Nutritional Value

 

Nutritive components: Avocado is surprisingly a complete food, with fourteen minerals to stimulate growth, including iron and copper for the blood. The sodium and potassium in avocados keeps the body chemically balanced, and their low sugar and cholesterol content and absence of starch make them an ideal fruit (with Estimated Glycemic Load, eGL = 4; Inflamation Factor Rating, IF = 181) for diabetics or hypoglycemics (choose small slices throughout the day to keep the sugar balanced).Vitamins in avocados include A, several B-complex, C, and E, as well as phosphorus and magnesium. They’re also a great source of antioxidants like vitamins E and C. Because of their density, avocados, like bananas, are filling. But they are also a perfectly digestible slow-burning fuel, making them ideal for replenishing nutrients for athletes. They’re a great source of fruit oil and digestible fats, and they make excellent and healthy dips for raw vegetables. When blended with fruit, they make particularly nutritious baby food. Avocados, despite being high in fat have many health promoting properties; have a fat content of between 71 to 88% of their total calories – about 20 times the average for other fruits. A typical avocado contains 30 g of fat, but 20 g of these fat are health-promoting monounsaturated fats, especially oleic acid. They are an excellent food for weight loss as well.A good source of vitamin K, dietary fiber, vitamin B6, vitamin C, folate, copper, and contain more potassium than a medium banana- 877 g of potassium (regulation of blood pressure) in one avocado than 470 g in a banana. They are rich in B vitamins, vitamin E (antioxidant), vitamin K, sugar free and cholesterol free. They have the highest fiber content of any fruit – including 75% insoluble and 25% soluble fiber; rich source of the antioxidant, glutathione, which has been found to be active against 30 different disorders

 

Health Benefits:
  • The avocado’s high levels of Vitamin E are known to help slow the aging process and help to protect against disease.
  • The avocado is rich in folate, effective in maintaining good heart health.
  • They contain 26% of the recommended daily intake for pregnant women. By increasing the consumption of folate before conception and during the first 3 months of pregnancy, the risk of abnormalities, such as spina bifida, is greatly reduced.
  • Avocados are the highest fruit source of lutein, a physiochemical that helps to protect against cataracts and macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in the elderly
Source: http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/fruits-and-fruit-juices/1844/2

 

Important phytochemicals: A fatty triol (fatty alcohol) with one double bond, avocadene (16-heptadecene-1, 2, 4-triol), is found in avocado.

 

Reference:
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