Is Avocado Good For Your Health

As I was sitting enjoying my bagel with avocado this morning I thought I really should write an article on the health benefits of avocados, as there are so many. Plus avocados are delicious so should be part of any healthy diet, especially a vegan diet. If you’re thinking of going vegan but don’t know how to start your journey have a read of this. By the end of this article you will be able to answer your question is avocado good for your health.

What on earth is an avocado!?

OK so what exactly is an avocado? If you haven’t eaten one before they can look pretty scary, but they’re really not.

Avocados are actually a fruit, although they don’t taste sweet and you wouldn’t eat them like an apple or a banana. They have a savoury and creamy taste that is quite unique. If you’ve ever had guacamole you’ve had avocado as it’s the main ingredient. With a few other things added like lime juice and chillis.

Avocado trees are cultivated in tropical and Mediterranean climates and are believed to have originated in Mexico, to this day Mexico is still the largest producer of avocados. They are also grown in South America and Indonesia.

Health benefits of eating avocados

Avocados are packed full of vitamins and minerals, that’s why they get called a super food.

Vitamins in avocados

Avocados are high in vitamins B5, B6, B9 (all essential nutrients) and vitamin K. I didn’t even know there was a vitamin K, but if we don’t have sufficient vitamin K it causes uncontrolled bleeding so I’d say it’s pretty important.

Avocados also have good levels of vitamins B2 and B3, as well as vitamins C (needed for immune system function) and E (deficiency can cause nerve problems).

Minerals in avocados

Avocados also contain many minerals including iron (helps with reduction of tiredness and fatigue) magnesium, and zinc. They also have even higher levels of potassium than bananas (485mg per 100g compared to 358mg). Potassium contributes to many body functions such as blood pressure and digestion.

Fats in avocados

If you’ve ever heard anyone talking about “good fats” it’s the ones in avocados they’re talking about. These good fats are also found in other foods like nuts, seeds and olive oil.

The main fat in avocados is monounsaturated fat. This fat is good for us humans for a number of reasons.

• Helps lower your bad cholesterol level
• Can help lower the risk of heart disease and type two diabetes
• Helps to maintain and develop your cells

Saturated fat

The fat we want to stay clear of is saturated fat. This is a bad fat because it increases your bad cholesterol level.

A vegan diet contains less saturated fat because we don’t eat dairy butter, cheese, red meat and poultry. These all contain saturated fat.
If you’re looking for some healthy vegan foods you might find this article useful –High protein vegan foods. They’re all high protein foods but they’re healthy whole foods as well.

Reasons not to eat avocado

There are two things to be aware of when deciding whether to add avocados to your diet.

Growing & water consumption

Avocados need a lot of water to grow, around 70 litres (18 US gallons) is needed to grow one avocado. Which does look like a lot but when you compare it to the amount of water needed to rear cattle there’s no comparison. A massive 1,800 gallons of water is needed to produce just 1 pound of beef, with 1 pound of pork needing 576 gallons. Maybe this section should have been named “reasons not to eat meat” instead!

Sometimes when I tell people I’m vegan they say something about avocados like “oh you think you’re doing your bit for the planet but what about the water needed to grow an avocado?” They soon shut up when I politely inform them on the water footprint of the meat they’re eating being 100 times more than my avocado!

Calories in avocados

OK so there is maybe one reason not to eat avocado, or more so not to eat too much of it. Avocados are quite high calorie and high fat but they do contain the “good” fat we discussed in the previous section. A medium avocado (80g) contains around 15g of fat and 160 calories. That 15g of fat is about 22% of all the fat you should be eating in a day (based on the average adult consuming 2000 calories per day).

So how do you get around this? Don’t eat a whole avocado in one go. Whether you’re spreading it on toast or adding it to a salad just go with half an avocado at a time, especially if you’re trying to lose weight. You’ll still get all the benefits from the vitamins and minerals, just without the extra calories. If you’re eating a balanced diet you’ll get all the nutrients you need from the rest of the foods you’ll eat that day. If you are looking to lose weight check this article out – Can I lose weight on a plant based diet?

How to prepare/ eat an avocado

Avocados are really versatile and go great in many different dishes. You can top your vegan chilli with sliced avocado, add it to salads and sandwiches, or mash it to spread on toast or a bagel. Avocados are great for any meal; breakfast, lunch or dinner.

What you want to do with your avocado and how you want to eat it will determine how you prepare your avocado.

Mashing

If I’m going to be mashing mine I’ll cut it in half (I usually use the half without the big seed in first because I’m too lazy to take the seed out!), then scoop the whole half out with a spoon all in one go, drop it in a bowl and mash it with whatever I’m adding in. Usually it’s a squeeze of lime juice and a pinch of salt.

Sliced

If it’s sliced avocado you want follow the first few steps but once you’ve scooped out your avocado with a spoon put it flat side down on your chopping board and slice it however thick or thin you want it.

Cubed

When I make a salad and want to add avocado, instead of scooping it out I score vertical and horizontal lines across it (without going through the avocado skin) so it looks criss-cross. I then squeeze the avocado out and it pops out in cubes. Perfect for topping my salad.

Baking

Would you believe you can also use avocado for baking!? I know it sounds weird but avocados are so creamy they go great in a cake mixture or a brownie recipe. I haven’t baked using avocado yet but if I do I’ll definitely post about it!

So, is avocado good for your health?

What do you think? Is avocado good for your health? We know avocados are high in fat and fairly high in calories but they also contain lots of the essential vitamins and minerals we need. Plus the main fat in avocado is the “good” fat. As long as they’re eaten as part of a balanced diet and you’re not allergic to them there’s no reason why you can’t enjoy some avocado in your meals.

Thanks for reading folks. Do you think avocado is good for your health? Do you have any recipe suggestions? Let me know by commenting below, I’d love to hear from you.

All the best

Katie