13 Proven Health Benefits Of Avocado

13 Proven Health Benefits Of Avocado

Avocado is quite a delicious fruit, no doubt. You can eat it alone or together with other food items such as bread.

Nutrition-wise, not many fruits can do better than avocado. It contains high potassium, magnesium, vitamins, omega-3 fatty acids, beta-carotene, and many others.

The health benefits of avocado are just too numerous to ignore. It’s beneficial for weight loss and can even help prevent several health-related diseases.

If you’re not an avocado fan, the following health benefits of the fruit might cause you to have a change of heart. Let’s run through them.

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1. Weight Loss Benefits

Do you know that avocado is a high-fat fruit? 77 per cent of its calories are from fat.

Being a high-fat fruit makes avocado beneficial for weight loss and your general wellbeing. It contains monounsaturated fat, which helps to lower the bad cholesterol in the body.

A study conducted in South Africa by the Potchefstroom Institute of Nutrition gave reasonable insight into avocado’s weight loss potentials. In that study, the researchers replaced some other dietary fats with avocado.

The research results showed that avocado has as much effect on weight loss as other dietary fats.

Having high monounsaturated fat is also not the only reason avocado is beneficial for weight loss. High fiber content also makes this fruit beneficial for individuals seeking to lose weight naturally.

In general, eating high fiber foods is one way to lose weight. It will keep fuller for longer, thereby reducing your daily food and calorie intake.

So, if you’re interested in losing weight, let avocado be part of your diet. Besides, it’s readily available, delicious, and affordable.

Note – If you’re looking to lose weight, consume avocado in a moderate amount.

2. Cardiovascular Health Benefits

The heart remains one of the busiest organs in the body. It circulates blood around the body and works every second. So you need to look after your heart so it can function optimally.

You don’t need to splash thousands of dollars or visit your doctor to keep your heart in good shape. Vegetables and fruit consumption can work some magic.

Avocado can also help. It can improve your heart health and prevent cardiovascular diseases.

So why is avocado fruit beneficial for cardiovascular health? The simple answer is its high monounsaturated fatty acid content.

Avocado helps to lower bad cholesterol, which raises one’s risk of developing heart diseases and stroke. It enhances the good cholesterol (HDL).

Do you know avocado can also lower your risk of developing high blood pressure?

According to research, the fruit has such potentials. And the reason is because of its high potassium content, which is 14 percent of the RDA in a 3.5-ounce serving. The potassium content in avocados is higher than in bananas.

3. Enhances Nutrient Absorption From Plant Food Sources

Most plants contain a plethora of nutrients, which the body needs to function properly and be in good health. But having high nutrients doesn’t count when the body cannot absorb or utilize them.

The good news is avocado can help. It can enhance your body’s ability to absorb nutrients from plant food sources.

Most nutrients are termed “fat-soluble.” This implies a need for a nutrient to fat combination before the body can utilize the nutrient.

In a study, researchers confirmed that adding avocado or its oil to a meal may enhance the antioxidant absorption rate from 2.6 to 15-fold.

Incorporating avocado in your diet can be beneficial for other plants. Besides being highly nutritious, avocado can improve other plant’s nutrient value when eaten together.

4. Eye Health Benefit

The human eyes are a vital organ. Losing them can make one a liability. So keep your eyes in good shape. Care for them by eating right.

The exciting thing is that you can improve your eye health without any visit to the doctor. The simple act of eating avocado can work some magic on your eyes.

Not only do avocado fruits aid antioxidant absorption from other plant food sources. They’re a rich source of antioxidants themselves.

Zeaxanthin and lutein are two oxidants present in avocado. And these two are crucial for the improvement of one’s eye health.

According to some studies, these antioxidants have long-term effects on eye health—they lower one’s risk of macular degeneration and cataract.

So, if you care about your eyesight long and short-term, start eating loads of avocado.

5. A Superfood For The Liver

The liver is another important internal organ in the body that needs to function at optimal capacity all the time. And the good part is avocado can help ensure that.

This fruit is a rich source of several organic compounds that prevent liver damage and improve its overall health.

Studies have confirmed that avocado’s health benefits to the liver are numerous. Hence, it’s a must-have superfood for any individual looking to boost their liver health.

Experts have warned that alcohol can have damaging effects on the liver. But the same report has shown that avocado is one of the foods that can reverse liver damage caused by alcohol, provided the condition hasn’t degenerated too far.

Avocado also has well-documented anti-inflammatory properties. The reason is that it’s loaded with vitamin K and E, which happens to be two vital nutrients that lower one’s risk of cellular inflammation.

Therefore, avocado’s anti-inflammatory properties make it vital for liver health. It can keep your liver in good shape.

6. Hair And Skincare Benefits

Avocado not only works wonders when consumed. It offers equal benefits when applied directly to the skin.

Avocado contains a plethora of nutrients that the body needs. Therefore, it can nourish your damaged, chapped, or dry skin.

Diverse skincare products contain a mixture of avocado. The fruit contains several vitamins needed to nourish the skin and make it glow. A lot of people use avocado pear to prepare natural hair and skin masks.

