Avocado's health benefits

Avocado's health benefits

 

The avocado (Persea americana) is a tree native to Mexico and Central America, 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.

There are some amazing avocado benefits for your health

Valuable Fat

Not all fat is bad for your body, and monounsaturated fat in particular is what constitutes the first health benefit of an avocado. In a typical avocado, most of the calories you receive come from monounsaturated fat. The monounsaturated fat in an avocado is healthy for you. Foods like avocados that contain monounsaturated fat lessen your LDL cholesterol, which is harmful to your body. On the other hand, HDL cholesterol has been called "good cholesterol," and there is speculation that monounsaturated fat actually raises this type of cholesterol.

 Fiber Content

The second reason that you ought to be reminding yourself to eat avocados is their relatively high fiber content. A typical avocado will contain both insoluble and soluble fiber; that alone makes it very powerful, since not many foods can brag about containing both kinds of fiber. The breakdown in an average avocado is approximately 75 percent insoluble fiber to 25 percent soluble fiber. The benefits of each type of fiber are already well known. Insoluble fiber is great at cleaning out your bowels by way of increasingly efficient bowel movements. Not only will you stand a lesser chance of getting constipated, but you also will reduce your chance of getting colorectal cancer, since your colon will be cleaned out effectively. Soluble fiber is great for appetite control. It has the effect of making you feel full, because it turns into a gel that sits in your stomach for a while when it comes into contact with water.

Vitamins

The presence of vitamins makes up the third health benefit of an average avocado. The vitamins that you can find in an avocado are B vitamins along with vitamin K and vitamin E. B vitamins help your body's metabolism and its maintenance of a healthyskin tone, while vitamin K plays a fundamental role in making sure that your bones grow properly and that your bone density is maintained in later life. Vitamin E is necessary to avoid conditions like retinopathy.

Avocado's health benefits

Healthy brain

Dr. Daniel G. Amen, author of Change Your Brain, Change Your Life considers avocados as one of the top brain-healthy foods that can help prevent Alzheimer's Disease. The folate in avocado contributes to preventing the formation of brain tangles that are considered a factor for Alzheimer's. Avocados combine brain healthy omega-3 fatty acids with natural vitamin E, which has been clinically proven to prevent Alzheimer's disease from progressing and even reversing it in its earliest stages.

Healthy heart

Avocados are rich in monounsaturated fats that boost heart health and help lower blood pressure. Avocado monounsaturated fats contain the phytonutrient beta-sitosterol, which was clinically proven to lower LDL and triglyceride blood levels while raising HDL.
Avocado contains vitamin B6 and folic acid, which help regulate homocysteine levels. High level of homocysteine is associated with an increased risk of heart disease. Avocado also contains vitamin E, glutathione, and monounsaturated fat, which help in maintaining a healthy heart.

Lower cholesterol levels
Avocados are rich in a compound called beta-sitosterol which has been shown to be effective in lowering blood cholesterol levels. According to a study, patients with mild hypercholesterolemia who included avocados in their diet for 7 days had 17 percent decrease in total blood cholesterol levels, a 22 percent decrease in both LDL (bad cholesterol) and triglyceride levels, and a 11 percent increase in HDL (good cholesterol) levels.

Pregnancy

 Avocado is essential to prevent birth defect. It is very rich in folate, a B vitamin commonly known as folic acid.   Folic acid is commonly recommended for pregnant women to help the fetus develop its brain and other vital organs. One cup of avocado provides about 23% of the recommended daily value of folate. The high amount of folate in avocado is essential in the prevention of birth defects, such as neural tube defect and spina bifida.  Folate also reduces stroke risk, according to a study of people who eat folate rich foods.

Skin Care
The avocado oil is added in many cosmetics because of its ability to nourish the skin and make your skin glow. It also aids in treating psoriasis, a skin disease that causes skin redness and irritation.

Eye health

Avocado contains the carotenoid leutein, an antioxidant that specializes with protecting the eyes from oxidative stress damage leading to poor vision, cataracts, and macular degeneration.

Blood pressure

The combination of avocado's high potassium content, 30 percent more than banana, with omega-3 and oleic acid are beneficial toward reducing blood pressure.

Anti-inflammatory

 Inflammation is considered the basis of most non-contagious diseases. Avocados have an abundance of plant phytonutrient. Phytonutrient compound found in avocados, such as polyphenols and flavonoids have been found to have anti-inflammatory properties, thereby reducing the risk of inflammatory and degenerative disorders.

Anti-aging properties
Being rich in antioxidants, avocado is beneficial in preventing aging symptoms. The glutathione in avocado may boosts immune systems, slows aging process, and encourages a healthy nervous system.

Digestion

Nutrients and enzymes in avocado reduce inflammation in the stomach and small intestine's mucous lining. This also improves the body's ability to absorb carotenoids and nutrients.
Avocado intake is linked with an increased nutrient absorption. A study's participants who ate salads with avocados absorbed five times the amount of carotenoids than those who did not include avocados. Carotenoids include beta carotene and lycopene. Beta carotene is a precursor to vitamin A, and lycopene is a compound that reduces stroke and prostate cancer risks.

Weight gain
The avocado has 200 calories for 100 grams. Typically, fruits has approximately 60-80 calories for 100 grams. Due to the high amounts of calories, avocado is a best diet for people who want to gain weight. Avocado is a healthy source of calories, unlike many other calorie-dense foods that may contain excess saturated fats and sugar.

Fight free radicals
Avocados contain glutathione, a powerful antioxidants that helps fight free radicals in the body.

Cancer

 Avocados can help protect against cancer. Many studies have shown that avocado can inhibit the growth of prostate cancer. The oleic acid in avocado is also effective in preventing breast cancer.