HEALTH BENEFITS OF ALLIGATOR PEAR ALSO KNOWN AS AVOCADO

    Reflecting its shape and the leather-like appearance of its skin, avocado is colloquially known as Alligator Pear.This fruit is not sweet, but rich, and distinctly yet subtly flavored, and of smooth, almost creamy texture. It is used in both savory and sweet dishes. Avocado is very popular in vegetarian cuisine, as substitute for meats in sandwiches and salads because of its high fat content. Fruits are not only delicious but healthy too. They are rich in vitamins and other essential nutrients.

Alligator Pear known as avocado  

     Research has shown that people who eat more fruits and vegetables have lower risks of several diseases. They may help prevent heart disease and stroke, control blood pressure, cholesterol, prevent some types of cancer and guard against vision loss.
    There are 13 vitamins that the body absolutely needs: vitamins A, C, D, E, K and the B vitamins (thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, biotin, vitamin B-6, vitamin B-12 and folate). Avocados naturally contain many of these vitamins and other nutrients such as copper, iron, phosphorus, magnesium, and potassium. Avocados also contain fiber, protein, and a lot of beneficial phytochemicals such as beta-sitosterol, glutathione and lutein, which may protect against various disease and illness. This avocado fruit, also known as the alligator pear, is a food laced with high calorie content and contains lots of these vitamins beneficial to health. Whether its calories, fiber, saturated fat or cholesterol, avocados have more of what you want and less of what you don’t want.

        VITAMINS CONTENTS
VITAMIN K is an essential vitamin that plays an important role in blood clotting. It is known as the clotting vitamin because without it blood would not clot. If you don’t have enough vitamin K, you may bleed too much. Some studies suggest that vitamin K helps maintain strong bones in the elderly. The best way to get the daily requirement for vitamin K is from food sources. Including delicious  avocados as part of your meals and snacks can help contribute to your daily intake of this essential nutrient. Avocados supply 8% of the Daily Value for vitamin K per serving (1 oz. or 1/5 of a medium-size avocado).

A water-soluble VITAMIN C is required for the growth and repair of tissues in all parts of your body. It is necessary to form collagen, an important protein used to make skin, scar tissue, tendons, ligaments, and blood vessels.

VITAMIN E plays a role in healthy skin and hair. Vitamin E may also help protect the heart,at a lower level.

Avocados are packed with B VITAMINS, proven stress-relievers.

A water-soluble VITAMIN B6 that helps the immune system produce antibodies. Antibodies are needed to fight many diseases. Vitamin B6 helps maintain normal nerve function and form red blood cells. The body uses it to help break down proteins. The more protein you eat, the more Vitamin B6 you need.

        ANTIOXIDANTS
Fruits and vegetables are rich sources of antioxidants, substances that protect the body tissue from damage caused by unstable substances called free radicals.   Free radicals can damage cells, and may play a role in heart disease, cancer and other diseases.  Some common antioxidants include beta-carotene, lutein, lycopene, selenium and vitamins A, C and E. Avocados contain many of these antioxidants, including 19 micrograms of beta-carotene, 81 micrograms of lutein, and 4 percent of the recommended Daily Value for vitamins C and E.
The antioxidants, amino acids and essential oils inside an avocado can help repair damaged hair, moisturize dry skin, treat sunburns and maybe even minimize wrinkles

        CAROTENOIDS
An antioxidant that may be associated with a lower risk of eye diseases, such as cataracts and macular degeneration, and may help maintain the health of skin CAROTENOIDS.No single category of nutrients in avocado is more impressive than carotenoids. Research has shown that the greatest concentration of carotenoids antioxidants in avocado occurs in the dark green flesh that lies just beneath the skin. Carotenoid antioxidants provided by avocado:
         alpha-carotene
         beta-carotene
         beta-cryptoxanthin
         chrysanthemaxanthin
         lutein
         neochrome
         neoxanthin
         violaxanthin
         zeaxanthin

avocado toast

        OLEIC ACID
Normally, our bodies are difficult to properly absorb the phytonutrients and avocado comes as a solution to that problem. Research has shown that eating avocados and combine with other fruits or vegetables enhance the level of absorption of phytonutrients. Absorption of these fat-soluble phytonutrients requires just the right amount and combination of dietary fats and that is exactly the combination that is provided by avocado!.Due to its beneficial raw fat content , act as a "nutrient booster" avocado enables our  body to more efficiently absorb fat-soluble nutrients, such as alpha and beta-carotene and lutein, in other foods eaten in conjunction. Included within avocado are generous amounts of OLEIC ACID a monounsaturated fatty acid that makes it easier for the digestive tract to form transport molecules (chylomicrons) that can carry carotenoids up into the body.

