VEGAN VEGAN FOOFOOD & LIVD & LIVING OCTOBER ING OCTOBER 5757T
hey boast an astounding 20 vitamins
and minerals, are gluten, sodium, sugar
and cholesterol-free and off er not only
fi bre but protein – something almost unheard of
in fruit. Ladies and gentlemen, let’s show some
massive respect to the humble-looking avocado.
Granted, they were not at the front of the
queue when looks were dished out; the dragon
fruit or rambutan win that battle hands down.
And yet the avocado, or alligator pear as it’s also
known, is in a league of its own when it comes to
number of adoring fans, level of consumption,
and, most importantly, unique health benefi ts.
Let’s start with a brief history of what’s
become a supermarket basket regular for so
many of us. We arrived at this party really late, in
case you didn’t realise – while it wasn’t until the
1990s that we began consuming avocados in any
signifi cant number in the UK, the Mexicans were
already millennia ahead of us. In Central Mexico,
eating avocados goes back some 10,000 years. It
was considered so potent that its original name
is said to come from the Nahuatl Indian word
‘áhuacatl’, which actually means testicle. Sorry if
that’s put you off a little.
Like the rest of Europe and, in fact, most of
Central and South America, we have the Spanish
to thank for bringing this superfood back from
their conquests. Spain was actually where my
own fi rst encounter with what is now one of my
favourite foods took place. I was 17 and thought
it was a poor excuse for a local cheese that had
been chucked into my salad. I hated pretty much
everything; the texture, the taste, the colour and
especially the not knowing what it actually was.
Fast forward a couple of decades and the
avocado’s meteoric rise to A-list celeb status in
the nutrition world has been nothing short of
incredible. Now, all across the country, you’ll
fi nd even the smallest café off ers something
with avocado in – there are even entire bars and
restaurants opening up exclusively in its honour.
Some people have gone so far as to declare
that they’re one of the only foods that we could
live off. Seems a bit extreme to forego all the
other delicious things we can eat, but we get the
gist: avocados are really, really good for us.An unbeatable nutritional CV
So, what makes the avocado so great? Well, as
it turns out, that’s a very long list... Avocadosare made up of 73% water, 15% fat, 8.5%
carbohydrates (mostly fi bre) and 2% protein.
Half an average size avocado contains around
110 calories. Somehow, within its compact
dimensions, the avocado manages to provide
us with vitamin K (26% of RDA), folate, which
is especially important for pregnant women
(20%), vitamin C (17%), vitamin B5 (14%),
vitamin B6 (13%) and vitamin E (10%). It also
contains copper, iron, magnesium, manganese,
phosphorous, zinc, vitamin A, B1 (thiamine),
B2 (ribofl avin) and B3 (niacin). This ideal
vitamin and mineral combo means avocados
are benefi cial to our eye function, skin, immune
system, circulation, hair and more.
But that’s not all: avocados boast twice the
potassium of bananas (to be fair though, bananas
are a quicker and easier alternative for tennis
players to tuck into mid-match). Increasing
potassium intake has been shown to reduce
blood pressure in people with hypertension, thus
decreasing the risk of stroke.
Almost 80% of the calories in avocados
come from fat, making it one of the fattiest
plant foods in existence. But, before you think
of using this useful little fact as justifi cation to
grab some Oreos instead, hold the phone: it’s a
diff erent kind of fat entirely, and this is really the
avocado’s star feature.
The majority of the fat in avocados is the
heart-healthy monounsaturated kind, more
specifi cally oleic acid, which is also the main
component in olive oil. This type of fat is all good
news. Not only has it been linked to reduced
infl ammation, making it ideal for arthritis or
osteoporosis suff erers, it also lowers cholesterol
levels, decreasing your chances of heart disease.Optimum absorption
Here’s another great thing about the kind of fat
found in avocados – it helps you absorb nutrients
from other foods. You see, when it comes to the
nutritional content of what we eat, the amount
of iron, vitamin A, calcium, etc. a food contains
is only one part of the puzzle. We also need to be
able to absorb the nutrients properly and take
them where they need to go in our bodies, and
this is often the trickiest part to get right.
Some nutrients are what’s known as ‘fat
soluble’, meaning that we can only use them if
they’re combined with fat. Why are we not toldall this in school? Basically put, vitamins A, D,
E and K, along with some antioxidants such as
carotenoids, need fat in order to be absorbed.
One study proved that by adding avocado or
cold-pressed avocado oil to a salad or meal, we
can absorb anywhere between 2.6 and 15 times
more antioxidants, meaning that not only is
avocado highly nutritious in its own right, it also
spreads its magic by increasing the nutritional
value of other plant foods. Impressive, right?Tricks to up your consumption
There are endless ways to introduce or increase
the amount of avocado in your diet, both sweet
and savoury. A quick internet search for avocado
recipes should give you plenty of inspiration. But
how to get avocado goodness into your sceptical
children, reluctant partners or even you yourself,
if anything beyond guacamole is a no-no?
Tip number one is, as with most things in life,
to add some chocolate and see how much better
everything looks. Avocados are surprisingly
delicious mixed with cocoa powder and feature
in some seriously gooey and delicious desserts.
Really can’t stand them? Fair enough. These
superheroes can be benefi cial in other ways too –
mash them up and apply to your face and hair for
a deeply hydrating treatment! In simple terms,
few things rival the avocado when it comes to
healthy eating. Get some on your plate, in your
salad, on your hair and in your lives now!The avocado is the mightiest green thing
on the planet and Sarah Hutchings shows
why you need to smash it into your dietall this in school? Basically put, vitamins A, D,VFL17.Avocado.indd 57 07/09/2017 14:05