Health Benefits of Avocado

Health Benefits of Avocado

The avocado (Persea americana) is a tree native to Central Mexico, classified in the flowering plant family Lauraceae along with cinnamon, camphor and bay laurel. Avocado or alligator pear also refers to the fruit (botanically a large berry that contains a single seed) of the tree, which may be pear-shaped, egg-shaped or spherical.

Avocados contain a special kind of sugar that helps prevent low blood sugar, so may be the
ideal diet food. The avocado got its name from the ancient Aztec word for testicle (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/avocado), and acquired a salacious reputation as an aphrodisiac,which is no doubt why Spanish monks banned it from monastery gardens after the conquistadors brought it back from Mexico.Nowadays, it’s enjoying something of a renaissance. This time round, though, nutritionists are focusing not on its romantic benefits but its health benefits. Avocados are now often included in that band of select foods dubbed ‘superfoods’ because of their special nutritional value .

First of all, avocado is thought to be good for blood choles-terol levels, and so for protection against heart disease. It’s high in fat, so is both filling and full of energy, but it’s the right kind of fat: monounsaturated fats. Avocados are rich in fibre and in plant chemicals called beta-sitosterol, which both help lower cholesterol. Australian research showed that eating half to one-and-a-half avocados a day for just three weeks could significantly reduce levels of the ‘bad’ LDL (low-density lipoprotein) choles-terol while maintaining levels of the ‘good’ HDL (high-density lipoprotein) cholesterol. Some researchers predict that heart patients could cut their risk of heart disease by 10–20% and their rate of death by 4–8% by eating an avocado a day over three years.

Avocados are also thought to help protect against heart dis-ease by lowering blood pressure. Bananas are often advocated for their blood-pressure benefits because they are rich in potassium, but avocados contain two-and-a-half times as much. They are also rich in magnesium, which is again good for blood pressure.Some researchers argue that avocados can protect against certain kinds of cancer, supplying antioxidants to mop up the free radicals that are thought to be cancer-causing. Avocados contain more of the antioxidant vitamin E, plus three times as much of the antioxidant glutathione, than any other fruit. Diabetes organisations often advise people with Type 2 diabetes to eat avocados, too. They believe that not only do the avocado’s contents of monounsaturated fat and triglyceride help protect against the heart disease linked to diabetes, but its high fibre content counters many of the effects of diabetes, including regulating insulin levels.


And finally, recent research has shown that avocados contain a kind of sugar that helps prevent blood sugar levels from dropping. This isn’t only good for diabetics, but may also make avocados the perfect diet food. People are often spurred to eat more carbohydrate-rich food as their blood sugar levels drop. If their blood sugar stays at normal levels, they won’t feel the need to eat to raise it.None of the benefits of the avocado are fully proven yet. But there is enough suggestive evidence to make it worthwhile for all of us to eat avocados more often.