Health Benefits of Avocados

Avocados improve a lot of health conditions due to their immense nutritional capabilities. It is not every day that you find a food that contains healthy fat and is of plant origin. We are not talking about seeds and nuts here. Avocado, with its amazing taste and creamy texture, is a perfect plant food that can be added to salads, taken as a toast, or be in drinks in one way or another, making you perfectly healthy and well. In this article, we will go through the different health benefits of avocados, how they are healthy for you, and in what conditions consuming them can be highly recommended for people.

Nutritional Value of Avocados

Let’s see the nutritional value of avocados that is present in 100 grams of serving. A 100-gram serving of avocados will contain 160 calories, 19% of the daily value of fat, 8.5 grams of carbs, and 2 grams of protein. It is important to know that avocados are helpful in improving the overall functioning of the body in many ways that will be discussed further. Magnesium, potassium, and sodium are among the twenty minerals commonly found in avocados, all of which deliver a number of health benefits to the consumer.

The idea is to improve your nutrient intake of healthy fats to get the calories required by fat from healthy sources instead of nutritionally poor sources – that is the main reason why avocado is known to be a popular choice for dietary fat in the healthy spectrum. About 75% of its calories come from the calories of fats present in avocados.

1) Helps in Depression

Avocados help in improving symptoms of depression. There are two ways through which avocados aid in decreasing depression. One way is that they contain fiber in them, which helps the gut microbiome to produce short-chain fatty acids as well as improve overall omega fatty acids. Both of these help in decreasing depression and preventing mood-related disorders as well. Omega fatty acids are very well known to be helpful for the brain’s anatomy. Also, short-chain fatty acids are helpful in preventing as well as fighting inflammation in the brain, which also resists depression. As you can see, both of these help in the elimination of inflammatory components from the system.

2) Helps in Weight Loss

In terms of weight loss, it is extremely important to note that starving yourself would not do anything for you. Rather, you need to consume a healthy and balanced diet so that you can continue improving your health. In this aspect, avocado comes as a strong option in the category of dietary fats. Avocados are filled with nutrients such as vitamin E and omega fatty acids. What’s more, one serving of avocado will have you filled up for hours as fat takes more time to digest than most nutrients. As a result, you will feel much healthier and happier. Instead of getting refined carbs for breakfast, you can make avocado toast so that you can balance it out and remain filled for hours. That way, you would not give in to your food cravings.

3)Helps Improve Skin Appearance

Healthy fats are highly important for the skin for a reason they help maintain the hydration and elasticity of the skin. With avocado consumption regularly, you can see your skin appearing brighter, plumper, younger, and much improved in its texture than before. Filled with fat-soluble vitamins, the avocado will help you appear more beautiful. Instead of investing in expensive skincare serums, lotions, and cleansers, focus on getting the proper hydration and healthy fats from foods such as avocado and see real-time effects that are sustainable and also cost-effective. For the best result, it is important you consume avocado over a long time so that you can reap the best benefits. Your skin will glow in a different way as you continue taking avocado a long way.

4) Helps in Kidney Functioning

Avocados help in improving the overall function of the kidney to a significant extent. It is because the kidney is responsible for flushing out all toxins from the body. As a matter of fact, the kidney makes sure that the body is expelling all toxic waste in a successful attempt to protect the body from the harm of different types. Avocados, with their healthy ingredients such as omega fatty acids and vitamin E, are known to improve this process by protecting the health of the kidney. What’s more, it also has vitamin K, which helps the kidney to excrete excess calcium from the body into the urine. All of these factors make avocados incredibly healthy for normal kidney function.

5) May Improve Bone Health

As stated above, avocados contain vitamin K in them, which helps in improving the overall function of the body, including bone. That is because vitamin K is an underrated yet important vitamin for the absorption of calcium in the bone, thus helping in the mineralization process. Without this process, the bone will be prone to mineral loss, and therefore the process of osteoporosis will occur, which eventually moves toward fractures.

Improvement in bone health will occur in a better way if calcium sources are also taken in moderation along with vitamin K sources, such as avocado, in this case.

6) Cardiovascular Health

Avocados have an effect on blood fat levels akin to nuts and olive oil. You can add it to your diet to enjoy good levels of healthy fats (HDL’s) and keep heart diseases at bay.

Moreover, it is a good source of potassium, a much-needed nutrient to balance the ever-increasing sodium in our diets and keep blood pressure at optimum levels. If you want to have a healthy heart, it is important that you consume healthy fats which improve your HDL cholesterol in the body. What’s more, the dietary fiber in the avocados will also help in flushing out LDL cholesterol, which is the bad cholesterol from your body. So, consuming avocados will help to balance your cholesterol levels in a healthy range.

7) Defends from Diabetes

Avocados are rich in proteins and fats; hence they do not spike your sugar levels. This means no spike in insulin and a better response of cells to insulin. Studies have shown improved glycemic control in type 2 diabetic patients.

Avocados will also help in improving symptoms related to diabetes. The sugar rush with diabetes can result in feelings of faintness or shakiness. It may also lead to perspiration and agitation. Avocado, with its anti-inflammatory properties, helps to improve the symptoms as it relieves inflammation in the body of the diabetic patient. As a result, the patient faces fewer symptoms than usual. Instead of consuming carbs as a whole, you can combine some healthy fats such as avocados to get the best benefits out of them. The fats will combine with the carbs to decrease the blood sugar spike that comes with them.

8) Medical Precaution

Studies have shown that Avocados can decrease the efficacy of warfarin, an anti-clotting drug. Consult your healthcare provider if you are using this drug to ensure healthy and safe usage.

Tips for Preparation

In this section, we will learn some simple tips following which you can prepare avocado in different ways and get the maximum nutrition benefits out of it.

1. After selecting your creamy delight, use a knife to score it lengthwise from both sides. Use a sharp knife from top to bottom
2. Place it between your palms and twist the halves carefully
3. Use the knife to remove the pit; this way, you will not create a mess, and the flesh of the fruit will be preserved
4. If in a hurry, you can season with some sea salt and chili flakes and scoop the goodness with a spoon!
5. We recommend scoring the halves in length and width and inverting from pressing from the skin side to make the creamy cubes fall out. Fry a sunny side up and enjoy with avocado toast.

Avocados start ripening after they are picked from trees. To ensure you get a creamy smooth texture, choose avocados with a consistent green color. Also, squeeze it gently; it should feel slightly soft. A fun fact is that raw avocados can be ripened quickly by placing them in a bag with a banana for two to three days; the bananas release ethylene gas which is a ripening hormone.

Final Words

This is all the information you need to know about consuming avocados and what they can do for your health and wellness. The idea is to bring healthy dietary fat into your daily routine. Consuming avocados provide a good source of overall healthy fat consumption for your daily caloric requirement. You can consume it in all kinds of forms ranging from the raw and cut form in vegetable salads to mashed egg toasts. It is perfect to be eaten in daytime meals, mainly for lunch and breakfasts. For the best results for health, it is recommended to eat in moderation on a regular basis.