Avocadoes are fruits that have a creamy texture and grow in warm climates. Besides just a fruit, avocado has different health benefits for your overall health.
Their potential health benefits include improving digestion, protects against cancer, and decrease your risk of developing cancer.
Moreover, it is filled with good calories, is a great source of good fats, and is a versatile fruit.
It provides a sufficient amount of healthy monosaturated fatty acid or monosaturated fat, MUFA.
Thus reducing the amount of monounsaturated fatty acids or monounsaturated fat.
Naturally, they have a lot of nutrients and nearly 20 vitamins and minerals that improve your overall health.
In this article, we will take an in-depth look at the potential benefits of avocados, their nutritional breakdown, and the potential risks of eating them.
Let’s first start with its nutritional values:
Nutritional Value of Avocados
Avocado comes from the plant Persea Americana and is high in nutrition.
It is a very popular fruit and you can add it into different dishes as it is good in flavor and rich in texture.
Moreover, it is the main ingredient in guacamole.
With changing world and increasing awareness, many people are now using this fruit.
Moreover, it is often referred to as a superfood due to its health benefits.
There are different types of avocados, however, Jass avocado is a popular one.
Moreover, they contain a variety of nutrients including 20 vitamins and minerals.
The following are some of the nutrients present in 3.5 ounces or 100 grams per serving of avocado:
- folate about 20% of the DV, daily value
- Vitamin B5 14% of DV, Vitamin B6 13% of DV
- Potassium 14% of DV
- Vitamin C 17% of DV
- Vitamin K 26% of DV, Vitamin E 10% of DV
Additionally, it contains small amounts of magnesium manganese, copper, iron, zinc, phosphorus, Vitamin A, B2, Riboflavin, and B3, niacin
It contains 160 calories, 2 grams of protein, and 15 grams of healthy fats.
Though it contains 9 grams of carbs, 7 of which are fiber, thus they contain only 2 grams of carbs making them great for healthy weight loss.
They have a low content of cholesterol or sodium as well as saturated fats.
Learn more about superfoods for weight loss.
Now let us discuss the health benefits of Avocados
Avocado Benefits
Avocados are great as they contain 20 vitamins and minerals that are beneficial for your overall health.
While many fruits contain carbs, avocado is high in healthy fats which makes them ideal fruit.
Different studies suggest that they have powerful health benefits.
Because of their nutritional values, and ability to retain bad cholesterol, they are a good option for weight loss, are beneficial for the health of your heart, lowers cholesterol, and can help prevent cancer.
Let’s discuss these health benefits.
Absorb Nutrients From Plant Foods
Including Avocado helps your gut bacteria and absorption of nutrients.
Nutrients not only depend on your intake but also on the ability of your body to absorb them.
Your body needs to move them from the digestive tract to parts where it can use them.
Some nutrients are soluble in water or fat-soluble.
Vitamin A, D, E, and K are fat-soluble vitamins as well as antioxidants like carotenoids.
Studies show that if you add avocado or its oil to your salads or salsa, it increases the absorption of antioxidants by 2.6 to 15 fold.
Thus, avocado is not only high in nutrition but also increases the nutrient values of other plant foods.
You can use it as it is a healthy fat source when eating vegetables.
Learn more about vitamin D deficiency.
Lowers Cholesterol
According to WHO, World Health Organization, heart diseases are one of the most common causes of death in the whole world.
Different markers are linked to an increase in the risk of developing it.
This includes cholesterol, triglycerides, inflammatory markers, blood pressure, and other causes.
According to a study, avocados help to reduce cholesterol, triglycerides by up to 20%, LDL cholesterol by 22%, and increases good or HDL cholesterol by 11%.
Moreover, another study suggests that if you are vegetarians, then it can also improve your cholesterol profile.
Makes you Healthy
A study that included 17,567 participants concluded that people who eat avocado tend to be healthier than those who do not.
Moreover, they had higher nutrient intake as well as less likely to have metabolic syndrome.
This is one of the clusters of syndrome that increases your chances of developing heart diseases and diabetes, Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes.
Thus, people who eat avocado are within the range of healthy weight, have a lower BMI, and have less body fat.
They also have a higher level of good or HDL cholesterol.
