So, there’s junk food, normal food, and superfood, right? Not really – not that easy to draw a line. But if some foods are really easy to place in one category, avocado is one of them. Avocado is a superfood and here are some of its superpowers:
- It’s tasty and creamy. Sure, the taste is subjective, but at least avocado is… indulgent. You couldn’t love it passionately, but it’s perfect for a great friendship.
- It’s full of fiber, like a gym champion. And dietary fiber, even if it’s not digested and absorbed by your body like fats, proteins, or carbohydrates, helps a lot. Fiber slows digestion, giving the sensation of feeling full and helping you maintain a healthy weight, lowers the risk of diabetes, helps lower the cholesterol level, keeps your digestive system running smoothly, and has been linked to colon cancer prevention. You would find fiber in any plant-based food, but avocado has the most fiber of any fruit, with both soluble and insoluble fiber present in large quantities (about 25-27% of the recommended daily amount).
- It’s antioxidants heaven. Berries have them, leafy greens have them, but avocados have them too. And you need antioxidants to protect your body from free radicals, known to increase the risk for heart disease, cancer, and other bad things.
- It’s fat, in the best way possible. About 75% of avocado is fat – that’s why it feels so creamy –, but we’re talking mostly about a monounsaturated fatty acid called oleic acid. It’s linked to lower cholesterol, healthy heart, cancer prevention, reduced inflammation, and even connected to the long lives enjoyed by people with great access to it. You find it in olives and olive oil, too.
- It has collateral benefits, helping you get out more from other healthy foods. Avocado’s fat content is perfect to encourage the absorption of vitamins A, D, E and K, which are „fat-soluble”. And some studies say that adding avocado to your salad increases the absorption of antioxidants by up to 15 times.
- It beats banana on the potassium content. Ok, it’s not a competition, but it’s worth mentioning it. 100 grams of avocado is loaded with 14% of the recommended daily dose of potassium, compared to only 10% in the same serving of banana. And potassium helps to keep your blood pressure at a good level, keeping you away from heart, vascular, and kidney-related problems.
- It’s a phytosterol bomb. Somehow similar to cholesterol, but on the good side of things, phytosterol is found in plant foods and works for your cardiovascular health.
- It’s rich in vitamins B5, B6, K, C, E, plus copper, iron, zinc, magnesium, and many more things that you need to be healthy and feel energetic.
- It’s easy to work with and goes well with lots of other foods: salads (fruits and vegetables), cheese (fresh or aged), potatoes and sweet potatoes, beans, rice, bread, pasta, eggs, chicken, turkey, beef, salmon, crab, prawn… too many options to count.
- It looks great in your social media photos – a superpower in its own right these days. You didn’t see this coming, did you? 😄
Truly, there’s no other fruit (or vegetable) quite like it. And if you didn’t know why you should put it on your daily menu, we hope we gave enough reasons. As a start, throw it on a plate with anything. Then work your way to more delicate and refined combinations.
Avocado is so good for you, it’s almost magical.
As a side note, important for all those who count calories, every gram of avocado has about 1.6 calories. That means 160 calories for 100 grams or about 240 calories for 1 cup of sliced avocado (about 150 grams).
Image: foodism360 (top), Heather Ford (center) and Marine Dumay (bottom) – unsplash.com