Health benefits of avocado

The major production areas of avocado are in the Western Hemisphere. The most important producing countries are Mexico, the United States, Brazil, Dominican Republic and Indonesia.

Avocado is a very dense fruit, packed with nutrients. It is especially rich in vitamin A. The edible portion of the avocado fruit is the mesocarp, a highly nutritious oily pulp rich in protein, several B vitamins, vitamin C, potassium and other minerals.

Oil may be obtained from the fruit pulp and pit. It has a high nutritional value since it contains essential fatty acids, minerals, proteins and vitamins A, B6, C, D and E.

Vitamins A, C, E have important roles in reducing heart disease by reducing blood LDL oxidation.

The content of saturated fatty acids in the pulp of the fruit and in the oil is low; on contrary, it is very high in mono-unsaturated fatty acids. The oil content of the fruit is in the range 12-30%.

Avocado fat is predominantly monounsaturated oleic acid, which has been shown to reduce blood levels of LDL, known as ‘bad’ cholesterol.

One study found that people who ate one avocado a day for a week had a drop in total cholesterol of 17 percent.

Japanese researchers found that avocado extracts were the most effective of twenty-two different types of fruit at protecting the liver form the ravages of the hepatitis C virus.

Avocado also has been found to have three times the amount of glutathione than in any other fruit. Glutathione is a powerful antioxidant shown to block thirty different carcinogens and proliferation of the AIDS virus in test tube experiments.

Studies have revealed a strong correlation between increased glutathione intake (from food) and decreased risk of oral and pharyngeal cancer.
Health benefits of avocado