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| Avocado |
The story is told of a student in Mexico City who decided to follow a diet of nothing but avocado to test its nutritional value for himself. To this end he approached the owner of the house where he was staying.
Senora, for next month please give me avocados to eat. The lady answered: If thst is what you wish, then you may leave my house. My daughter and I are very decent and we can't risk our reputation by having you here eating so much avocado.Although this lady knew nothing of nutrition, she did have a clear idea that the avocado is an aphrodisiac, capable of sexual desire. It must have been for some good reason that the ancient Aztees called them ahuacalt, which is Nahuatl (an indigenous Mexican Language) means "testicles".
Today we know that the avocado contains the most vitamin E of any fresh fruit, the vitamin of reproduction. The lady inthe story was not far away from the truth.
PROPERTIES AND INDICATIONS: The composition has several noteworthy features:
Water: The avocado contains a very lo proportion of water (74.2% or less) compared to what is usual for fresh fruit. Other than bananas and olives, no other fruit has less. This indicates that the avocado is a concentrated fruits with high nutritional and caloric capacity that can reach as high as 200kcal/100 g of edible portion in certain varietites.
Fats: Together with the olives, the avocado is among the richest fruits in fats (up to 20% depending on the variety).During
the ripening process the fat content increases. A Study contained an average of 19.2% fat, while in February, one month later, this
figure had risen to 22.8%. The average fat content is around 15.3%.
- ~Phospholipids: These are fats containing phosphorous in their molecule. They perform very important functions in the nervous system.
- ~Free fatty acids,in other words, not united to glycerin. These are present in very small amounts, and are partly responsible for
- ~Protein: Avocados are among the most protein-rich of fresh fruits, which depending variety, can reach 2% of their weight. They contain all of the essential amino acids, though their proportion is not optimal, as is usually the case with plant-based foods with the exception of soy.In spite of this, avocado protiens are of great value, as much for their amount as for their quantity. This value is multiplied if these proteins are combined with other vegetable proteins thanks to the phenomenon of supplementation.
CIRCULATORY DISORDERS: Avocados can not be more highly recommended for cases of arteriosclersis, hypertention, and coronary heart disease in general. This is due, in addition to their interesting hypolipidemic (reduction of fat level in the blood) action, to the fact that they contains little sodium and abundant potassium.Anemia:The iron in avocados is relatively well assimilated. Therefore eating them is encouraged for all those needing additional iron,such adolescents (particularly girls)and pregnant women.Avocados should be included i diet of all who are anemic because of blood loss or lack of iron.
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