When you think of the word "fruit", banana springs to mind along with apples and pears. For those feeling a little ambitious, oranges, raspberries, and strawberries all provide a welcome treat. However, there has been one fruit taking the world by storm in recent times - the avocado. Not only are people enjoying it on its own, there are now numerous recipes that involve spreading the fruit and even putting it in a blender for a tasty smoothie. Why is this the case?

Health Benefits - For the most part, an avocado is made up of carbohydrates and fat which instantly brings a little concern to health-goers. However, that's not the whole picture! We'll get into it soon but aside from this, there are many health benefits* to be found. When it comes to vitamins, this is where the fruit really comes to life containing vitamins K, B5, B6, E, and C. When we say this, we aren't just saying it for effect either. Of course, a fruit could contain a drop of each vitamin and the health industry would promote it as the next ‘heal-all’ fruit but avocado really does contain the vitamins in healthy doses. For five of the six vitamins mentioned, just one serving provides at least 15% of your RDA. Besides the vitamins, avocado also boosts your potassium level.

 Potassium - In an average diet, the majority of people around the world are currently seeing a shortage of potassium so they'd look to bananas as the solution. In fact, you should be looking at avocados because they contain more potassium than banana! In a serving, they contain 14%* of one’s RDA as opposed to 10% in a banana!

And that's not it! you will also find small amounts of iron, zinc, phosphorus, Vitamin A, copper, magnesium, and manganese. At times, many sources cling to the fact that the fruit is high in carbs but this is actually a bit of a misconception. If ever someone says this to you, you can let them know that, of the nine grams of carbs in a serving, seven are fiber. Essentially, this is great news because it means that only two ‘net’ carbs are found in avocados; go out and spread the message to get everyone eating this fruit!

With many foods these days, they come with a warning to eat in moderation because of sodium, cholesterol, or saturated fat. If you will believe us, none of these are a problem for the avocado either. Containing no sodium or cholesterol, avocado is also low in saturated fats meaning that they can be enjoyed without any sense of guilt. 

Summary - In truth, there are still even more benefits to discuss* but we don’t wish to overwhelm you too much. However, remember that in addition to lowering triglyceride levels, avocados also help to absorb nutrients from plant foods, protect the eyes through antioxidants, relieve symptoms of arthritis, and more. Of course, there will be some that complain about the 77% fat content but even this is questionable since a high proportion of fat is oleic acid which is linked to all sorts of health benefits!

References

Avocado Potassium Content." Diet and Fitness. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2017.

Dreher, Mark L., and Adrienne2 J. Davenport. "Hass Avocado Composition and Potential Health Effects." Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition. Taylor & Francis, 2 May 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2017.

"What's New and Beneficial About Avocados." Avocados. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2017.