Avocado – The Fertility Fruit

Written By: Marlene Affeld

One of Mother Nature’s crowning achievements, avocados are considered a perfect food. If the avocado were discovered today, it would be considered a miracle food. If avocados are not part of your daily diet, they should be.

History of Avocados

Archaeological research indicates that the avocado originated in what is now Mexico between 7,000 and 5,000 years B.C. Before the days of the Spanish Conquistadores, avocados were a staple in the native diets of people living in Mexico, Central, and South America. Grown from northern Mexico to the Andes Mountains of Peru, calorie-dense avocados found popularity in a diverse array of culinary dishes and liquors. The conquistadors discovered an unusual use for the milky juice contained inside the pit of the avocado. The sap-like liquid turns a deep red or black when exposed to air. The conquistadores applied the liquid as an indelible ink used to scribe documents and maps, some of which are still in existence today.

Also known as avocado pear, alligator pear, butter pear, or butter fruit, the avocado is in the flowering plant family Lauraceae. Avocados take their name from the Aztec word “ahuacata” (testicle) that refers to the shape of the fruit. The Aztec culture honored the tree. The Aztec people knew avocados as “the fertility fruit.”

Ancient Mayan, Aztec, and Inca cultures believed the humble avocado to be an aphrodisiac with inherently sexual powers and a physical resemblance to genitalia. Young maidens consumed avocados to enhance their beauty and promote fertility. Avocados present a sensual nature of the avocado with its soft, tantalizing flesh and hard pit. The intriguing fruit represented the ultimate sexual coming together of man and woman. During ancient times, procreation was a sacred duty. Aphrodisiacs, such as avocados, were employed to ensure potency in men and fertility in women.

The amazing avocado has a colorful and controversial history as a nutritious, healing food, and a sexual stimulant. For more than 10,000 years, healers have prescribed avocados for inducing sexual prowess and enhancing fertility. For hundreds of years, it was considered scandalous to be seen buying, picking, or eating avocados. Prevailing morality dictated such decadent behavior takes place only in private.

Throughout most of South America, avocados go by the name of “palta” or “abacate.” In Tobago and Trinidad, the fruit is called “zaboca.” In France, avocados are “avocatier.” The Dutch call the fruit” advocaat.” In Spain, it is called “abogado.” There are more than 520 different varieties of avocados grown worldwide. In the United States, the two most marketed brands of avocados are the thin-skinned smooth, bright green Fuerte variety and the rough and leathery black-skinned Hass variety.

Nutritional Value

A buttery yellow-green fruit, the luscious avocado (Persea Americana) rank by nutritional experts as a “super-food.” Avocados have an unfavorable reputation as being high in fat. An average avocado contains 731 calories and 30 grams of fat. Approximately 90 percent of calories in an avocado come from fat; it is “heart-healthy fat.” A nuavocados are high in monounsaturated fats (3g per serving).

Monounsaturated fats lower blood cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease when used to replace saturated fats in the diet. Avocados contain 20-to- 30 times more fat than most other fruits, providing a tasty source of energy for growing children and athletics. Healthy, monounsaturated fats help control diabetes. Avocados are low in trans fats, saturated fat, and cholesterol. Enjoy delicious avocados as a regular part of your diet. An average serving contains only 150 calories.

Avocados are sodium-free. An average avocado provides 3 g of fruit protein, 1.5 mg potassium, 1.4 mg iron, 95 mg phosphorus, 23 mg calcium, 8.6 mg niacin, and 660 I.U. of vitamin A. The fruit protein in avocados is a healthy addition to vegetarian diets and is a good source of protein in countries where protein consumption is insufficient.

An average avocado contains two-thirds of the minimum daily requirement of folate. The abundance of folate acid in avocados helps protect the body against strokes, prevents a type of life-threatening anemia, supports metabolism, nourishes prenatal health, and helps reduce cholesterol in the blood. Folate acid in avocados has been shown to prevent breast cancer.

Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant that supports the immune system and aids in the development of connective tissue formation, helping wounds heal and wrinkles soften. One-fourth of an avocado provides 82 mg vitamin C or 4 percent of the recommended daily allowance.

High in fiber (75% insoluble and 25% soluble) nutrient-dense avocados are a rich source of B vitamins as well as vitamins E, A, D, and K. A single avocado contains up to 10 grams of fiber and 20 essential ingredients, required for optimum health. Copper and iron found in avocados, aid in the regeneration of red blood cells. Ounce for ounce, avocados provide 35 percent more potassium than bananas.

Avocados are an ideal source of glutathione, a very important antioxidant that scientists advise is imperative in preventing heart disease, cancer, and aging.

An average avocado contains 76 milligrams beta-sitosterol, a natural plant sterol that helps the human body maintain healthy cholesterol levels. The 1999 issue of the American Journal of Medicine reports beta-sitosterol reduced cholesterol in 16 human studies.

Most people tend to think that carotenoids are concentrated in yellow, orange, and red vegetables such as squash, tomatoes, carrots, and peppers. While these vegetables are storehouses of carotenoids, the avocado, despite its green-tinted skin and pulp, contains an amazing array of carotenoids.

Avocados serve as a nutrient booster, enabling the body to absorb more fat-soluble nutrients such as lutein and alpha and beta-carotene, from the foods we eat in combination with avocados.

Lutein is a carotenoid, a natural phytonutrient, and antioxidant. Lutein protects against cataracts and macular degeneration and other age-related diseases of the eye. An ounce of avocado supplies 81 mg of lutein.

One cup of fresh avocado added to a salad of greens and carrots increases the absorption of carotenoids from the salad by up to 400 percent. Carotenoids are fat-soluble in the oil from the avocado. Add fresh avocados or avocado oil to salads, sauces, and salsa to increase the health benefits derived from other fruits and vegetables. Avocados also encourage the body to absorb more fat-soluble vitamins, including A, D, K, and E, from the foods we eat.

Health Benefits

Avocados prevent constipation, relieve the symptoms of Crohn’s disease, and stave off malnutrition. Antioxidant-rich avocados help protect the body from diseases associated with heart disease, elevated cholesterol, and high blood pressure. A recent 1996 study by researchers at the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social in Mexico (Archives of Medical Research, Winter 1996) showed that volunteers that ate an avocado a day lowered their cholesterol levels by 17 percent in just one week.

Avocados prove beneficial in the prevention and treatment of breast and prostate cancer. Ohio State University reports nutrients taken from avocados stop the development of precancerous cells that lead to lip, mouth, and throat cancers

Babies First Food

Avocados are one of the ideal first foods for babies. In fact, avocados are the most nutrient-dense food of all fruits appropriate for feeding infants and small children. Easily digested, with a palatable texture and mild flavor, ripe mashed avocados can be sweetened with a few drops of organic honey to daily supplement a baby or young child’s nutritional requirements. When babies are ready for “finger foods,” cut avocados in small bites. Children love the bold color and creamy consistency of avocados.

Weight Management

In spite of being high in calories, avocados are a valuable tool in attaining and maintaining a healthy weight. Consuming avocados speeds up the metabolism and quickly provides a sense of fullness, reducing the temptation to indulge in snacks high in carbohydrates or sugar. Dieters and diabetics, watching their carbohydrate intake, can indulge in avocados often. A one-ounce serving contains only 3 grams of carbohydrate and less than one gram of sugar. Scientific research validates the old belief that a diet that contains 20- to- 30 percent calories from “heart-healthy” monounsaturated fats such as found in avocados, aids weight loss and supports overall good health. Instead of slathering on mayonnaise, cream cheese or butter on your bagel or bread, substitute a few slices of avocado. You will cut calories, cut out unhealthy fats, and increase your intake of monounsaturated fat.

The Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research advises changing unhealthy eating behavior to healthy eating habits as a method of reducing belly fat. To fight belly fat, replace unsaturated fats with monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, increase your intake of fresh fruits and vegetables, and reduce the consumption of refined carbohydrates. When dieting, always remember to stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water.

Skin and Hair Care

Applying the oil of the avocado seed to the skin keeps the skin soft, supple, and moist while helping rough red skin, eczemas, and psoriasis patches to heal faster. Avocado oil is a superior natural sunscreen and windburn protection. Avocado oil quickly heals chapped lips. Avocado oil, massaged into the scalp daily, 30 minutes before shampooing, increases hair growth. Throughout the Caribbean, a powder made by grinding the dried seed of the avocado is used to treat dandruff.

To create a natural facial mask, mash one ripe avocado and three tablespoons of honey with three teaspoons of oatmeal and apply to the face. Allow the mixture to remain for 20 to 30 minutes. Rinse with lukewarm water. The soft flesh of the avocado makes a soothing shaving cream. Some cultures chew on an avocado seed to reduce toothache pain or chew the skin of the fruit to ward off internal parasites.

Simmer an avocado seed for 15 minutes in three cups of water. Cool the liquid. Use as a poultice for muscle aches, sprains, and bruises.

Consumption

Avocados are ready for use when fully ripe. Avocados do not ripen on the tree; they only ripen after picking. If you have an avocado tree, select the fruit as needed and allow it to ripen at room temperature on a sunny windowsill. To hasten the ripening process, place the avocados in a brown paper bag or place in proximity to ripening bananas or apples. The gasses these fruits produce when ripening quickly softens your avocados.

Peel an avocado with care. Research indicates that the highest concentration of carotenoids, minerals, and vitamins lies just beneath the dark green or blackish skin. You do not want to remove the dark green flesh next to the peel. The recommended method of peeling is similar to peeling a banana. Cut the avocado in half lengthwise. Twist the avocado halves until they separate. Remove the pit and cut each half lengthwise to produce quarter sections. Grip the point of the peel with your thumb and index finger and peel, just as you would a banana.

Leave the remaining avocados hanging on the tree until you are ready to use them. Select fruits that are free of marks or dents that can indicate bruising. The fruit should be firm, yet yield to gentle pressure. Soft, yet firm, avocados are used for slicing and to add to salads and sandwiches. Soft, overly ripened avocados are ideal for sauces, dips, and drinks. Lactose intolerant persons can use avocados to add a creamy texture and taste to soups, sauces, smoothies, and salsas.

Cultivation

Indigenous to Mexico and Central America, avocados flourish in subtropical and tropical climates worldwide.

Avocados display a deep green-skinned, fleshy body that ripens to a deep, purplish-green after harvesting.

Grown from seeds, avocados trees require a warm climate, plenty of sunshine, and nutrient-rich, well-drained soil. Space avocado trees 60 to 80 feet apart. At maturity, avocado trees have a broad spreading canopy, as wide as the tree is tall—plant avocado trees with plenty of room to mature. Avoid planting trees near buildings, overhead utility lines, cesspools, septic tanks, underground utilities, fences, and easements.

Dependent on the variety, evergreen avocado trees can grow from 50 to 75 feet tall and produce an abundance of individual fruits, each weighing from 8 ounces to 4 pounds. The fruit of the tree is a large berry that contains a single seed. The fruit may be egg-shaped, pear-shaped or spherical with a rough, leathery skin.

Avocados are fun and easy to grow. To start your avocado tree, plant a seed 4 to 6 inches deep in the soil. Provide plenty of water, and you will soon have a tree that will feed generations in the future. Avocados trees will produce an abundance of fruit within five years. Within 5 to 7 years, your avocado tree will be providing 200 to 300 fruits a season.

Avocado trees do best in alternate years. One year the harvest will be sparse and the next year abundant. Wild avocado trees in Mexico have lived for over 400 years and are still producing fruit. Plant an avocado tree as a celebration of life or to honor an ancestor or loved one. Your avocado tree will share your love for centuries.

If you live in a northern climate, you can still grow an avocado pit in a sunny window or greenhouse. Poke three wooden toothpicks into the middle of an avocado pit in a triangular pattern, halfway between the top and bottom of the pit. Balance the toothpicks on a small water glass or teacup. Fill the container with water until the bottom of the pit is submerged. Place in a sunny location and maintain the water level until the seed has sprouted and produced a large quantity of fine, white roots. Once roots are evident, plant in soil in a 5-gallon flower pot with good drainage. Avocado trees grown indoors will not bear fruit, but they make an attractive, conversation-provoking houseplant.

A Food Without Rival

David Fairchild, one of America’s most respected plant explorers, stated, “the avocado is food without rival among the fruits, the veritable fruit of paradise. Irresistibly flavorful, with a smooth, creamy texture, avocados should be part of everyone’s daily diet.”

References:

California Avocado Commission

Regenerative Nutrition

Ohio State University: Avocados May Help Prevent Oral Cancer

University of California: Agricultural and Natural Resources

Natural Benefits Of Avocado.

http://naturalbenefitsofavocado.blogspot.com/2011/