Rich in Fiber
Avocados are rich in fiber just like other nutrients.
It is a plant matter that contributes to weight loss, reduces blood sugar levels, and lowers your risk of developing other diseases as well.
However, there is a difference between soluble and insoluble fiber.
Soluble fiber feeds gut-friendly bacteria in your intestines which are beneficial for your body.
A 3 to 5 ounce or 100grams of avocado contains 7 grams of fiber which is 27% of the RDA>
Moreover, about 25% of the fiber in avocado is soluble fiber while 75% is insoluble.
Rich in Heart-Healthy Fats
Avocados help as they are food that contains high-fat content.
In fact, they contain 77% calories, thus making them one of the fattiest plant foods.
But they do not just contain fat, they contain oleic acid, which is a monosaturated fatty acid.
This is one of the major components of olive oil and is responsible for its health benefits.
Oleic acid helps to reduce inflammations and has beneficial effects on your genes linked to cancer.
Moreover, avocado contains fat that is resistant to heart-induced oxidation making them a healthy and safe choice.
Thus, avocados are beneficial to your heart’s health.
Contains More Potassium than Bananas
People do not get enough potassium through their diet.
Potassium helps to maintain electrical components in your body’s cells and serves different important functions.
Avocados are high in potassium, and interestingly in 3.5 ounces or 100 grams per serving of avocados contain almost 14% of RDA, as recommended daily.
This is more than the ones present in bananas which are 10%.
Different studies suggest that high potassium intake reduces blood pressure, which is a major risk factor for heart attacks, strokes as well as kidney failure.
Helps to Lose Weight
Evidence suggests that avocados help to lose weight.
According to a study, people who eat avocado with meals feel 23% more satisfied and had 28% less desire to eat over the next 5 hours.
Thus, eating this can help you naturally lose weight and makes it easier to stick to healthy eating habits.
Moreover, they are high in fiber and low in carbs that help to promote weight loss.
Thus, avocado benefits in losing weight.
Prevent Cancer
Although the evidence is limited about avocado being able to prevent and treat cancer.
However, test-tube studies suggest that they may help reduce the side effects of chemotherapy in your lymphocytes.
Moreover, its extract inhibits the growth of prostate cancer cells in a lab.
It is important to keep in mind that these studies were done in a lab and do not necessarily prove that they may prevent cancer.
Therefore, avocados’ benefits include preventing and even treating cancer.
Contains Antioxidants to Protect your Eyes
Along with the ability to make the absorption of antioxidants in your body more, but they are also high in antioxidants.
This includes carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin which are crucial for the health of your eyes.
Moreover, studies suggest that they dramatically reduce the risk of developing cataracts and macular degradation which is common in older adults.
Thus, eating Avocado helps to benefit your eyes over a long period of time.
Lowers your Risk of Depression
One of the major mental health problems is stress and depression.
Foods that contain a high value of folate can help to reduce your risk of depression as it helps to prevent the build-up of homocysteine.
This is a substance that impairs circulation in your body and delivers nutrients to the brain.
If your body contains a high amount of homocysteine, it can interfere with the production of serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine which helps to regulate mood, sleep, and appetite.
Easy to Incorporate in Your Diet
Not only they are healthy but they are also delicious and can be added to many dishes.
You can add them to salads and various recipes or scoop them with a spoor and eat them.
Their creamy rich texture makes it a healthy and delicious ingredient, thus making it easy to add to your diet.
One of the most famous dishes, guacamole contains avocado.
Therefore, potential avocado benefits including it easily in your diet.
Potential Side Effects
Avocados are full of nutrients and are a complete meal. Thus making it beneficial for preventing diseases and maintaining overall health.
However, you should use it with other recipes as well, rather than just sticking to plain food.
If you are taking blood thinners, it is important to note that you do not suddenly begin to eat more or fewer foods containing vitamin K, which plays an important role in blood clotting.
Conclusion
There are numerous avocado benefits as they contain a number of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals that are important for your overall health.
They are rich in taste, have a creamy texture, and have antioxidants that not only help in the absorption of nutrients from the plants but also reduce the oxidative stress in your body.
They not only help to lose weight but also prevent chronic diseases, maintain a healthy heart, protect your eyes but can also help prevent and even treat cancer.