The Health Benefits Of Avocados

The avocado tree is native to the Mexican, Caribbean, Central American, and South American regions. Avocados also go by the names alligator pear or butter pear. The fruit is shaped like a pear, but tastes vastly different. Perhaps one of the things that first come to mind when someone mentions avocado, is guacamole. The green dip that tastes so good on tortilla chips. It’s great for any Mexican dish and makes a wonderful appetizer. As you’re eating guacamole, or plain avocado, you may not know the many health benefits this fruit provides. And there are many benefits. What are the health benefits of avocado? The benefits of avocado can be seen on the outside of your body and be felt on the inside.

Benefits On The Inside

The avocado fruit can have a wide variety of benefits on the inside of your body. The benefits include the following:

1. The avocado can prevent prostate cancer and breast cancer. It has been shown that the avocado inhibit prostate cancer growth. The fruit is high in oleic acid. It has been shown in several studies that oleic acid can prevent breast cancer.
2. The avocado can defend against oral cancer. There are certain compounds found in the avocado that actually seek out the cancerous and precancerous cells that cause oral cancer, and destroy them.
3. The avocado fruit is great for healthy eyes. There is a large amount of the carotenoid lutein in avocados. More than in any other fruit. Lutein helps to protect again cataracts and macular degeneration.
4. Cholesterol levels can be lowered by eating avocados. This fruit is high in beta sitosterol, a compound that has been proven to lower cholesterol levels. By eating avocados for one week, a person can see a 17% drop in their cholesterol level.
5. Avocados are great for the heart. Diets that are rich in folate can help to lower the chance of heart disease. There is 23% of the recommended amount of folate in just one cup of avocado. Other heart healthy elements are in avocados as well, including monosaturated fats, vitamin E, and glutathione.
6. Since the avocado is high in folate, this fruit is also good at preventing strokes.
7. Eating avocados can aid in the absorption of nutrients. A study was performed in which participants ate a salad that contained avocados. It was shown they absorbed five times the amount of carotenoids than the participants who at a salad with no avocados.
8. The avocado has been known to help sexual disorders in some people.

Benefits On The Outside

It’s been shown that the avocado has many health benefits on the inside of the body. But this super food also has benefits for the outside of the body.

1. The avocado is great for soothing a bad sunburn. Rubbing the flesh of the avocado on the sunburn can help ease the sting and the dryness.
2. This fruit is also great for clearing up rashes. Mash up an avocado and spread the paste onto the rash and it will speed up the healing process.
3. Avocados are also good for rough skin. Apply the same mashed avocados to the patch of rough skin, and it will smooth out in no time.

Just looking at all of these health benefits the avocado provides, it’s no wonder it’s been deemed as a super food. If someone ever asks you, “What are the health benefits of avocado?” you have plenty to say in response. Avocados are very easy to come by, and you can also plant these in your garden. You can have your own stash of avocados in your own back yard.

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