Ode to the Avocado...

It's been awhile since my last post. With a myriad of travelling, work commitments and other responsibilities these past couple months, life has been rather hectic. We've been able to experience some great new restaurants, but time in my own kitchen has been rather limited. (Today, for example, I opted for a great standby, my comforting crockpot beef stew... perfect considering it's snowing outside - in April, no less). :) Over the next several weeks I have several dishes and recipes I look forward to experimenting with, in addition to a cooking class I'll be attending at Thanksgiving Point Kitchens. Anywho, for now I wanted to share the following article on the much-debated, yet recently lauded, avocado. Though it should be used in moderation (due to its high calorie/high fat content), the avocado can add a tasty, fresh dimension to an endless variety of dishes. It's awesome diced into tacos, fajitas, sandwiches, burritos, salads and much more!

For years, we have been told to avoid the avocado because of its high caloric and fat content. An avocado contains a whopping 731 calories and over 30 grams of fat. Despite these drawbacks, nutritionists say adding a little avocado to your diet each day packs a beneficial punch that outweighs the fat and calories.

Avocados contain folate, potassium, monosaturated fats and are very high in fiber. The monosaturated fats in avocados contain oleic acid. It has been found to improve fat levels in the body and help control diabetes. By using avocados as their primary source of fat in the diet, diabetes sufferers can lower their triglycerides by up to 20%. In addition to being helpful to those with diabetes, the monosaturated fats in avocados are good for lowering cholesterol. A lowfat diet containing avocados has been shown to both lower levels of dangerous low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and raise the level of healthy high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. In addition, triglycerides were also lowered slightly.

Avocados are also a huge source of fiber, containing 10 grams in only one avocado. As we all know, fiber is known to help prevent high blood pressure, heart disease, and certain types of cancer, particularly colon cancer. Avocados also contain 30% more potassium than a banana. Potassium is beneficial to the body by lowering the risk of high blood pressure, heart attack and cancer. In addition, avocados are the perfect food for pregnant women. The folate in one avocado per day provides almost 30% of the recommended daily dosage and helps prevent life threatening birth defects of the spine and brain.

As you can see, the benefits of avocados are long reaching. Still worried about fat? Look for Florida grown avocados. They contain about 2/3 the calories and half the fat of California grown avocados. Also, stick with those harvested between November and March; they contain 1/3 the fat of those picked earlier in the season.
Source: esorrtment.com