Avocado... amazing benefits for health and beauty
Avocado is a common fruit in the world (Eduardo Suteras/Agence France-Presse)
Avocado fruit is known as an essential source of providing several key nutrients to the body, including healthy fats and fiber. It contains anti-inflammatory compounds and antioxidants, and helps reduce the risk of heart disease.
Studies indicate that Mexico and Central America in general are the homeland of this fruit. It originated in the Puebla region in south-central Mexico, and was known by different names throughout its history, including “fertility fruit” and “crocodile fruit,” noting that avocado trade included 25 types until the 1950s. Twentieth century. According to data issued by the Food and Agriculture Organization , Mexico ranks first in production with more than 2.4 million tons annually, followed by other countries in Latin America, Indonesia and Kenya .
Since 1980, avocados have become widely popular in countries and continents where they are not cultivated and were not previously consumed. However, their agricultural problems are their need for large amounts of water, as growing one kilogram of them costs approximately a thousand liters of water, which makes them unsuitable. For countries suffering from water stress.
In recent years, Morocco has come to occupy an advanced position among the countries that produce avocados, before the authorities declared a state of water emergency in 2022 after exports rose to 45 thousand tons within a few months.
Environmental expert and head of the “Ecological Lighthouses Association for Development and Climate,” Mustafa Benramel, told Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed: “Avocado cultivation poses a real threat to the water situation in the future, because it does not take into account the extent of the water stress that we have reached, and it continues strongly, especially in the western region.” ". He explained to Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed that “the large expansion of areas cultivated with avocados in western Morocco has negative repercussions on the size and quality of the water bed in the short term, which makes the country at risk of experiencing the same situation that southern Spain and Portugal experienced as a result of the depletion of their water resources before the authorities’ decision to stop... Avocado fruit cultivation.
Avocados are one of the popular fruits in the world of nutrition and health, and are used extensively by athletes. Studies conducted by Harvard University show that avocados contain essential nutrients that support physical health, and are important for strengthening the heart muscle.
Public health specialist Mohamed Turmos told Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed: “The nutrients contained in the avocado are magnesium and potassium minerals, and vitamins, most notably B6 and E, which support heart health. Avocados also contain beta-sitosterol, which helps maintain healthy cholesterol levels by reducing Absorption of harmful cholesterol, as monounsaturated fats raise the level of good cholesterol. Also, the percentage of potassium and magnesium in avocados helps purify blood vessels and lower blood pressure, and these are essential and beneficial elements for heart health.”
On the other hand, avocados are an essential fruit for supporting the health of women, especially pregnant women, given that each one of them contains a large percentage of folic acid, which is responsible for supporting the health of the pregnant woman and the fetus. Avocados can provide 25 percent of the daily amount of folic acid. Which is recommended during pregnancy. A study published by the American medical journal Web Med states that “avocados play a role in alleviating the symptoms of depression by raising the level of folic acid, which prevents the accumulation of homocysteine in the blood, which slows the flow of nutrients to the brain and accelerates depression.”
In addition, folic acid in avocados plays a role in reducing the risk of some types of cancer, such as prostate and colon, and minerals contained in avocados reduce cancer.
Avocado is one of the pillars of healthy food (Michael Matta/Getty)
Nutritionist Sally Al-Sayed describes avocados as one of the most important essential elements that provide the body with beneficial healthy fats. She told Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed: “The avocado contains about 350 calories, and more than 70 percent of its weight includes healthy unsaturated fats, as well as fiber.” And essential minerals and nutrients, and therefore, they are important for people who follow a healthy, balanced diet. Eating half an avocado is enough to provide the body with the necessary energy and bring a feeling of fullness for long periods, knowing that it also contains 9 grams of carbohydrates, which are considered a great source of fiber.
Sarah points out that recent studies have revealed that eating avocado brings great health benefits in terms of managing the amount of sugar in the blood and treating insulin sensitivity, so it is an important and harmless meal for diabetics. These studies also show that the monounsaturated fats contained in the avocado can create a kind of balance in insulin levels in the blood.
A study published by the American magazine "Science Daily" found that eating an avocado daily reduces internal visceral fat in the abdomen, which is difficult to target.
According to a study conducted on about 100 people for 12 weeks, visceral fat in the abdomen and fat in general decreased in women who ate avocado as part of their daily meal.
According to the study, a decrease in visceral fat is important for preventing diseases, specifically diabetes, as the abdominal area contains two types of fat, the first which accumulates directly under the skin and can be eliminated by exercising and does not cause serious diseases, and the second is visceral fat which accumulates deeper in the The abdomen, surrounding the internal organs, which usually causes diabetes. The study concluded that eating avocados directly benefits the prevention of diabetes.
A previous American study revealed that adopting a moderate-fat diet and eating an avocado daily is the most ideal option for people who suffer from overweight and obesity, as a group that ate moderate-fat diets that contained avocados for 5 weeks recorded the greatest percentage of change. Regarding harmful cholesterol, it decreased by 13.5 milligrams per deciliter.
Researchers considered that a decrease of 13.5 milligrams per deciliter in harmful cholesterol is sufficient to prevent people from taking cholesterol-lowering medications.
For centuries, avocados have been referred to as the miracle fruit due to their great health benefits. Women used it not only to prepare food, but also for cosmetic purposes by making masks to protect and nourish the skin. A study conducted by the University of California Center for Human Nutrition, in cooperation with the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, showed that consuming avocados increases skin elasticity and firmness.
The study included 39 women, aged between 27 and 73 years, who were asked to eat an avocado daily. After 8 weeks, a significant increase in the elasticity and firmness of the skin was evident, especially in the area of the eyes and forehead, which indicates that the fruit has amazing and important benefits in supporting aesthetic health.
“Using avocados as face masks may be beneficial, but eating them is more beneficial for the skin,” says Dr. Zhaoping Li, head of the Department of Clinical Nutrition at the University of California, California.
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