Hello world!
I know I’ve been missing in action for a while well at least in this blog world. But I’m back with more Tid Bits under my belt than ever J
Spring is here and what a beautiful time to embrace change, change is inevitable so why resist it? Instead flow with it and learn to embrace the changes in your life and in your body. At first you might be so resistant to the changes that you’re miserable focusing on how awful your life and circumstances are when in fact if you just sit back embrace the changes knowing that it’s all for a greater good, you’ll begin realizing that the changes coming to you (even though unknown and a little scary at first) are exactly what you’ve been dreaming of.
I’ve gone through many changes in the last few months myself and find myself happier than ever, open to all of life’s beauty, opportunities and abundances.... But enough about me LOL lets get to some Tid Bits already!! Oh and one last thing I find it disturbing that people are abusing cinnamon with this cinnamon challenge craze that’s been hitting YouTube... for those of you who know me personally you know how passionate I am about my cinnamon so I just wanted to say to those of you that are participating in this “Cinnamon Challenge” nonsense NOT COOL!!
Today I’m going to be talking about a very underrated nutritious power house of a fruit AVOCADO!! Yummy avocado, not just for guacamole anymore and you’ll soon see why, so sit back read and enjoy this tid bit on avocado!
Avocados contain an amazing array of phytonutrients. Avocado is a good source of potassium, a mineral that helps regulate blood pressure. Adequate intake of potassium can help guard against circulatory diseases, like high blood pressure, heart disease, or stroke. Diets containing foods that are good sources of potassium and low in sodium may reduce the risk of high blood pressure and stroke. One cup of avocado has about 23% of the Daily Value for folate, a nutrient important for heart health. Folate-rich diets have a much lower risk of cardiovascular disease or stroke than those who do not consume much of this vital nutrient. Avocados are nutritionally dense, and they are a good source of vitamin K, vitamin C, vitamin B6, copper and folate. They are a good source of dietary fiber as well, the total dietary fiber content of fresh avocado fruit of the Ettinger variety is 5.2 g/100 g, of which approximately 75% is insoluble fiber, and 25% soluble fiber. Fiber intake is inversely associated with body weight and body fat.
Avocados contain all of the nine essential amino acids, even though not in the ideal ratios, which makes them a complete protein food. Replacing animal protein, which is usually high in saturated fat, with vegetable protein can help maintain and lose weight.
A typical avocado contains 30 grams of fat, but 20 of these fat grams are beneficial monounsaturated fats that help speed up the basal metabolic rate when compared with saturated fats.
Not only avocado has a rich source of monounsaturated fatty acids including oleic acid, which has recently been shown to offer significant protection against breast cancer, but it is also a very concentrated dietary source of the "carotenoid lutein". It also contains measurable amounts of related carotenoids plus significant quantities of vitamin E.
A few slices of avocado in salad, or mixing some chopped avocado into salsa will not only add a rich, creamy flavour, but will greatly increase your body's ability to absorb the health-promoting carotenoids that vegetables provide. Compared to other fruits or vegetables such as carrots and spinach, just a slice of avocado improves your body's ability to absorb carotenoids.
Just some of the many benefits
Avocados have been shown to inhibit the growth of prostate cancer.
Oral Cancer Defense
Research has shown that certain compounds in avocados are able to seek out pre-cancerous and cancerous oral cancer cells and destroy them without harming healthy cells.
Breast Cancer Protection
Avocado, like olive oil, is high in oleic acid, which has been shown to prevent breast cancer in numerous studies.
Eye Health
Avocados have more of the carotenoid lutein than any other commonly consumed fruit. Lutein protects against macular degeneration and cataracts, two disabling age-related eye diseases.
Lower Cholesterol
Avocados are high in beta-sitosterol, a compound that has been shown to lower cholesterol levels. In one study, 45 volunteers experienced an average drop in cholesterol of 17% after eating avocados for only one week.
Heart Health
One cup of avocado has 23% of the recommended daily value of folate. Studies show that people who eat diets rich in folate have a much lower incidence of heart disease than those who don't. The vitamin E, monounsaturated fats, and glutathione in avocado are also great for your heart.
Stroke Prevention
The high levels of folate in avocado are also protective against strokes. People who eat diets rich in folate have a much lower risk of stroke than those who don't.
Another health benefit of avocado is that it is extremely helpful in preventing both rheumatoid and osteo-arthritis. The many different antioxidants found in avocados help reduce inflammation, a major concern for sufferers of either type of arthritis. Avocado nutrients responsible for this health benefit include vitamins C & E as well as manganese.
