6 REASONS TO: Have avocados in your grocery shopping cart

Avocado has been praised for its numerous health benefits. PHOTO | FILE

What you need to know:

  • Avocado is high in fibre and fat.
  • Avocados blend so well with a wide variety of meals.
  • It can be used for beauty regimens.

Avocado has been praised for its numerous health benefits, its taste and versatility.

A quick search on Google shows that some of the benefits of consuming this delicious creamy fruit includes lowering blood cholesterol, having great skin, higher brain power, reduced risk of heart disease and better reproductive health.

But above all, avocados are tasty and can add flavour to many meals – from the breakfast table to the dinner table.

Salmon and avocado salad. PHOTO | FOTOSEARCH


Here’s six simple reasons to have avocados in your grocery shopping cart:

  1. They are nutritious. Word on the street is that avocado is fatty hence can make you fat and increase your cholesterol. Simple logic, no? Nothing could be further from the truth. Harvard Health and WHO report that avocados contain monounsaturated fats hence belong to the "good" type of cholesterol called High Density Lipoproteins (HDL). They are definitely good for your health.

  2. They will keep you fuller for longer because they are high in fibre and fat. Nutritionists maintain that high-fibre foods keep you fuller for longer. According to Healthline Magazine, foods rich in fibre and fats are released much slower from the stomach. “A high fibre intake stretches the stomach, slows its emptying rate and influences the release of fullness hormones. In addition, fibre can ferment in the bowel. This produces short-chain fatty acids thought to further help promote feelings of fullness.”

    Avocado salad. PHOTO | FILE

  3. They complement meals round the clock. Avocados blend in so well with a wide variety of meals – from breakfast to dinner, and even in-between. You can have it in a sandwich with lettuce and tomatoes for breakfast, in a fruit salad for a midday snack, as a side dish in guacamole for lunch, or even in a smoothie for a light dinner or refreshment. Just take your pick.

  4. They are simply delicious. A ripe avocado dripping with creamy goodness is highly likely to transform your meals into a mouth-watering delicacy. Some people like to mash the avocado and mix it in foods such as githeri, while others slice it up and eat it with ugali and sukumawiki. Others just scoop it with a spoon and enjoy it. Whichever way you choose to eat avocado, your taste buds will definitely be in for a treat.

    Mashed avocado. PHOTO | FOTOSEARCH

  5. They can be used as beauty treatment. The regular avocado lover is likely to cringe at the thought of an entire bowl of mashed avocado being smeared on the face or hair, but the benefits of doing so remain undisputed. This means that whether or not you enjoy eating avocado, you still have a great reason to have it in your grocery cart for beauty purposes. Its benefits for skin include moisturising, removing wrinkles and treating sunburns. The oils in avocado can also help to repair dried out hair and give it a nice sheen.

    Avocado oil. PHOTO | FOTOSEARCH

    A woman uses a homemade face mask made from avocado, eggs and lemon. PHOTO | FILE

  6. They are in season. Lest we forget, earlier this year avocados were threatening to go the dinosaur way. We had to dig much deeper into our pockets to buy them while taking the risk of ending up with a half-rotten, unripe or big-stoned avocado. Every purchase felt like a hostile negotiation with each party looking to get the better deal. Thankfully, those dark days are momentarily gone and an avocado can now be enjoyed for as low as ten shillings.

    Sliced avocado. PHOTO | FILE


Tip: Once you have cut a ripe avocado, sprinkle some lemon juice on the exposed part before storing it to keep it from blackening. It works for me all the time.