Avocado is one of my top dozen healing foods, packed with vitamin E, precursors of glutathione (the most important antioxidant in the body), and healthy monounsaturated fat. According to a study from Ohio State University, avocado significantly increases absorption of fat-soluble carotenoids, the red, yellow, and orange pigments occurring in fruits and vegetables. If you add avocado to salad or salsa, your body will absorb much more beta carotene, lutein, lycopene, zeaxanthin, and vitamin E, compounds with protective properties against diseases such as heart disease and cancer.
People who shun dietary fat, and particularly good sources like avocado, are shortchanging their bodies of these and other important nutrients. Steven Clinton, the head researcher, told the Wall Street Journal that he was surprised not just at how much a difference in carotenoid absorption the avocado made and but also how little was absorbed when no fat was present in a meal. The body needs some fat. It's a fact of life.
My recommendation: eat a half-avocado a day to help keep the doctor away. More than ever, this is a fruit to be eaten, folks, not shunned. It's real heart food and now, as we see, has a big synergistic nutrient effect to boot. The next time you eat guacamole, made with avocado, onions, and cilantro, you're really going to make your heart happy.
References
Montorsi P, Ravagnani PM, Galli S. Association between erectile dysfunction and coronary artery disease. Role of coronary clinical presentation and extent of coronary vessels involvement: the COBRA trial. Eur Heart J, 2006: [Epub ahead of print] Perkowski D. Presentation at American Thoracic Society International Conference, May 2006.
Sumpio BE, Cordova AC, Berke-Schlessel DW, et al. Green tea, the "Asian paradox," and cardiovascular disease. J Am Coll Surg, 2006;202(5):813-25.
Unlu NZ, Bohn T, Clinton SK, et al. Carotenoid absorption from salad and salsa by humans is enhanced by the addition of avocado or avocado oil. J Nutr, 2005;135(3):431-6.