Perhaps the biggest health benefit of avocados is that by adding avocado to certain foods, you can improve your absorption of nutrients. This means that when you combine other fat burning foods with avocado, you can improve your nutrient absorption up to 400%!
Avocados provide many general health benefits, in addition to its fat burning benefits due to its vitamin E and glutathione, which protects you against tons of diseases including several forms of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and cholesterol.
Avocados also help reduce the signs of aging, regulate blood sugar and promote eye health.
Okay people ready for this one avocado and weight loss:
Although they are fruits, avocados have a high fat content of between 71 to 88% of their total calories (about 20 times the average for other fruits). A typical avocado contains 30 grams of fat, but 20 of these fat grams are health-promoting monounsaturated fats, especially oleic acid. The monounsaturated fat in this buttery fruit boost the body’s production of a key metabolism revving hormone. The monounsaturated fats which help blood lipid profile, aids insulin function which makes it excellent for weight loss and weight control.
Many individuals are at first stunned when learning that one of the best foods for weight loss is avocado...mainly because the typical understanding of avocado is it’s full of fat and fat is bad.
The problem with the typical notion of avocado is that it is simply wrong. Avocado is one of your best foods for weight loss and one of the top weight loss fats.
Yes, avocado is full of fat - but it's full of good fat. Bad fat makes you fat; good fat keeps you from getting fat.
Avocado is high in monounsaturated fat. Research clearly indicates diets high in monounsaturated fat are more beneficial for weight control because monounsaturated fat exerts beneficial effects on how your body uses blood sugar.
Avocado possesses a double whammy when it comes to weight loss and blood sugar metabolism. Avocado contains a unique weight loss friendly carbohydrate called mannoheptulose.
Mannoheptulose is a rare form of sugar, found primarily in avocado. Mannoheptulose has been found to lower insulin secretion. To understand how the inhibition of insulin is helpful to weight loss we need to understand insulin resistance...you might remember this from my cinnamon post.
An underlying cause of the obesity epidemic is insulin resistance. Insulin resistance occurs when the cells lining your arteries become resistant to the action of the hormone insulin. Your body uses insulin to pull sugar from your blood and into your cells where it can be used as energy. When your cells become resistant to insulin your body has no choice but to store your blood sugar as fat. People with insulin resistance make too much insulin. Too much insulin only makes the problem of weight gain and difficulty with weight loss worse. Avocado actually helps to reverse the problems that we see with insulin resistance, by virtue of the presence of mannoheptulose and its high content of good fats.
Avocado consumption will not result in rapid weight loss, but moderate avocado consumption can be helpful when combined with other weight loss foods.
Since fat has twice the energy of protein or carbs, the trick with avocado, as with all good fats is to eat smaller portions of them. Limit your avocado consumption to 1/4 to 1/2 avocado at a time.
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| Mmmm Chocolate Avocado Pudding!! |
Avocado isn’t just for salads either you can use it as a spread instead of mayo on crepes, sandwiches, burgers or mixed with tuna. Throw some in a shake for a really creamy texture. You can add cocoa powder to it with some stevia or agave nectar and make a pudding. And of course guacamole, just cut up some cilantro, onions, tomatoes and lots of lemon or lime juice and you’ve got some yummy guacamole that can be served with cut up veggies or as a fish/meat topping. Seriously the possibilities are endless with avocado! I recently mashed some up with some cumin and made a really cool dressing for my zucchini noodles, you can use pasta but since I avoid gluten zucchini noodles are my fav! Get creative and go crazy with it J And to my clients yes you’re allowed to have avocado lol
Oh and if you’re ever left with avocados that look like they’re just way too ripe to eat don’t throw them out, use them on your hair! Creating an avocado hair mask will strengthen and fortify your hair. They are rich in fatty acids that are a real must in your daily diet, especially when it come to your hair. Your hair will go from brittle to being soft and shiny.
Avocados are also ideal as a facial mask as well. Facial masks made with this wonderful ingredients tend to be highly hydrating for dry sensitive skin and can be used for all types of skin. An Avocado facial mask will leave skin, soft, fresh, smooth and healthy.
I could probably sit here all day with different recipes and uses for avocados but I do need to get going to train my clients, so I’ll let you guys process the Avocado Tid Bit for today J
Enjoy have a beautiful Monday and it’s great to be back and blogging J
