Superfood of the Week: Health Benefits of Avocado

The “Stinking Rose,” the “Alligator Pear”: You might think twice about trying these foods if you only heard their strange nicknames. But don’t be fooled by these colloquialisms. Otherwise you’d be missing out on some amazing tastes and even better nutrients.

Since I have already featured the “stinking rose” (also known as garlic), as a superfood of the week, and because the widely-celebrated holiday Cinco de Mayo (Americans’ excuse to eat guacamole and drink Coronas) is this month, I decided to dedicate this week’s superfood blog to the “alligator pear,” also known as the avocado. Avocados from Mexico are available year-round, and many Mexican dishes incorporate this delicious superfood. I encourage you to take part in the festivities by including the avocado in your diet this week (and beyond).

Health Benefits of Avocado

In addition to their creamy taste, avocados are jam-packed with nutritional benefits. For example, avocados contain nearly 20 vitamins and minerals per one ounce serving (one ounce=three slices, or about one fifth of an avocado). They are also loaded with “good fats” (which promote heart health) and have 60 percent more potassium than bananas.

One serving of avocado has just 50 calories (that’s the same as a serving of pineapple, honeydew, or cantaloupe) and serves up not only all of those vitamins, minerals and “good fats,” but also one gram of fiber. Now that’s what I call a superfood!

Using & Eating Avocados

Substituting avocados for common “bread spreads” (like mayo or mustard) may help reduce fat, saturated fat, sodium, and calories. You can also cut fat and sodium by putting three slices of avocado on a sandwich, which has only 4.5 grams of fat (most of which are “good fats”) and zero grams of sodium.

Don’t be confined to regular guacamole! The uses for avocados are limitless. The Amazing Avocado website has tons of creative and exciting recipe ideas for incorporating this superfood into your dishes like the “Shredded Chicken Avocado Pizza,” “Avocado Banana and Walnut Muffins,” and “Avocado Soup with Citrus-Shrimp Relish” to name a few. For more avocado recipe ideas and information on the nutritional benefits of the avocado, visit http://www.theamazingavocado.com/.