Avocado, Your Green Gold

The benefits of avocado

- It is an excellent source of nutrients, including healthy fats, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. 

- It may help improve heart health by lowering cholesterol levels, blood pressure, and inflammation. 

- It may help protect vision by providing lutein and zeaxanthin, two phytochemicals that reduce the risk of age-related macular degeneration.

- It may help prevent osteoporosis by increasing calcium absorption and reducing bone loss.

- It may help prevent cancer by containing compounds that inhibit the growth of cancer cells and enhance DNA repair.

- It may help improve gut health by promoting regularity, feeding beneficial bacteria, and reducing intestinal inflammation.

- It may help support weight management by increasing satiety, reducing appetite, and enhancing metabolic rate.

Some of the recipes with avocado are:

 

- Avocado cake: A dessert that uses avocado as a substitute for butter, resulting in a moist and delicious cake.

- Avocado toast: A simple and satisfying breakfast or snack that consists of mashed avocado seasoned with lemon, salt, pepper, and chili flakes on top of toasted bread.

- Avocado and shrimp verrine: A refreshing and elegant appetizer that layers avocado puree, shrimp, and coconut-curry sauce in a small glass.

- Avocado crab boats: A fun and easy way to serve avocado stuffed with crab salad and garnished with tortilla chips.

- Chicken skewers with cool avocado sauce: A flavorful and healthy main dish that pairs grilled chicken marinated in lime, garlic, and cumin with a creamy avocado-yogurt sauce.

- Blackened catfish with mango avocado salsa: A spicy and sweet combination of pan-fried catfish seasoned with Cajun spices and topped with a fresh salsa made of mango, avocado, onion, cilantro, and lime.

- Lime avocado hummus: A smooth and tangy dip that blends avocado, chickpeas, tahini, garlic, and lime juice. Perfect for spreading on pita bread or dipping fresh vegetables.

- Mexican layered salad: A colorful and hearty salad that layers lettuce, black beans, corn, cheese, tomatoes, olives, green onions, and avocado in a large bowl or trifle dish. Drizzled with a zesty dressing made of salsa, sour cream, and taco seasoning.

- Chicken tacos with avocado salsa: A quick and easy weeknight meal that fills warm tortillas with shredded chicken, cheese, lettuce, and a homemade salsa made of avocado, tomato, onion, jalapeño, cilantro, and lime juice.

- Grilled steak salad with tomatoes and avocado: A satisfying and nutritious salad that tops mixed greens with sliced grilled steak, cherry tomatoes, avocado, blue cheese, and a balsamic vinaigrette.

 

Some of the vegan avocado recipes are:

 

- Vegetarian avocado toast: A crunchy and creamy snack that spreads mashed avocado seasoned with lemon, salt, pepper, and chili flakes on toasted bread. Topped with sun-dried tomatoes, onion, garlic, basil, pine nuts, and lemon juice.

- Nems végétariens: A crispy and savory appetizer that wraps rice paper around tofu, carrot, onion, rice noodles, bean sprouts, sesame oil, chili, and salt. Served with a dipping sauce made of soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, and water.

- Ocean plantain à la Mexicana: A unique and flavorful main dish that sears plantains and coats them with a tomato sauce infused with nori sheets for a hint of sea flavor. Garnished with avocado, cilantro, and salt.

- Avocado cake: A moist and delicious dessert that uses avocado as a substitute for butter in a cake batter made of flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, vanilla extract, almond milk, and vinegar. Baked until golden and fluffy.

- Avocado and shrimp verrine: A refreshing and elegant appetizer that layers avocado puree, shrimp, and coconut-curry sauce in a small glass. The avocado puree is made of avocado, lime juice, salt, and pepper. The coconut-curry sauce is made of coconut milk, curry powder, salt, and pepper.

- Avocado bean burger: A hearty and satisfying burger that combines mashed beans, oats, onion, garlic, cumin, paprika, salt, and pepper to form patties that are baked until firm. Served on burger buns with smashed avocado, gherkin sauce, lettuce, and tomato. The gherkin sauce is made of vegan mayo, gherkins, capers, parsley, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.

- Crispy sweet potato wedges with garlic avocado aioli: A simple and tasty side dish or snack that bakes sweet potato wedges seasoned with salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, and oil until crispy. Served with a creamy dip made of avocado, vegan mayo, garlic, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.

- Panko baked avocado tacos: A crunchy and creamy taco that coats avocado slices in panko bread crumbs and bakes them until golden. Served on corn tortillas with cabbage slaw, salsa verde, cilantro, and lime wedges. The cabbage slaw is made of shredded cabbage, vegan mayo, lime juice, salt, and pepper.

