The Surprising Truth About Avocados

Summary

This video explores the health benefits of avocados, debunking the myth that they're unhealthy due to their high fat content. It highlights that avocados contain healthy monounsaturated fats, particularly oleic acid, and are rich in fat-soluble nutrients which enhance nutrient absorption from other foods. Avocados are also packed with antioxidants like lutein and beta-carotene, vital for skin, brain, and eye health, and reduce inflammation. They contain high levels of the powerful antioxidant glutathione, essential minerals, and beta-sitosterols that benefit cholesterol and blood vessel health. The video also discusses avocados' skin benefits, their role in promoting gut health through prebiotic fiber, and offers tips on storing avocados. While acknowledging that some people may have sensitivities or allergies to avocados, the video asserts that they are beneficial for most people, contributing to overall cardiovascular, mental, and skin health.

Takeaways

• 🥑 Avocados are high in healthy monounsaturated fats and nutrients that improve nutrient absorption from other vegetables.
• 🌱 Hass avocados have 18-30% fat, while Florida avocados have 3-5% fat.
• 🧪 Avocados are loaded with antioxidants like lutein, zeaxanthin, and beta-carotene that benefit skin, brain, eyes, and reduce inflammation.
• 🦠 Avocados are the best plant-based source of reduced L-glutathione, the body's master antioxidant that helps balance the immune system.
• 🥤 Avocados are rich in minerals like phosphorus, magnesium, manganese, potassium, and copper, essential for energy production, healthy bones, muscles, eyes, and brain function.
• 💊 Beta-sitosterols in avocados help balance cholesterol levels and improve blood vessel function for better blood flow and oxygen delivery.
• 🍃 The D-mannoheptulose sugar in avocados stimulates collagen production, benefiting skin, joints, gut lining, nails, hair, and immune system.
• 🌱 Avocados contain prebiotic fiber that supports the gut microbiome and promotes regular bowel movements.
• 🥶 Ripe avocados can be refrigerated to slow ripening, while unripe avocados should be kept at room temperature to ripen.
• 🍃 While organic avocados are ideal, non-organic avocados are generally safe as they are not heavily sprayed with pesticides and herbicides.

Q & A

Why were avocados considered unhealthy during the low-fat craze of the 90s?

Avocados were considered unhealthy during the low-fat craze of the 90s because they are high in fat, and the prevailing health advice at the time was to avoid fats for better health.

What type of fat is predominantly found in avocados, and why is it considered healthy?

Avocados are high in monounsaturated oleic acid, a healthy fat that supports the absorption and utilization of fat-soluble nutrients and has beneficial effects on health.

How do avocados enhance nutrient absorption from other vegetables?

Consuming avocados in a salad improves our body's ability to absorb and utilize nutrients from the other vegetables, thanks to the healthy fats they contain.

What is the difference in fat content between Hass and Florida avocados?

Hass avocados contain 18 to 30% fat, whereas Florida avocados have a lower fat content of 3 to 5%.

What antioxidants are found in avocados, and what benefits do they offer?

Avocados are loaded with antioxidants like lutein, zeaxanthin, beta-carotene, and alpha-carotene, which are beneficial for the skin, brain, eyes, and reducing inflammation.

How does the presence of reduced L-glutathione in avocados benefit the body?

Reduced L-glutathione in avocados acts as the body's master antioxidant, helping to reduce inflammation, balance the immune system, and make it more effective at targeting pathogens without harming the body's own tissues.

What minerals are abundant in avocados and their importance?

Avocados contain minerals like phosphorus, magnesium, manganese, potassium, and copper, essential for energy production, healthy bones, muscle tissue, and overall body function.

What role do beta-sitosterols found in avocados play in the body?

Beta-sitosterols in avocados help balance cholesterol levels and improve the functionality of blood vessels, enhancing blood flow and oxygen delivery to cells.

How does the unique sugar found in avocados, D-mannoheptulose, contribute to skin health?

D-mannoheptulose sugar in avocados stimulates collagen production, essential for healthy joints, gut lining, nails, hair, immune system, bones, and especially skin health.

What are the benefits of the prebiotic fiber found in avocados?

The insoluble and soluble prebiotic fiber in avocados supports the microbiome, aids in regular bowel movements, and improves overall gut health.

Is it necessary to buy organic avocados to avoid pesticide exposure?

Avocados are not highly sprayed with pesticides and herbicides, making it less necessary to buy organic. However, organic avocados may have a lower toxic load and possibly higher nutrient levels.