When applied to plaque psoriasis, avocado oil tends to offer some relief. This fruit also contains lycopene and beta-carotene, two crucial compounds, both with the capacity to enhance the tone and health of one’s skin. These two organic compounds also can discard the signs associated with premature aging.

7. Deficiency Of Vitamin K

Vitamin K deficiency isn’t a rampant issue among pregnant women. But this condition shouldn’t be taken lightly. It’s usually common in neonatal care.

When a pregnant woman has vitamin K deficiency, what follows is a bleeding disorder. It’s known as (VKDB) vitamin K deficiency-related bleeding.

But avocado can help prevent VKDB from occurring in the newly born. The fruit comes loaded with an incredibly high amount of vitamin K.

So, avocado is crucial to pregnant women. It can help improve their health and that of their babies.

8. Blood Glucose Level 

Avocado fruits are not the only parts of the plants with noteworthy health benefits. The leaf extracts are also as potent.

Several studies have confirmed the potentials of avocado leaf extract in lowering blood glucose levels. In one study involving animals, the researchers experimented with a diabetic and non-diabetic rat.

The study results show that avocado leaves can help lower blood glucose levels, which is a big step for diabetic patients.

Starch-based foods metabolism to simple sugar causes spikes and crashes, which is dangerous to people with diabetes. But avocado can help keep things under check, thanks to its high fiber content.

As research has shown, fiber can help to slow down food metabolism into usable sugars. And this offers the body a chance to absorb sugars in a more balanced way.

The eatable part of avocado fruit and its leaves aren’t the only beneficial parts of the plant. According to research, the seed also has enormous health benefits.

Studies have shown that avocado seed can help with the management of several health conditions. These include inflammatory conditions, diabetes, and hypertension.

So, whether you have diabetes or not, you’ll be doing yourself a world of good by including avocado, its leaf extracts, and seed into your diet plan

9. Longevity 

Who doesn’t want to live longer? Life is precious and is more enjoyable when you’re in good health.

So, if you want to be disease-free, happy, and healthy for almost your entire life, start including avocado fruit in your diet plan.

Why is avocado a must-have for longevity? It’s simple. It’s loaded with antioxidants.

Avocado contains diverse antioxidants that help keeps the body healthy. These include lutein, carotenoids, zeaxanthin, and glutathione. They help to scavenge the body free radicals and prevent them from damaging cells.

Free radicals cause oxidative stress, which gives rise to several diseases. An unhealthy lifestyle and eating habits give free radicals the upper hand to ruin lives.

Look around the globe, and you’ll see that people now age much quicker and come down with several diseases than before.

But with avocado and other highly nutritious fruits and vegetables in our diets, the body will be able to fight off diseases.

So, start eating avocado if you aren’t. Do so to boost your antioxidant levels for better health. The body can make its antioxidants naturally, but that isn’t enough to eliminate the free radicals.

10. Mood Enhancer 

Being in a good mood isn’t something difficult to achieve. With avocado, you can achieve that.

Avocado contains a high amount of foliate, a B vitamin. Foliate is beneficial for pregnant women and can help improve your mood, even if you’re not pregnant.

So, how does avocado work to improve your mood?

Dopamine and serotonin are two popular mood regulatory chemicals. These two contribute to a good night’s rest. However, their production and abundance can be hampered by homocysteine, which the body produces naturally.

Low dopamine and serotonin levels could lead to depression, which ranges from mild to severe. Depression is a mental illness that can reduce one’s quality of life.

Avocado is a rich source of folate, which helps to hamper homocysteine production. In turn, this causes the body to produce enough dopamine and serotonin.

Having high levels of these feel-good chemicals is a good thing. You’ll not only be in a good mood but would be able to sleep like a baby. And as you know, having sound night rests means you’ll have loads of energy and be mentally sharp to tackle your daily activities.

11. Makes You Healthier 

Avocado is both delicious and nutritious. Your general health can improve just by eating this fruit.

One study conducted by the NHANES in the United States of America proved the numerous health benefits of avocado.

The study looked at the dietary habits and health benefits of avocado eaters. And the result showed that those that consumed the fruit from time to time were much healthier than those who don’t.

Again, those who consumed avocado had lower belly fat, weighed less, and recorded lower BMIs.

12. Bone Health Benefits

Avocado is beneficial for your bone health. It can lower your risk of having cartilage defects, including osteoarthritis symptoms.

This fruit is packed with carotenoids such as lutein and zeaxanthin. So including it in your diet can lower your chances of developing bone diseases.

study conducted on avocado’s effects on bone health discovered that 300mg of avocado proved beneficial for patients with knee and hip osteoarthritis.

13. Anti-Inflammatory Benefits

Aging can be so harsh on the body. It can cause pains and aches. Avocado is the right fruit to have on hand during this period. It can help reduce pains and other harsh realities associated with aging.

What makes avocado pear beneficial here is its high nutrient content. And one of those nutrients is potassium. It has more potassium than the banana itself. And this makes the fruit a pain reliever.

The high vitamin E and C gives avocado pear its high anti-inflammatory properties.

Conclusion

Avocado has numerous proven health benefits. This ranges from weight loss to eye health and general wellbeing. And what’s more, the fruit is affordable, readily available, and delicious. You can combine avocado with many food items and consume in diverse ways.