- Chilled artichoke avocado spring pea soup: A smooth and creamy soup that blends artichoke hearts, avocado chunks,

spring peas (fresh or frozen), vegetable broth,

garlic cloves,

lemon juice,

salt,

and black pepper until smooth. Chilled in the refrigerator until cold. Garnished with fresh mint leaves.

- Avocado butter mashed potatoes: A rich and buttery side dish that boils potatoes until tender and mashes them with avocado chunks,

vegan butter,

almond milk,

salt,

and black pepper until smooth. Flavored with fresh parsley or chives.

Avocados are a source of vitamins C, E, K, and B6, as well as riboflavin, niacin, folate, pantothenic acid, magnesium, and potassium. They also provide lutein, beta carotene, and omega-3 fatty acids. Avocados contain high levels of healthy, beneficial fats, which can help a person feel fuller between meals. Avocado is one of the most nutrient-dense foods available. Ounce for ounce, it is among the richest in fiber, folate, potassium, vitamin E and magnesium. Not only are avocados full of nutrients with far-reaching health benefits, they're also tasty and can be added to almost any dish. #avocadobenefits #benefitsofavocado #avocadohealthbenefits #avocado Benefits of Avocado Boosts Satiety. Eating healthy fats helps slow stomach emptying, which keeps you full longer than usual and delays the return of hunger. ... Helps Manage Body Weight. ... Protects Your Heart. ... Prevents Diabetes Complications. ... Boosts Nutrients. ... Promotes Healthy Digestion. ... Increases Brain Function. ... Protects Your Eyes. Healthy for the heart. ... Great for vision. ... May help prevent osteoporosis. ... Components may prevent cancer. ... Supporting fetal health. ... Reducing depression risk. ... Improving digestion. ... Natural detoxification. Avocados are a source of vitamins C, E, K, and B6, as well as riboflavin, niacin, folate, pantothenic acid, magnesium, and potassium. They also provide lutein, beta carotene, and omega-3 fatty acids. Avocados contain high levels of healthy, beneficial fats, which can help a person feel fullerTrusted Source between meals. Eating fat slows the breakdown of carbohydrates, which helps keep blood sugar levels stable. Avocados include vitamins C, E, K1, B6 and folate, plus essential minerals like potassium and copper. They’re low in sugar, loaded with fiber and high in monosaturated fats, aka “good” fats. Oh, and did we mention that they taste great and they’re super versatile?! Registered dietitian Julia Zumpano, RD, LD, shares a few more good reasons to give these wrinkly green fruits a second look — plus, how to add them to your regular rotation.

Are avocados good for you?

“Avocados are a great addition to a healthy diet,” Zumpano confirms, “and there are hundreds of varieties to choose from, ranging from big to small and wrinkly to smooth.” What they have in common: A big round pit, creamy green flesh and a whole lot of nutrients crammed into a handy, pear-shaped package. Just don’t go overboard. Avocados are packed with nutrients, but they’re also packed with calories. A 50-gram portion — about a third of a medium-sized avocado — has about 75 calories. And an entire large avocado can add upward of 400 calories to your daily diet. Like most things, Zumpano says, moderation is key. “As long as you’re paying attention to portion sizes, avocados are very healthy foods to include in your food repertoire.”

Benefits of avocados

Whether you’re adding a slice to a salad or sandwich or using them as an ingredient in a more complicated recipe, Zumpano says avocados have a lot going for them health-wise. Here are some of the many nutrients and vitamins packed into just a single avocado: High in ‘good’ fats You might’ve heard that avocados are high in fat — and that’s true, but it doesn’t mean you should avoid them! A medium avocado has 22 grams of fat, which includes 15 grams of monounsaturated fats, aka “good” fats. “Avocados are rich in heart-healthy monounsaturated fats, which help lower your LDL, or ‘bad’ cholesterol,” Zumpano says. “Low LDL levels reduce your risk of heart disease and stroke.” The American Heart Association says most of the fats you eat should be monounsaturated or polyunsaturated, confirming that avocados fit the bill as part of a healthy diet. You can even swap avocado in for less-healthy fats in your home cooking. Here are some additional ways you can add this smooth, creamy fruit to your diet. Spread avocado on a sandwich in place of mayonnaise. Instead of dunking veggies into dips made with cheese or sour cream, try guacamole. Forego shredded cheese on your salad and add avocado slices instead. In baking recipes, replace butter or oil with mashed avocado, like in these chocolatey avocado brownie bites. “If you use avocado to replace other fats, you can enjoy the flavor and nutrients and also cut down on saturated fats,” Zumpano says. Lots of vitamins

Let’s talk vitamins: In simple terms, avocados have a lot of them! Here are the vitamins that are most abundant in avocados and what they do for your health

Avocados are much more than their creamy texture and rich flavor.

They contain an array of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, healthy fats