Avocado Benefits

Avocado benefits include healthy monounsaturates, anti-oxidants and phytosterols.

Anyone interested in fully-functioning nerves must take seriously the health benefits of avocado. The brain is 60 percent fat and most neurons are coated in a sheath made of oleic acid, the most abundant oil in the fruit.

Deprive the brain or nerves of the healthy lipids and you are in serious trouble. Do you need to lose weight? So, cut out all fat, is that not right? No, it is very wrong.

In fact you will be constantly hungry; cut out all the fat and you will die.

Written by Dr. Barrie Lewis, DC

This page was last updated by Dr Barrie Lewis on 9th August, 2023.

It is interesting that mother's milk contains between nearly five times as much fat as protein, because the human infant brain grows at an incredible rate; much faster than the body.

Compare that with the cow, for example; the fat and protein are in roughly equal amounts. It is the body of a calf that needs to grow quickly if it is to survive in the wild.

Interesting too that mother's milk varies markedly depending on what she eats. If she is trying to lose weight by cutting out all the healthy fat in her diet, her baby too will suffer from a deficiency of brain food.

If breast-feeding mother enjoys a diet high in omega-6 PUFAs, the circulating oestrogen in her blood stream makes both her and her female offspring more likely to get a malignant breast tumour; it stimulates adipose tissue in the body to secrete a hormone called oestradiol.

Conversely if she consumes food that is rich in omega-3 PUFAs both she and her female offspring are less likely to get a malignancy of the breast. She can get it from fatty fish, freshly ground flaxseeds and free range eggs; walnuts and avocados too.

By and large, ironically, it's too much refined carbohydrate, not fat, that makes most of us obese, rather than too much of the healthy foods like avocados and olives. That is why the Banting diet is taking off.

Avocado Nutritional Value

In 100g of the flesh of an avocado, 100g of olives and sunflower seeds your body can enjoy the following foodstuffs, vitamins and fibre.

A word of caution

• 100g of avocado benefits is an average helping; half a fruit.
• 100g of olives is a huge helping (about 35), and munching your way through that weight of sunflower seeds will keep you busy for an hour or two.

In reality a helping of avocado (half an fruit) has far more nutrient value than a normal number of olives (say 10) or sunflower seeds, one teaspoon.

Fat

Avocados contain extremely high quality fats; and zero cholesterol. They are especially rich in oleic acid, the fat coats your nerves with a myelin sheath, and omega-3 PUFAs.

• What is oleic acid?

Likewise, because 100g of avocado benefits contains about 160 kcal, do not think that it is less fattening than sunflower seeds. Not so.

"Per helping," the nutritional value of avocado is much higher, it contains far more fat, and extra nutrients too, especially the highly desirable beta-sitosterol in the prevention and treatment of prostate enlargement.

Bernie's healthy spinach dip contains half an avocado; use the site search function.

What are phytosterols is a question you may be asking.

Vitamin E

Vitamin E is a very strong anti-oxidant; it is another of the avocado benefits.

Another of the avocado benefits, it is the high values of substances like magnesium, zinc and vitamin C. Anti-oxidants help mop up the free radicals that cause malignant disease; 'nuff said.

Avocado fat is also rich in good mixtures of alpha and gamma tocopherol; too much of one or the other is not helpful.

Type "avocado fat" into Site-Search.

They have different functions, but inhibit each other, so taking just one form (as in tablet form, usually only the alpha form) or using corn oil only in your cooking (has gamma-tocopherol) is not advisable. The other isomer is then not properly absorbed.

Protein

One avocado contains more protein than a 100ml glass of milk and it is more digestible; and won't cause the allergies that arise from dairy products.

Being high in amino acids and low in carbohydrate the avocado health benefits are perfect for our FREE WEIGHT LOSS PROGRAMS; the sensible way to lose weight permanently.

Fruit like avocado and vegetable high in protein is a subject that should interest all of us.

Carbohydrate

Avocado is a relatively low carbohydrate food and much of it is tied up in the fibre. That makes it perfect for those who are banting. Plenty of good nourishing fat and some protein.

