efficient way of absorbing soluble nutrients (such as alpha and beta-carotene and lutein) from other foods when eaten with this fruit.
A 2005 study observed that adding avocado to a salad enabled the volunteers to absorb three to five times extra carotenoids antioxidant molecules, which help protect your body against free radical damage.
Other research has found that avocados:
- Contain compounds that seem to inhibit and kill oral cancer cells.
- Can help improve lipid profiles in both healthy individuals and those with non-optimized HDL/ total cholesterol levels). In one study, healthy individuals have seen a 16% decrease of cholesterol level as a result of a one-week long diet high in monounsaturated fat from avocados. In those with high cholesterol levels, the avocado diet resulted in a 17% decrease of serum total cholesterol, and a 22% decrease of both LDL-cholesterol and triglycerides, along with an 11% increase of the so-called “good” HDL cholesterol.
The best way to peel an avocado
Did you know that there are multiple ways to peel an avocado? Well, there are, and the way you peel an avocado it affects the nutrients you get from it. In 2010, the California Avocado Commission issued guidelines to get the most out of your avocado by peeling it the right way.
California-grown avocados hold 11 carotenoids. According to USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, avocados contain a sophisticated set of phytonutrients, including carotenoids that may give many health benefits.
Read also about: 11 Amazing Health Benefits of Carrots
Carotenoids appear to guard humans against specific cancers, heart disease, and age-related macular degeneration.
The UCLA analysis revealed that in California avocados, the highest concentration of essential carotenoids is in the dark green fruit of the avocado closest to the peel.
To maintain the area with the highest concentration of antioxidants, you need to strip the avocado with your hands, as you would with a banana:
- First, cut the avocado lengthwise, around the seed
- Holding each half, rotate them in the opposite directions to separate them from the seed
- Remove the seed
- Cut each half, lengthwise
- Next step, using your thumb and index finger, peel the skin off each piece
How to get more avocados in your diet
While avocado is usually eaten raw, in salads or just the fruit alone, with nothing except a little Himalayas salt and a bit of ground pepper, for example, there are many other ways to include avocado in your diet. For example, you can use avocado in the following ways:
- Use as a fat replacement in baking. Just replace the fat called for (such as oil, butter or shortening) with an equal amount of avocado.
- Use as a first food for babies, instead of processed baby food.
For more ideas on this topic, I recommend you to buy Absolutely Avocados: 80 Amazing Avocado Recipes for Every Meal of the Day from Amazon. It has 80 AVOCADO RECIPES! You’ll love it, trust me. (Me = Paul = The Foodie Dad)
You can also comment down below with your opinion about avocados 🙂