Health: Benefits of Avocados

Thanks to Dr. Mercola for this information on Avocados

Avocados – A Real 'Super Food'

Avocados, which are actually classified as a fruit, are rich in monounsaturated fat that is easily burned for energy. Personally, I eat a whole avocado virtually every day, which I usually put in my salad. This increases my healthy fat and calorie intake without seriously increasing my protein or carbohydrate intake. (See Nutrition Facts Panel below.) It is also very high in potassium and will help balance your vitally important potassium to sodium ratio.
As I’ve mentioned before, eliminating grain carbs is one of the best ways to support your health and maintain your weight, but when you cut down on carbs, you need to increase your intake of healthy fats. Avocados are an excellent source, along with organic raw butter, coconut oil, and organic pastured eggs, just to name a few.

There’s also evidence suggesting that limiting your intake of protein can be helpful for long-term good health and the prevention of cancer. At the very least, most people are consuming far too much poor-quality protein, such as beef and animal products from livestock raised in confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs). Here again, if you cut down on protein, you need to replace lost calories with healthy fats such as avocados, coconut oil, olives, olive oil, butter and nuts.
Overall, most people would do well to get upwards of 50-70 percent fat in their diet (along with high amounts of vegetable carbs, moderate-to-low amounts of high-quality protein, and very little, if any, carbs). According to the California Avocado Commission, a medium Hass avocado contains about 22.5 grams of fat, two-thirds of which is monounsaturated. They’re also very low in fructose, which is yet another boon, and provide close to 20 essential health-boosting nutrients, including:

• Fiber
• Potassium (more than twice the amount found in a banana)
• Vitamin E
• B-vitamins
• Folic acid

Avocados are one of the safest fruits you can buy conventionally-grown,and most experts do not believe you need to purchase organic ones. Their thick skin protects the inner fruit from pesticides. Additionally, it has been rated as one of the safest commercial crops in terms of pesticide exposure,³ so there’s no real need to spend extra money on organic avocados, unless you can afford it.

The Many Health Benefits of Avocados

Avocados have a long list of potential health benefits. For example, besides its anti-inflammatory properties, previous research from Japan suggests this powerful fruit may also help protect against liver damage. In one study,⁴ laboratory rats were fed avocado and 22 other fruits. The rats were then given D-galactosamine, a potent liver toxin that interferes with cell synthesis and results in cell death. The rats fed avocado suffered the least amount of liver damage. The chemical-induced liver injuries resemble those caused by viruses, so the researchers suggested avocado could potentially offer support in the treatment of viral hepatitis. According to one lead author Hirokazu Kawagishi, Ph.D:

“Besides offering taste and nutrition, avocados seem to improve liver health. People should eat more of them."

Due to its beneficial raw fat content, avocado enables your body to more efficiently absorb fat-soluble nutrients (such as alpha- and beta-carotene and lutein) in other foods eaten in conjunction. One 2005 study,⁵ found that adding avocado to salad allowed the volunteers to absorb three to five times more carotenoids antioxidant molecules, which help protect your body against free radical damage. Other research has found that avocados:

• Contain compounds that appear to inhibit and destroy oral cancer cells.^{6, 7}
• Can help improve lipid profiles in both healthy individuals and those with non optimized HDL/ total cholesterol levels). In one study,⁸ healthy individuals saw a 16 percent decrease of serum total cholesterol level following a one-week long diet high in monounsaturated fat from avocados. In those with elevated cholesterol levels, the avocado diet resulted in a 17 percent decrease of serum total cholesterol, and a 22 percent decrease of both LDL-cholesterol and triglycerides, along with an 11 percent increase of the so-called “good” HDL cholesterol.