Avocado Salad

        PHYTOSTEROLS
Researchers believe that avocado's amazing carotenoid diversity is a key factor in the anti-inflammatory properties of this fruit.The ability of avocado to help prevent unwanted inflammation is absolutely unquestionable in the world of health research. The term "anti-inflammatory" is a term that truly applies to this delicious food. Avocado's anti-inflammatory nutrients fall into five basic categories:

          1.  phytosterols, including beta-sitosterol, stigmasterol, and campesterol
          2. carotenoid antioxidants, including lutein, neoxanthin, neochrome, chrysanthemaxanthin, beta-cryptoxanthin,  zeaxanthin,  violaxanthin , beta-carotene and alpha-carotene
          3.non-carotenoid antioxidants, including the flavonoids epicatechin and epigallocatechin 3-0-gallate, vitamins  C and E, and the minerals manganese, selenium, and zinc
          4. Alpha-linolenic acid (an omega-3 fatty acid) and oleic acid are key fats provided by avocado.
          5.polyhydroxylated fatty alcohols (PSA)s

Arthritis including both osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis are health problems that have received special research attention with respect to dietary intake of avocado. All categories of anti-inflammatory nutrients listed above are likely to be involved in avocado's ability to help prevent osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. The prevention of too much pro-inflammatory PGE2 (prostaglandin E2) synthesis by the connective tissue appear to involve avocado's PHYTOSTEROLS (stigmasterol, campesterol, and beta-sitosterol).

         POTASSIUM
A single avocado has 975 milligrams of potassium, while a banana, well-known for being loaded with potassium, delivers just half that, with 487 milligrams per large fruit. One ounce of avocado (1/5 of a medium avocado) provides 140 g of potassium or 4% of the recommended Daily Value (DV). POTASSIUM is useful to maintain the health and elasticity of blood vessels. POTASSIUM has various roles in metabolism and body functions and is essential for the proper function of all cells, tissues and organs. POTASSIUM  can help lower blood pressure by blunting the adverse effects of sodium on blood pressure. Consuming a diet that's rich in POTASSIUM , may also reduce the risk of developing kidney stones and possibly bone loss as we get older .  If we consume regularly, it will protect us from heart disease and helps normalize blood pressure.

        MONOUNSATURATED FATS AND POLYUNSATURATED FATS
Avocados are rich in monounsaturated fat that is easily burned for energy.Avocados contain lots of fiber and monounsaturated fats  both of which low in calories help keep you feel full,without making you fat.  Avocados are very good to use as a menu for the diet.According to the American Heart Association, mono and polyunsaturated fats, when consumed in moderation and eaten in place of saturated or trans fats, can help reduce blood cholesterol levels and decrease risk for heart disease. Avocados are one of the few fruits  that provide “good” fats (0.5 g Poly and 3 g Mono per 1-oz. serving).
   The first step in lowering your risk of heart disease is to know which fats raise bad cholesterol (LDL or Low Density Lipoprotein) and which fats raise good ones (HDL).  Saturated fat, trans-fatty acids, dietary cholesterol and  the LDL produced naturally by our body raise bad cholesterol.MONOUNSATURATED FATS AND POLYUNSATURATED FATS  appear to not raise LDL cholesterol.Regarding this issue, avocado offers a solution. Avocados make a special enzyme that reduces bad cholesterol and at the same time, stabilize our density lipoprotein in the blood. With avocado consumption on a regular basis, this will lower bad cholesterol in our body.

Avocado-Smoothie

Avocado-Smoothie

       GLUTATHIONE
Avocado's uniqueness as a food that is vital in both preventing and fighting cancer has been classified by nutritionists as one of the many healthy things to be taken by our body regularly.This is because every serving of the creamy, delicious avocado contains plenty of  food chemicals in form of vitamins and nutrients that have been found anti-cancer properties. Among this important food chemicals  in avocado fruit happens to be the popular GLUTATHIONE. It can act as a powerful antioxidant in living cells by removing free radicals in cells. Found  abundant in  avocado fruit GLUTATHIONE has been shown to have anti-cancer activity in fighting various forms of cancer.These metabolic activities of glutathione in the avocado fruit leads to the final detoxification and removal of carcinogens from cells. Glutathione, according to research, has shown high levels of anti-cancer potentials in fighting colon, bone-marrow, larynx, and breast cancer.

       BETASITOSTEROL
Compared to other commonly eaten fruits,  avocado has more BETASITOSTEROL, which may block cholesterol absorption.Beta-sitosterol is used for heart disease and high cholesterol. It is also used for boosting the immune system and for preventing colon cancer, as well as for gallstones. It can also bind to the prostate to help reduce swelling (inflammation).

        LUTEIN
Avocados rank highest in lutein, which acts as an antioxidant. One avocado contains about 81 micrograms of lutein and is perfect for improving our vision. People think of lutein as an eye vitamin. They use it to prevent eye diseases including cataracts, retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Actually lutein is a carotenoid vitamin. It is related to vitamin A and beta-carotene. Foods rich in lutein include spinach, broccoli, squash, corn, orange pepper, kale, kiwi fruit, zucchini, grapes, orange juice and of coarse avocado. Some people also use lutein for preventing breast cancer, colon cancer, heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Lutein is absorbed best when it is taken with a high-fat meal.

avocado shake

Tropical Guacamol Dip

  Thanks to healthy fats and loads of nutrients. But the mighty powers of the avocado stretch farther than you probably realize. Avocado is a fruit that is flexible and we can serve in various ways. We can create volumes of avocado or we can enjoy it as a salad,fat replacement in baking, dessert whips or processed into a variety of other foods and use as a baby’s first food in lieu of processed baby food. Avocados are frequently used for milkshakes and occasionally added to ice cream and other desserts. A dessert drink  made with sugar, milk or water, and pureed avocado. Options to serve avocado is endless and everyone can enjoy them anywhere.                                        
                                                                             

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