Homocysteine

Homocysteine is a compound you quite likely know little about. It is a toxic breakdown product of our protein metabolism, and the body immediately converts it to another (safe) substance called SAMe. The process is dependent on vitamins piridoxine, B12 and folate; they are particularly high in these avocado benefits, even better than in broccoli.

The typical grocery store diet is woefully deficient in these vitamins, and the levels of homocysteine is often very high causing many of our chronic diseases. Could an avocado a day keep your doctor away?

Eggs in general are the best source of vitamin B12, vital in the prevention of homocysteine build up but only those that are free range have large amounts of omega-3. It's all dependent on the best chicken feed; plenty of greens.

Avocado Benefits

Avocado benefits include the delicious flavour and they are loaded with nutritional value. It is good for the prostate, always important in chiropractic practice; perfect with the banting diet.

This is not the best graphic, I confess; you can't see the avo and wholemeal Panera bread under the tomato.

In a key study, the NHANES^[1] survey of a large group of Americans found that those who regularly enjoy avocados had these benefits.

• A lower body mass index; they were slimmer.
• Weighed on average nearly 8 pounds less.
  
• On average a 4cm smaller waist circumference.
• A higher "good" HDL cholesterol level.
• A 50 percent lower odds ratio of getting metabolic syndrome; insulin resistance. That is massive.
  

Macular degeneration

Avocado benefits include only small amounts of lutein and zeaxanthin, the phytochemicals that protect the eyes against macular degeneration but every bit counts.

Half an avocado contains about 0.2mg of lutein and its twin sister zeaxanthin that are vitally needed in the retina to protect against dangerous radiation.

That's only about 5% of the amount needed to protect you against macular degeneration.

There are over 5000 of these phytochemicals; their role in health is not well understood. Enjoying a salad like that above gives you reasonable protection against deficiencies causing serious diseases like macular degeneration, read blindness.

Kale and spinach incidentally are the best sources of lutein and zeaxanthin.

Zeaxanthin macular degeneration, along with lutein, is an important consideration for every single human being. Read more at this influential journal report entitled hass avocado composition and potential health benefits^[4].

Make your own bread

You might think it a fag to make your own bread, but with the aid of a machine, you can do the preparation for a delicious homemade loaf in only six minutes. Of course it then takes five hours to bake; nothing nicer than to enjoy avocado benefits on a slice.

Incidentally my granddaughter's first preference is for bread and avocado for lunch. Get them started on healthy living at an early age; she is only four.

Oddly avocado has a lot of fat yet research consistently shows that avocado eaters weigh less and have a lower BMI; and suffer 50% less from metabolic syndrome. It's refined carbohydrate, like supermarket bread and white rice, in the main that makes us obese.

Best of all is a loaf made the old fashioned way using sourdough; find out more at low GI bread. Find it in Site-search in the main menu.

Soup, salad and sandwich

Enjoy your avocado benefits in a soup, salad and sandwich lunch. The added fat helps to absorb certain minerals and vitamins. These mushroom soup recipes should regularly be on the menu if there is a man in the house; the selenium is vital for a healthy prostate. Don't get it from a supplement; let your food be your medicine.

Growing avocado trees

Growing avocado trees from a pip doesn't make sense; they take much longer to bear and the trees grow so high you cannot pick them.

• PROSTATE GLAND HEALTH ...

Avocado benefit trees are cross pollinators, and dependent on bees. Hence our decision to plant a third variety; the other two are a Hass and a Fuerte.

Our Hass has produced about 1000 avocados this year; the Fuerte fruit will start to ripen in April. At five rand apiece our trees are certainly paying their way; that's half a dollar each. Don't try growing them in Chicago though.

This Pinkerton is two years old, and will probably bear for the first time next season.

Here's an update at avocado benefits; the Pinkerton did flower and was well pollinated by the bees but the small fruit which formed all fell off. The tree is still too young. Next year there will be a bountiful first harvest, I have no doubt.

It's now five years old, and we have over 100 avocados; they are rich and creamy.

You do need a largish garden, but the smaller grafted varieties like a Hass tree aren't enormous. Grow it on your boundary with a neighbour perhaps; then you can both enjoy the benefits of avocado, which include better prostate gland function. 

In short avocado, olive oil, and sunflower seeds are all excellent sources of the healthy fats.

