Avocados are a surprisingly complete food, with fourteen minerals to stimulate growth, including iron and copper for your blood. The sodium and potassium in avocados keeps your body chemically balanced, and their low sugar content and absence of starch make them an ideal fruit for diabetics or individuals with hyperglycemia.  Potassium can also reduce help lower the risk of kidney stones by reducing urinary calcium excretion.

Avocado is a fat-rich fruit having a fat content of about 23%. It contains dietary fibers. It is rich in minerals such as copper, magnesium, manganese, and contains some amounts of iron, calcium, iodine, selenium, zinc and phosphorus.

Vitamin Content

Avocados are well known for their high vitamin K and Vitamin A content. They also contain small amounts of Vitamin B, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Biotin, and Folate.

 Because they are dense, avocados, like bananas, are filling. But they are also a perfectly digestible slow-burning fuel, making them ideal for replenishing nutrients for athletes. They’re a great source of fruit oil and digestible fats, and they make excellent and healthy dips for raw vegetables. The high protein content makes avocados a good meat substitute, and unlike animal fat, the fat is not saturated.  And whether blended with fruit or mashed, they make particularly nutritious baby food.

 Calories in Avocados

Fruits are not high in calories and are usually eaten for their ability to provide vitamins, minerals and digestive fibrous content. However, because avocados have such a high fat content they provide a good quantity of calories. A 100 gm of edible portion of the fruit provides about 215 calories.  This translates into one medium-sized avocado containing a little more than 300 calories.  Most of these calories come from fats (77% fat, 19% carbs, 4% protein), but keep in mind that the fat content is primarily monounsaturated “good fat.”

Fiber Content in Avocados

Eating avocados is an excellent way to introduce dietary fiber into your diet. One cup of avocado has 10 grams of fiber which meets 40% of your daily fiber requirement. Because foods that are rich in dietary fiber are more filling, your body needs to work harder to digest these foods. The harder your body has to work to digest your food, the more calories your body burns. Inclusion of avocado in your meals can automatically reduce your portion size and keep you from feeling hungry for longer periods of time.

Furthermore, 7.5 out of the 10 grams of fiber in avocado are insoluble fiber. This type of fiber continuously draws water into your bowels, easing its transport through your digestive tract. Faster food transit keeps your bowel movements regular and is extremely conducive to weight loss.

Antioxidants in Avocados

 Antioxidants are compounds found in our food that neutralize free radicals. Oxidation in the human body produces chemicals called ‘free radicals’. These chemicals have been linked to diseases such as heart and liver disease and cancer.  Some degenerative conditions caused by free radicals are: increased risk of heart disease, inflammation of the joints, cancers triggered by damaged cell DNA and damage to nerve cells in the brain which can contribute to Parkinson or Alzheimers disease.

 Alanine, alpha and beta-carotene, vitamin C and E, beta-sitosterol, and persenenone A & B are among avocado’s most potent antioxidants. Antioxidants are involved in the regulation metabolism, immune and arterial function, cell proliferation (spread), aging and cell death. They also help to prevent the formation of toxic compounds by scavenging free radicals.

Avocados and Diabetes

According to the Centers for Disease Control, in 2005 20.8 million Americans (7 percent of the population) were found to have diabetes. Diabetes is, however, largely preventable and controllable through medical treatments and a healthful lifestyle. Achieving and maintaining a healthy weight is essential to helping prevent type 2 diabetes (the most common type). Make your calories count by choosing high-quality foods from the different food groups. One-fifth of a medium avocado, or about one ounce, has 50 calories and contributes nearly 20 beneficial nutrients, 3 grams of carbohydrates and no sugars to one’s diet.

Medicinal Uses for Avocados

Those inclined to home medication may want to investigate medicinal uses before self-medicating. Unripe avocados are said to be toxic. The leaves of some avocado varieties are also considered toxic. The skin of the avocado has been used as an antibiotic, as a way of ridding the intestinal tract of parasites, and as a remedy for dysentery.

The leaves have a variety of uses. They have been chewed as a treatment for pyorrhea. They have been applied as poultices to wounds. Heated, they are placed on the forehead to relieve neuralgia. Leaf juices and concoctions have been employed as antibiotics, treatments for hypertension, diarrhea, sore throat, and to regulate menstruation.  Juice concoctions have been used as digestive tonics, cough remedies, and abortifacients.

Seeds have been roasted and pulverized to create treatments for diarrhea and dysentery. Powdered, they have been utilized as a dandruff treatment. Pieces of seed have been placed in tooth cavities as a toothache palliative. An ointment made from the mashed seed has been used for women’s makeup to redden their cheeks. Oil from the seed has been applied to skin eruptions.