Why might some people not tolerate avocados well?

Some individuals might not tolerate avocados well due to histamine intolerance, allergies, sensitivities, or issues with certain types of fibers causing gut symptoms. This affects a small percentage of the population.

Outlines

00:00

🥑 The Health Benefits of Avocados

This section debunks the myth that avocados are unhealthy due to their high fat content, a belief stemming from the low-fat craze of the 90s. It highlights the health benefits of avocados, emphasizing their high content of healthy fats, particularly monounsaturated oleic acid, and their ability to enhance nutrient absorption from other vegetables. It discusses the different types of avocados, with Hass avocados being higher in fat compared to Florida avocados. The paragraph further explores avocados' nutritional profile, including antioxidants, minerals, beta-sitosterol, and unique sugars that promote skin health and collagen production. It concludes by addressing the proper storage of avocados and their pesticide exposure, suggesting that while organic avocados are preferable, they are not essential due to avocados' low pesticide residue.

05:01

🚫 Addressing Avocado Allergies and Intolerances

This section acknowledges that while avocados offer numerous health benefits, including improved cardiovascular health, mental well-being, and anti-aging properties, a small percentage of people may not tolerate them well due to allergies, sensitivities, or histamine intolerance. It explains that such intolerances can arise from a high toxic load, imbalanced gut bacteria, or nutrient deficiencies. The text advises individuals who experience adverse reactions to avocados to either avoid them or limit their intake until the underlying issues are addressed. It encourages solving these root causes to eventually reintegrate avocados into one's diet and reap their health benefits.

Keywords

💡Monounsaturated Oleic Acid

Monounsaturated oleic acid is a type of healthy fat prevalent in avocados. It's beneficial for heart health as it can help reduce bad cholesterol levels and increase good cholesterol. In the video, this fat is highlighted as a key reason why avocados are considered healthy, despite the common misconception from the '90s low-fat craze that all fats are unhealthy. The video emphasizes the importance of differentiating between healthy and unhealthy fats, with monounsaturated oleic acid being a prime example of the former.

💡Fat-Soluble Nutrients

Fat-soluble nutrients are vitamins and antioxidants that require fats for their absorption and transportation throughout the body. The video points out that avocados, being rich in healthy fats, enhance the body's ability to absorb these nutrients from other foods, especially when consumed in a salad. This highlights avocados' role in not just providing their own nutritional benefits but also in boosting the nutritional value of other vegetables consumed alongside them.

💡Antioxidants

Antioxidants are substances that can prevent or slow damage to cells caused by free radicals. The video lists several antioxidants found in avocados, such as lutein, zanthin, and beta-carotene, and explains their various health benefits, including skin, eye, and brain health, as well as their role in reducing inflammation. This reinforces the idea that avocados are a nutrient-dense food beneficial for overall health.

💡Reduced L Glutathione

Reduced L Glutathione is described in the video as the body's master antioxidant. It's emphasized that avocados are an excellent plant-based source of this compound, which plays a crucial role in reducing inflammation and balancing the immune system. This segment of the video underlines the importance of glutathione in maintaining a healthy immune response and its natural availability in avocados, making them an even more valuable dietary component.

💡Minerals

The video highlights the rich mineral content of avocados, including phosphorus, magnesium, manganese, potassium, and copper. These minerals are essential for various bodily functions such as energy production, bone health, muscle tissue maintenance, and brain function. This segment showcases avocados as a multifaceted food that contributes to overall structural and functional health benefits beyond just their vitamin and fat content.

💡Beta-sitosterol

Beta-sitosterol is a plant sterol with a structure similar to cholesterol, mentioned in the video for its ability to help balance cholesterol levels and improve blood vessel function. The inclusion of this compound in the discussion underscores the cardiovascular benefits of avocados, illustrating how they can support heart health by enhancing the endothelial lining of blood vessels for better blood flow and oxygen delivery.

💡Prebiotic Fiber

Prebiotic fiber, which is abundant in avocados, is discussed in the video as beneficial for the microbiome and digestive health, particularly in promoting regular bowel movements. This point emphasizes the role of avocados in supporting gut health, not just through nutrient absorption but also by aiding in digestion and preventing constipation, highlighting the holistic health benefits of avocados.

💡Ripening Process

The video provides practical advice on managing the ripening process of avocados, suggesting refrigeration to slow ripening and leaving them out to ripen naturally. This guidance ties back to the overall theme of maximizing the health benefits of avocados by ensuring they are consumed at their peak ripeness, when their nutritional content and flavor are optimal.

💡Organic vs. Non-Organic

The discussion on whether to choose organic avocados addresses consumer concerns about pesticide and herbicide exposure. The video suggests that while avocados are not heavily sprayed and are safe to consume in non-organic form, opting for organic can further reduce toxic load and possibly offer higher nutrient levels, subtly advocating for a cautious approach to food sourcing for health optimization.

💡Histamine Intolerance

Histamine intolerance is brought up in the context of avocados potentially causing adverse reactions in a small percentage of the population. This part of the video acknowledges that while avocados are generally beneficial, individual responses can vary due to factors like histamine levels and gut health. This nuance adds depth to the video's message by recognizing the complexity of nutrition and the importance of tailoring dietary choices to individual health needs.

Highlights

Avocados are high in healthy monounsaturated fats and loaded with fat-soluble nutrients, which actually improve the absorption of nutrients from other vegetables consumed with them.

Hass avocados are 18-30% fat, while Florida avocados are lower in fat at 3-5%.

Avocados are loaded with antioxidants like lutein, zeaxanthin, beta-carotene, and alpha-carotene, beneficial for skin, brain, eyes, and reducing inflammation.

Avocados are the best plant-based source of reduced L-glutathione, the body's master antioxidant, helping to balance the immune system.

Avocados are rich in minerals like phosphorus, magnesium, manganese, potassium, and copper, necessary for energy production, healthy bones, muscles, eyes, and brain function.

Beta-sitosterols in avocados help balance lipid and cholesterol levels, as well as improve blood vessel function and blood flow.

The D-manno-heptulose sugar in avocados helps stimulate collagen production, benefiting skin, joints, gut lining, nails, hair, and the immune system.

Avocados contain prebiotic fiber, both soluble and insoluble, which supports the microbiome and promotes regular bowel movements.

To extend the shelf life of a ripe avocado, refrigerate it; for an unripe one, leave it at room temperature to ripen.

Avocados are not on the "dirty dozen" list and are not highly sprayed with pesticides and herbicides, so organic is preferable but not essential.

A small percentage of people (around 5%) may have an allergy, sensitivity, or histamine intolerance to avocados, causing adverse reactions.

For most people (19 out of 20), consuming avocados helps balance blood sugar, support healthy insulin levels, blood flow, blood pressure, cardiovascular health, brain health, mental health, and anti-aging benefits.

Those with bacterial overgrowth or FODMAP sensitivity may experience bloating and gut symptoms from avocados and should reduce or avoid consumption until the root cause is addressed.

Ideally, after addressing underlying issues, reintroduce avocados to benefit from their health advantages and proper digestion.

The video encourages sharing the information about the health benefits of avocados with others.

Transcripts

today we're talking about the truth

about avocados a lot of people may tell

you that avocados are not healthy

because they're high in fat and that's

actually what I heard growing up in the

90s because we were in The lowfat Craze

and so everybody said well you want to

stay away from fats so any sort of

plant-based food even avocados high in

fat not going to be healthy for us

however what we know today is that

avocados are high in healthy fat

monounsaturated oleic acid and actually

they're loaded with fats soluble

nutrients and consuming avocados in a

salad for example actually improves our

ability to absorb and utilize nutrients

from the other vegetables that we're

consuming them with so avocados are

actually an amazing food for our bodies

and so we look at different types of

avocados you have hos avocados which are

kind of the typical kind of dark ones

the smaller ones that we see um they're

18 to 30% fat Florida avocados are lower

fat they're 3 to 5% % fat so a typical

Florida avocado It's a larger avocado

but in a Florida avocado it has roughly

25 to 50% of the amount of fat that a

Hos avocado contains again healthy fats

there's also avocados are loaded with

antioxidants things like lutein zanthin

betacarotene Alpha carotene all these

keratinoid antioxidants that are great

for your skin your brain your eyes for

reducing inflammation

in your system they're also the best

plant-based source of reduced L

glutathione glutathion is our body's

Master antioxidant there's roughly 19

milligrams of reduced L glutathione per

half of an avocado so it helps

upregulate glutathione in our system and

it actually has a natural source of

glutathione that helps reduce

inflammation and helps balance our

immune system so our immune system is

more specific spe ific at targeting

pathogens bad stuff getting rid of bad

stuff but doesn't Target our own self

tissue so the more balanced we are with

glutathione the more balanced our immune

system is so um avocados are high in

that also you've got a lot of minerals

in avocados things like phosphorus

magnesium manganese pottassium copper

all necessary for energy production

healthy bones healthy muscle tissue

healthy overall structure healthy eyes

healthy brain function so we got the

minerals and then we have beta citro

sterols which are plant steriles right

and they actually help to balance our

lipids our cholesterol levels as well as

improve the overall functionality of our

blood vessels so they help improve the

endothelial lining of the blood vessels

and that allows for better blood flow

better oxygen delivery to all the cells

and the better we bring oxygen and the

better that we bring or pull waste from

cells because of good blood flow the

better we're going to feel and function

so beta Citrus sterols in there there's

also a unique type of sugar called Dem

Mano healos sugar that's in avocados and

that de manoppo sugar actually helps

stimulate collagen production this is

why avocados are one of the best things

for your skin in fact people actually

put avocado and make like a paste and

put it on their skin so the skin the the

Dem Mano heilos as well as the alpha

beta carotenoids Altin zanthin all kind

of seep into the skin kind to get a

direct effect but consuming avocados

actually eating them is going to really

give us great benefits for overall skin

health and collagen production collagen

is needed for healthy joints healthy gut

lining we also need it for healthy nails

healthy hair and um healthy immune

system right so super critical for all

of those and healthy bones and then

number six is Prebiotic fiber there's a

lot of insoluble and soluble fiber

that's in avocados which helps support

our microbiome and helps make you more

Reg

at going number two in the bathroom

right so help so it helps relieve

constipation and helps improve your

overall gut health so when we're looking

to store

avocados if the avocado is getting very

ripe you can put it in the refrigerator

that will actually slow down the

ripening process of the avocado so it'll

make the avocado last longer if the

avocado is unripe and it's hard on the

outside you can actually keep it out and

that will naturally ripen it if you put

it in the refrigerator it it's going to

slow down the ripening process so

depending on when you want to consume

the avocado that's going to tell you

basically should you refrigerate it or

should you not if it's very ripe make

sure you refrigerate it if it's not ripe

don't refrigerate it so that way once it

starts to ripen it will be ready to

consume and if you want it to last

longer again you can put it in the

refrigerator now avocados they're not on

the dirty dozen they're not highly

sprayed with pesticides and herbicides

so should you get it organic I mean

ideally there probably going to be some

benefit to getting an organic but it's

not one of the one of the foods one of

the produce uh items that you definitely

need to get organic so you're going to

be fine using a nonorganic variety of

avocado if you can afford it get the

organic because we just know that

there's going to be a lower a much lower

toxic load uh as a whole or at least a a

a a a small difference in the overall

amount of chemicals that are on it and

perhaps higher amounts of nutrients that

are in there as well so ideally organic

but it's not one of the ones you

absolutely have to because it's not

highly sprayed with dangerous pesticides

and herbicides now there is a percentage

of people that may not cons may not do

well when they consume avocados just

like any type of food avocados are tend

to be higher in histamines so for some

individuals that have histamine

intolerance because typically they have

a high toxic load and they have bad

bacterial balance in their gut those two

the combination of those two and

oftentimes nutrient deficiencies as well

while cause higher amounts of histamine

and and a histamine intolerance those

individuals may not feel well when they

consume avocados also some individuals

just have an allergy or sensitivity to

avocados so if you're one of those

individuals you may want to avoid or

reduce your consumption avocados um it's

roughly somewhere around 5% of the

population that doesn't feel as good

when they're consuming avocados but for

19 out of 20 people they actually

consume those avocados it helps balance

their blood sugar helps support healthy

insulin levels it helps support healthy

blood flow blood pressure and gives them

overall great cardiovascular health

Great Brain Health great mental health

um and great skin and anti-aging

benefits so for most people they're

going to do fantastic with avocados

again there is a small percentage of

people that has an allergy a sensitivity

to them or perhaps a histamine

intolerance or a bacterial overgrowth to

where a certain certain type of fiber

called a fod map uh based carbohydrate

causes more bloating and more um

unwanted gut symptoms for those

individuals they want to reduce their

consumption or avoid altogether the

avocados ideally getting to the root

cause of some of those issues correcting

them and then reintroducing avocado

later so they can get a lot of these

great health benefits by digesting it

properly consuming it and not having

unwanted symptoms when you're consuming

it so hopefully you guys enjoyed this

video please share it with anybody that

you know and you care about and we'll

see you guys in a future video training