Avocado, a versatile fruit

Filed in archive Healthy Eating on July 4, 2007

What you see in the picture is an avocado. But it´s not the average avocado you buy in the supermarket. It´s the Brazilian version. These avocados are huge. A normal apple is about 3 times smaller than a Brazilian avocado.

I love avocado. It´s full of good fats and loads of vitamins and it also tastes wonderful. Although you might not think so it is actually a fruit.
And it´s very versatile, here are some tips on what you can do with your avocado:

*Instead of butter on your sandwich, add some avocado.
*Use avocado instead of oil when you make tortillas, I have tried it and it worked wonderfully. The tortillas comes out a bit green but the taste is lovely!
* Add avocado to your salad
* Make a dressing from avocado and vinegar, add spices such as paprika, pepper and salt. Definitely a different dressing full of flavor
* If you have dry skin avocado is great. Mash and let it smooth your skin for a few minutes.

In Brazil they make Vitaminas out of avocado. You can buy it everywhere and it´s basically an avocado smoothie. For more nutrients you can add apple and banana as well. I also add flaxseeds to include some more fibers. It´s a great smoothie if you are exercising and need a ¨pick me up smoothie¨. It is also good for your cholesterol.

Even your baby can eat avocado, no problem. Babies loves avocado and as it´s full of nutrients and good fat your baby will thank you for giving him/her avocado.
it is also great if you are pregnant or want to get pregnant, the level of Folate is very high.

A sample of nutrients in an avocado:

Vitamin A - 1230 IU
Vitamin C - 15.9 mg
Vitamin B1 (thiamine) - .2 mg
Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) - .25 mg
niacin - 3.9 mg
Folate - 124.6 mg
Pantothenic Acid - 1.95 mg
Vitamin B6 - .56 mg
Contains some other vitamins in small amounts.

Compared to a banana:
Vitamin A - 95 IU
Vitamin C - 11 mg
Folate (important during pregnancy) - 22.5 mcg
Vitamin B6 - .7mcg
Niacin - .6 mg
Pantothenic Acid - .31 mg
Vitamin E - .67 IU

So you can easily see why eating an avocado is better than eating a banana. Not to skip the banana though, it contains lots of goodies as well.

That is why I will continue eating my avocados.

Photo: Private.