Properties and benefits of avocado

The properties of avocado (and its benefits) make it an ideal fruit for health, especially for its heart-healthy virtue. Discover all its qualities.

The avocado has traditionally been a fruit that has not enjoyed a good opinion from a nutritional point of view, especially from a more or less popular point of view, especially because it is supposed to provide a large amount of calories and fat.

Some time ago we explained to you the usefulness of avocado for cholesterol, mainly because it is a fruit that positively helps to reduce not only high triglycerides, but is especially useful against high levels of high cholesterol.

In fact, as with other foods that were equally mythologized a few years ago regarding their fat content or whether they gain weight or not (as is the case with bananas), this is not at all true, given that although it is true that 100 grams of avocado provide about 225 kilocalories and 23 grams of total fat, we must bear in mind that these facts are heart-healthy, so consumed in a moderate way it only provides nutritional properties to our body.

In one way or another, it is characterized by being a fruit that, usually, tends to be confused by many people as a vegetable itself. But far from reality, it stands out for being a refreshing fruit that can be desired at almost any time.

It can be ideal in salads or simply eaten alone. But the best thing is to enjoy its flavor without adding salt, although that -obviously- will depend on the taste of each one.

Avocado properties

Incredible nutritional richness

Among the most important benefits of avocado, this fruit stands out for being the richest in vitamin E (approximately 3.2 mg / 100), in addition to also having vitamin A, C and  minerals such as potassium. It contains a large amount of lutein, a phytochemical popularly known as carotenoid, which serves as protection against eye diseases (cataracts or macular degeneration, among others).

The avocado is a good food because they contain heart – healthy monounsaturated fats and glutathione in positively helping to lower cholesterol. In fact, it becomes the staple food of guacamole, that traditional Mexican cream with a powerful flavor and even more remarkable qualities.

Good for the heart

Avocado is very rich in healthy fats, especially the presence of oleic acid, a monounsaturated fatty acid that we also find in olive oil, with recognized benefits for heart health.

In fact, the presence of this fatty acid makes avocado a wonderful food when it comes to preventing cardiovascular diseases. A very important quality, especially if we take into account that cardiovascular diseases are considered today as the most common cause of death in the world.

But this quality does not end there, as it also helps reduce inflammation.

Helpful against high cholesterol

As we mentioned at the beginning of this note, avocado is very rich in healthy fatty acids, thus becoming a very good and excellent tool to reduce not only high cholesterol, but also triglycerides.

Among other important aspects, avocado helps lower LDL cholesterol, while increasing  HDL cholesterol, while it is capable of reducing total cholesterol and triglyceride levels.

High fiber content

Avocado is also rich in fiber. In fact, 100 grams of avocado provide about 7 grams of fiber, which becomes 27% of the recommended daily amount of fiber.

In this way, avocado is especially useful when it comes to improving intestinal transit, being suitable for people who suffer from constipation. In addition, it naturally feeds the good bacteria present in the intestine.

Avocado nutritional information

Nutritional contribution of avocado per 100 grams: