Avocado Benefits, Health Effects, and an Avocado Salad Recipe

Avocado is a single-seeded fruit from Central-South America, first cultivated in Mexico around 500 BC. Fuerte was initially widespread, but developed in the 1970s, Hass has become the most commonly used variety today. Avocado is now part of many healthy diets, such as the Mediterranean diet .

People may wonder whether avocado is a vegetable or fruit. Generally known as fruit, some classify it among vegetables and fats. Ultimately, we can say that avocado is a single-seeded fruit . Locally grown avocado becomes available around late August, although its season runs from September to June. Almost all avocados sold in summer are imported.

Hass avocado has dark green, purplish-black, bumpy skin and weighs approximately 136 grams.

What Does Avocado Taste Like?

It has pleasant, creamy, smooth edible flesh.

The seed and skin make up approximately % 33 of the fruit’s total weight. Its skin provides natural resistance to some diseases and insects. The United States Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA) defines one-fifth of an avocado as a fruit serving. Hass, the world’s most common commercial avocado variety, contains essential nutrients and important phytochemicals.

Avocado Salad Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 avocado, not too soft
• 2-3 lettuce leaves
• a quarter bunch of parsley
• half a clove of garlic
• 2 tablespoons of boiled corn
• 1 carrot
• juice of half a lemon
• a pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon of olive oil

Preparation:

• Peel the avocado and dice it.
• Add corn and grated carrot to the chopped lettuce and parsley (mix if desired).
• If desired, whisk olive oil, salt, crushed garlic, and lemon juice into a dressing and pour over.

Enjoy your meal

Which Substances Does Avocado Contain, and How Much?

Nutritional values of nutrient- and phytochemical-rich avocado:

• dietary fiber (4.6 g)
• total sugar (0.2 g)
• potassium (345 mg)
• sodium (5.5 mg)
• magnesium (19.5 mg)
• vitamin A (43 μg)
• vitamin C (6.0 mg)
• vitamin E (1.3 mg)
• vitamin K 1 (14 g)
• folate (60 mg)
• vitamin B-6 (0.2 mg)
• niacin (1.3 mg)
• pantothenic acid (1.0 mg)
• riboflavin (0.1 mg)
• choline (10 mg)
• lutein / zeaxanthin (185 μg)
• phytosterols (57 mg)
• % 71 monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA)
• % 13 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA)
• % 16 saturated fatty acids (SFA).

This helps promote healthy blood lipid profiles and increase fat-soluble vitamin bioavailability. Avocado contains fat that improves nutritional and phytochemical bioavailability and is rich in monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) (classified with olive and hazelnut oils in the omega-9 fatty acid group).

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Avocados have a composition profile similar to nuts. Let us examine their components in more detail:

• Avocado fruit carbohydrates consist of approximately % 80 dietary fiber (of which % 70 is insoluble and % 30 soluble). Compared with other fruits, avocado contains very little sugar . Half an avocado contains only approximately 0.2 g sugar and is expected to have zero glycemic load.
• Avocado is one of the few foods containing substantial amounts of both vitamins C and E. Vitamin C plays an important role in recycling vitamin E to potentially slow LDL cholesterol oxidation and maintain circulating antioxidant protection.
• Avocado is among the richest phytosterol sources, with approximately, per 30 grams, 26 mg and 57 mg respectively. Other fruits contain significantly fewer phytosterols, approximately 3 mg per serving.
• Some research suggests that xanthophylls similar to those in avocado may have DNA -protective effects.

- Related topic: Vitamin B in Brief: Food Sources, Benefits, and Deficiency

This review provides the first comprehensive literature summary of published nutrition and health research on avocado and its major components.

National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data show that avocado consumers have lower metabolic syndrome risk, lower weight, body mass index , and waist circumference than non-consumers. Avocado consumption supports cardiovascular health according to eight small clinical trials . Research suggests avocado may support weight management and healthy aging.

Avocado’s Role in Cardiovascular Health

In a 1994 study in patients with type 2 diabetes, avocado partially replacing saturated fats favorably affected serum lipids and helped achieve glycemic control .

In a randomized, prospective, crossover, comparative 4-week controlled study, avocado-containing vegetarian diets produced healthier blood lipid (fat) values than low-fat vegetarian diets without avocado.

In the first avocado clinical trial (1960), eating 0.5-1.5 avocados daily appeared to help men maintain normal serum total cholesterol. In half the subjects, total cholesterol fell by % 9-43, while others (diabetic or highly hypercholesterolemic) had a neutral effect. No subject had an increase in total cholesterol. Participants adding avocado to their routine diet also did not gain weight.

Avocado and Cancer

Avocado contains bioactive phytochemicals including carotenoids, terpenoids, D-mannoheptulose, persenone A and B, phenols, and glutathione, whose anticancer properties are being investigated.

Currently, there areno clear human clinical trials showing that avocado reduces cancer risk. However, it is prominent due to data from in-vitro studies on human cancer cell lines suggesting potential anticancer effects. This is also true of many fiber-rich fruits and vegetables.

Laryngeal (voice box) cancer, pharyngeal (nasopharynx and throat) cancer and oral cavity cancers are the main areas where avocado’s relationship with cancer has been studied.

Glutathione is a tripeptide made of three amino acids (glutamic acid, cysteine, and glycine). The United States National Cancer Institute found avocado glutathione levels, per 30 g, to be 8.4 mg, or 19 mg per half-fruit—several times higher than other fruits. A large population-based case-control study showed a significant association between increased glutathione intake and reduced oral and nasopharyngeal cancer risk.

Avocado’s Health Effects – Conclusion

As part of a healthy diet, avocado fits a wide variety of healthy eating plans. Convincing clinical studies show favorable effects on blood lipids and heart health, attributable to low saturated fat and high unsaturated fatty acid (MUFA and PUFA) content, while natural phytosterols and dietary fiber may have secondary cholesterol-lowering roles. Eating avocado with salad increases carotenoid bioavailability, potentially adding health benefits. More extensive clinical trials are needed to substantially expand scientific understanding of avocado in cardiovascular health, weight management, blood glucose control, and healthy living.