It is a popularly known fact that avocados are miracle fruits that can do wonders for your health. Consumption of avocados on a daily basis can give you a thorough health boost, but funnily enough, it isn’t just consumption that the avocados are good for because over the past few years, applying avocados directly on the face and skin has become an increasingly fruitful and popular beauty treatment. Here is a combined list of all the health and beauty benefits and avocado has to offer.
1. Avocados – rich sources of vitamins, and ‘good’ fats
Avocados completely live up to the name super food because of the numerous benefits you can reap from one. Firstly, they’re brimming with various nutrients; they contain the highest level of vitamin E in fruits and have a higher content of potassium than even bananas. Avocados are high in fat but not of the harmful kind. These are the ‘good’ fats or the monounsaturated fatty acids that keep your blood pressure low and you’re heart healthy. These fatty acids are also an essential part of olive oil and are a major reason behind its health properties.
2. The tastiest way to lower cholesterol
Studies have shown that, potentially because of the beta-sitosterol found in them, avocados help reduce and control cholesterol. Studies show an astounding 17 percent decrease in the cholesterol levels of patients who have added and increased the avocado content in their diets. But the benefits don’t end there, because avocados contain Polyhydroxylated Fatty Alcohols or PFAs, which are anti-inflammatory agents that reduce inflammation in your body which may be the eventual cause of arthritis. The vitamin E present in avocados also helps. Continuing the long list of nutritious goodness jammed in avocados, xeaxanthin and lutein are types of carotenoids that are antioxidants which take care of the overall protection of your eyes, while decreasing the probability of eye infections.
3. Trust avocados for weight loss
If you’re trying to lose a few extra pounds, you’ll find that avocados are quite highly recommended. Firstly, avocados are very high in fibers with low carb content, two major factors that advocate weight loss. Secondly, the monounsaturated fatty acids in the avocado are fats that are stored in your body as slow burning energy. What this means is that, as the stored fats burn up gradually, you’ll end up feeling full and satiated for a long period of time, successfully keeping your hunger at bay. So, if you don’t feel hungry, you won’t eat and the less you eat the lesser calories you consume.
4. Don’t count the calories
Just like it’s full of the most nutritious nutrients, avocados are also quite high on calories. This very aspect might make some of you skeptical about an avocado’s health benefits but rest assured, avocados are actually very beneficial for your health. A large avocado may contain as many as 400 calories whereas a chocolate bar, like suppose a snickers bar, contains about 240 calories. However, even with the shockingly lesser amount of calories a snickers bar isn’t even half as nutritious as an avocado. Ideally, you should have a small avocado every other day in a week or one large avocado over the course of the week.
5. Anti-aging properties
Antioxidants are known to aid anti-ageing; avocados are high in antioxidants like carotenoids, which include lutein, cyptoxanthin and also xeaxanthin. These antioxidants protect your skin from environmental damage which may result in patches, dark spots, wrinkles, lines and other typical signs of aging on your skin. In fact, research shows that depending on the content of carotenoids in your body, they can actually alter the general appearance of your skin. Another component called the D-manno-heptulose sugar is present in avocados and it has been shown to improve the skin cells by increasing and helping collagen formation.
6. Beauty benefits
Apart from being great for your health, avocados are very popular as beauty enhancers and they actually work wonders on your skin. Avocados can lighten your skin tone and hydrate dry skin at the same time. The hydration works to reduce any fine lines you may have on your skin. Avocados can provide an instant radiance to your skin as well. This is why they are favored natural ingredients in cleansers and moisturizers. Regular consumption of avocados can even prevent the breakout of acne. Among the other benefits, you can also almost replace your sunscreen lotion with avocados because they have high sun protection and act as a great natural sunscreen. And in case you’re suffered from sun burns, these fruits help get rid of the acquired sun burn and prevent future damage as well.
7. A healthy addition of taste to your meals
It’s not very hard to incorporate avocados into your daily diet in fact, not only are they incredibly nutritious, avocados compliment all sorts of foods. They’re texture is rich and creamy and they blend well with other ingredients. You can use them as dips like the popular recipe of guacamole, Mexicans love using avocado in their dishes. You can use them in salads or you can even sprinkle over some salt, scoop them out and eat them with a spoon plain. But before buying avocados, make sure you correctly check how ripe or unripe the avocado is before purchasing.
8. Helps during pregnancy
Folate is high in folic acid and folic acid is essential for the development of a fetus. Avocados are a natural source of folate and are recommended to women during their pregnancy so that both the mother and the baby can meet their nutritious needs. Apart from helping during pregnancies, the high folate levels in avocados can also reduce the occurrence of a stroke. So, by adding avocados to your daily diet, you can truly end up with a longer lifespan.
9. Fibrous and nutritious
Another great thing about avocados is that apart from being nutrition rich food themselves, avocados aid nutrient absorption from other foods as well. This is the result of carotenoids present in avocados. Also, about 7 percent of the weight of an avocado is comprised of natural fibers and fibers, as you know, are great for healthy bodily functions. Including both soluble and insoluble fibers, avocados can help the body avoid spikes in the blood sugar levels and also help to maintain bowel functions.
10. Can help prevent cancer
Out of all the great properties of an avocado, this is probably the most impressive of them all. Some studies have shown that the nutrients present in avocados can help prevent certain types of cancers and maybe even lower the after effects of chemotherapy.