Avocado

Fruits have so many nutritional values for the body which justifies why doctors always advise their patients to always take one fruit per day. One of such fruits with high nutrients is avocado.

Avocado is the fruit of the avocado tree majorly found in South Central Mexico. It is also known as an alligator pear and classified as a member of the flowering plant family called Lauraceae. Avocados have a green-skinned, fleshy body, which is mostly seen in a pear shape.

Over the years, numerous studies have shown the health benefits of avocado. Below are some of these health benefits.

1. Avocado is loaded with healthy fat

Avocado is one of the fruits that contains the highest amount of fat (which is 77%). The fat in avocado is from Oleic acid which studies have shown is heart friendly (i.e. it does no harm to the heart). This acid has also been linked to helping reduce inflammation and providing a lot of beneficial value on genes linked to cancer.

2. Avocado contains fiber

A large amount of fiber can be found in avocado. Fiber is a part of plant food that is indigestible, it passes through the digestive system, absorbing water along the way and it also helps bowel movements.

Research has also shown that fiber in avocado has helped people to achieve weightloss and also maintain a healthy weight. Fibre in avocado is also useful for the following:

It helps to lower risk of contracting many diseases
Controls blood sugar level,
It helps to prevent a heart attack
It also helps to prevent acne and skin rash.

3. It prevents the risk of eyes disease

Avocado contains lutein and zeaxanthin which are good for the eyes. They protect your eyes from dangerous high-energy light waves like ultraviolet rays in sunlight. They also decrease the risk of eyes infection.

4. Avocado contains potassium

Potassium is a component that we cannot ignore its beneficial effects because it plays a key role in helping us to attain good health.

According to Lawrence Appel (MD, MPH), a professor of medicine, epidemiology, and international health at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, he mentioned that: “Potassium in the diet lowers blood pressure. High blood pressure is the major risk factor for stroke and heart disease.” Furthermore, potassium reduces the risk of kidney failure and heart attack.

5. It contains vitamin C and vitamin A

Vitamins C and A are essential vitamins for the body. “Vitamin C has received a great deal of attention, and with good reason. Higher blood levels of vitamin C may be the ideal nutrition marker for overall health,” “the more we study vitamin C, the better our understanding of how diverse it is in protecting our health, from cardiovascular, cancer, stroke, eye health [and] immunity to living longer”, says study researcher Mark Moyad, MD, MPH, of the University of Michigan.

The above statement has helped explained the benefits of vitamin C.
On the other hand, vitamin A is also as important as vitamin C because it helps to provide good sight, fights against inflammation and helps to prevent cancer amongst other benefits.

6. It is also good for pregnant women

Avocado provides a vitamin called folate, which helps to prevent birth defect as well as heart defects during pregnancy.

7. It reduce symptoms of arthritis

Avocado reduces the symptom of arthritis in the body. Avocado provides food supplements that help to treat and also suppress the symptoms of arthritis, mostly in the knee and hip area.

8. Avocado prevents liver disease

It contains glutathione, this helps to prevent chronic liver disease. Avocado is also rich in vitamin C and E, these two nutrients help to deactivate free radicals. By deactivating free radicals, you protect your liver cells from damage. Avocado provides anti-inflammatory properties which support your liver health.

9. It helps to get rid of bad breath

Studies have shown that the antibacterial and antioxidant properties of flavonoids found in avocado have helped to get rid of bad breath. This is because flavonoids have the ability to kill the bacteria in your mouth.

10. It helps to prevent oral cancer

Studies have also shown that avocado can help prevent oral cancer due to its overall nutritional contents.

With the above-listed health benefits of avocado, do yourself some good and get one today!

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Over the last two decades, several health and weightloss campaigns have been launched against fats. In that period, health and weightloss advisers started to recommend that meals should have less fat.

This was based on the belief that fats were generally connected with increased risk of heart disease and obesity.

But a group of diet and nutrition researchers led by Dr Iris Shai of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, after a 2-year study between 2005 and 2007 in Dimona, Israel, made observations which revealed that fats are more healthy than we thought.

Dr Shai, et al., observed that moderate-fat diets, especially ones with high proportion of monounsaturated fat supported weightloss and healthy heart than low-fat and low-carbohydrate diets.

Following this observation, here are four healthy fats that you can have in your diet even when you are trying to lose weight:

Butter

Butter faced very harsh criticism in the war on fat that it would be surprising to see it make a comeback. But here we are and it is about to make a respectful comeback.

The new knowledge that butter is rich in omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids which help the brain function well and improve skin health is changing the former beliefs we had about it.

Butter is also rich in fat-soluble vitamins (A, D and E) and trace minerals, including ‘beneficial selenium’, a powerful antioxidant, Dr Josh Axe explains.

Omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids are essential nutrients, they are not produced by the body, rather our body needs food sources like butter to get them.

Avocado is a common fruit with numerous benefits. It is very rich in monounsaturated fats which increase the level of good cholestrol, also known as HDL (High Density Lipoprotein) and lowers the level of bad cholestrol, LDL (Low Density Lipoprotein), in the body.

It is also a super storehouse of healthy protein and has the benefits of vitamin E.

Coconut oil

One of the richest source of saturated fat is coconut oil. It is very rich in fats called Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCTs) which make it easy to digest. This kind of fat also boosts metabolism.

Coconut oil is very suitable for cooking. Saturated fats like coconut oil are recommended as the best choice for high-heat cooking because they are more stable and do not react to oxygen easily, nutrition researcher Kris Gunnars wrote.

Omega-3

You can get Omega-3 fatty from seafoods like salmon and sardines. It helps improve brain function and skin health. It does not cause weight gain.

The best types of omega-3 fatty acid are DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) which are readily found in seafoods like salmon and sardines.

Do not fear or avoid fat because you are on a weightloss journey. Saturated and unsaturated fats can be part of your diet. They contribute little to weight gain than low-carbohydrates and refined sugars would do.

Above all, always remember that moderation is key in anything you consume.