Avocado Health Benefit 15 Reasons to Eat This Fabulous Fruits!

Avocado, something that essentially falls under the category of a fruit, has high fatty acid content but fewer calories than what you find in butter. The fat content, though pretty high, comes from a source called phytosterols which is extremely beneficial for the human system. It is the creamy flesh of which is light-green in colour, not so sweet in taste that is the edible portion of the fruit.

Also known as Alligator Pear, by virtue of its leathery appearance, Avocado is grown on Persea Americana, a tree from the Lauraceae family. The avocado trees are long, goes up to about 65 feet in height and the fruit weighs somewhere between 8 ounces and 3 pounds, depending on its size. The fruit, though, unlikely in resemblance, has a close association with cinnamon and is harvested only when ripe and fine.

Although grown in varieties, the most popular one is that of creamy Hass variety. Though grown in tropical, subtropical and equatorial areas, it grows the best in Mediterranean climate and actually originated in Puebla, Mexico, back in 10,000 B.C. Ancient Central American and South American people used to use wild avocados, but it appeared in other parts of the world only in the last 500 years and gained enormous popularity for its health benefits.

Avocado’s because of their thick skin, are the least exposed to pesticides and are usually eaten raw. So now you know there is no need to buy organic avocados 🙂

There are a lot of ways to actually consume it; it could be eaten raw, as a dessert whip, as a shake, or even as a salad or on a toast. The most popular use of avocados is as a topping on hamburgers and sandwiches in parts of America.

Avocado is also an alternative for butter or mayonnaise by virtue of its low-fat content (high but lower than that of butter) as 3.5oz avocados contain 14.66g fat, whereas the same amount of butter contains 81g fat.

Let’s talk nutrition?

Called a “superfood,” avocados are rich in every nutrient, vitamin, mineral – you name it. They also are a source of monounsaturated fatty acids with a low sugar content. They contain calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, all the vitamins, dietary fibre and a single serving can actually provide more than 40% of the daily requirement of nutrient. Avocados are rich in potassium and being so, they balance the potassium to sodium ratio important for a healthy body. A medium-sized Hass avocado contains 22.5 grams fat, 23 of which is monounsaturated in nature. They are also an extraordinary composition of organic compounds like phytosterols, carotenoids, and flavonoids.

Let’s talk benefits!