I am less sure of sunflower oil; we eat very little as I cannot find it cold pressed at an affordable price. Loaded with omega-6, it throws the fatty acid ratio out of balance and that means inflammation. We enjoy only the freshly ground seeds in our low GI bread and smoothies. 

It is vital to remember the omega-3 fatty acids; they are even more important in the diet but alas not one of the main benefits of avocado; the small amounts do help. 

For omega-3 you need fatty fish like salmon and mackerel recipes, walnuts and freshly ground flax seed.

Is your child suffering from one of the behavioral syndromes or attention deficit? There's very interesting research done in an English school on the benefits of a mixture of fish and evening primrose oil. Remember the brain is made up of sixty percent fat.

After four months on the combined oils the parents reported reduced inattentive behaviour, hyperactivity and restlessness; and impulsiveness, whilst no improvement in the placebo EVOO group.

In the table above you'll notice that avocado contains little omega 3, the presumed benefit in fish oil for attention deficit. Fish oil, walnuts and flaxseed are the best sources.

• FISH OIL

Magnesium heart

There's strong research that foods rich in magnesium reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease by a massive 50%.

We call them magnesium heart foods;  whilst green leafy vegetables are the main source, avocado and sunflower seeds have large quantities of the mineral too.

Type "magnesium heart" into Site-Search in the main menu above.

Banting Diet

For forty years we've been led astray by an unproven opinion that was assumed by all and sundry to be fact; namely that a high animal fat diet was the cause of raised blood cholesterol. It turns out astonishingly that refined carbohydrates are the villains of the piece; the Banting diet restricts all starches.

Worse is that starches stimulate the appetite centre in the brain making you constantly hungry. The change from the traditional American diet to meal plans low in fat and high carbohydrate is why we've become so obese. They make you ravenous.

It's complicated biochemistry and I have no doubt there will be another few twists in the tale. If you too have your doubts you might want to think about this Banting diet rebuttal.

Avocados oddly are an excellent way to start losing weight and promoting super health.

Wellness living

Wellness oddly is not the focus of much attention by many; it would seem that we have no concern that we might get malignant disease, have a heart attack or drop dead long before our time.

It makes no sense that so many folk would choose to be ostriches and pretend that disease and pain happens only to other people. Avocado benefits is but one tiny yet important part of that process. The fruit fats and cold water fish yield huge benefits to the joints, heart and mind.

It is all about caring for our bodies so that we do not die long before our time; that happens to far too many people.

Add to that the pain and expense of serious illness and we have good reason to focus on wellness. If you do not look after your body, just where are you planning to live?

Our food should include either olive or avocado benefits; and preferably both.

Why all this at a chiropractic help website you may well be asking? Wellness is in part utterly dependent on a normally functioning nervous system. That's at the very heart of our philosophy. Neurons are coated in a myelin sheath made of oleic acid, one of the main substances found in avocados; make sure your body has plenty of these fats.

And keep the highly glycemic carbohydrates like commercial bread, potatoes from cold storage and pasta reigned in. They are what raise blood glucose; public enemy number one when we're talking about nerves.

It is fascinating that folk who enjoy a high fat with low carbohydrate diet actually consume less calories; they have more energy and aren't constantly hungry. They lose weight easily.

Long term memory

Professor Tanya Lawlis of the University of Canberra emphasises the importance of norepinephron in the transfer of important facts to long term memory. Its production requires the amino acid tyrosine which is particularly high in avocado benefits; as well as meat, lentils and lima beans. Sesame seeds too are great but do grind them.

Norepinephrine is formed from dopamine. Those suffering from Parkinson's Disease are deficient thus in both of these catecholamine hormones.

Fava beans^[5] are the only food that will supply adequate amounts of L-dopa; research shows 60% of those suffering from PD would be better off enjoying these legumes daily than taking the medication. The effect is much smoother compared to the highs and lows of those on the drug.

Favas are also known as broad beans; they are a particularly rich source of many amino acids including tyrosine.

Whole sesame and flax seeds can be problematic if you have any diverticuli in the bowel, and in any case they are not digested unless you chew them very thoroughly; it's better to blend them. 

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