By Afolabi Olamiotan

It is clear that nutritious food contributes majorly to healthy lifestyle by preventing and reversing diseases. Avocados are essential and nutritious fruit you can add to your diet to promote your health.
Avocado pear also called alligator pear or butter fruit, which is scientifically known as “Persea Americana,” is largely consumed in Nigeria for its delicious buttery taste but it originated from Mexiacan South.
The fruit has greenish flesh with buttery consistency and rich, sweet nutty flavour, it is often eaten as salad or desert and also serves as an important staple in the diet of consumers who have limited access to other fatty foods.
In Nigeria, Persea Americana is commonly consumed raw or in combination with white rice or with bread as a sandwich. It is used in milkshakes together with other fruits and is common in vegetarian cuisine as a substitute for meats in sandwiches and salads.
Avocados are fresh fruits that contain all the life giving nutrients the body needs. It contains incredible amount of vitamins like Vitamin C, E, K and B5, riboflavin, niacin, folate and pyridoxine (Vitamin B6).
Minerals available are magnesium, potassium and manganese. They also provide lutein, beta-carotene, omega-3 fatty acids and dietary fiber which helps reduce the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and obesity. Although some get scared with the fact that this fruit contains fat but luckily the fat present is mono unsaturated fat which is not harmful to the body, it is a fat that helps lower bad cholesterol as long as you moderate the consumption
Avocados are not a kind of fruit that should be ignored because they are used in many health and beauty products. The vitamins, minerals and healthy fat you get from avocados help prevent some diseases, gives you a younger look and keeps the body in good working order. In a 100grams per serving you get:
v 6.7 grams of Fiber (about 24% of daily value)
v 485 milligrams of Potassium
v 29 milligrams of magnesiuum
v 0.14 milligrams of manganese
v 81 micrograms of Folate (Vitamin B9)
v 0.257 milligrams of vitamin B6 (pyridoxine)
v 10 milligrams of Vitamin C
v 2.7 milligrams of Vitamin E
v 7 micrograms of Vitamin A
v 21 micrograms of Vitamin K
v 1.39 milligrams of Vitamin B5 ( Panthothenic
acid)
v 1.74 milligrams of Vitamin B3 ( Niacin)
v 0.13 milligrams of vitamin B2 (Riboflavin)
Below are some of the amazing work of avocados which you may not have heard or known.
Avocado pear is rich in antioxidants, fibers and healthy fat that can lower the cholesterol levels in the body and help reduce the risk and occurrence of cardiovascular disease (also known as heart diseases, are a group of disorders of the heart and blood vessels) due to the presence of mono unsaturated fat and antioxidant in it.
They provide good source of carotenoid lutein (Vitamin A) which is essential to help protect you against age related macular degenartion and cataracts, the concentration in this nutrient is far higher in avocado than any other fruit.
It is also one of the best fruits to eat while pregnant as it is loaded with good amount of folic acid (Vitamin B9) which is very important for forming baby’s nervous system. Pregnant women who make avocados as part of their diet are found to have normal formation of placenta.
Alligator pear also helps stop the development of some cancers as research has found that avocados can help prevent the growth of certain cancerous cells. The oilic acid found in the fruit has been found to help prevent the growth of breast cancer, colon cancers and prostrate cancer.
The vitamin K present in this fruit helps in bone management, therefore eating avocados pear can reduce arthritis (inflammation of one or more joints, causing pains and stiffness that can worsen with age) and osteoporosis ( a condition where the bones become weak and brittle).
Also, avocados makes you more regular by aiding digestion, it help absorb the nutrients that is needed by your body to function more effectively, they provide a general boost to the body’s digestive system and also helps in weight loss due to the high content of fiber in it.
One of the important health benefits of avocado pear include high blood pressure reduction. This fruit contains potassium and plenty of mono unsaturated fats, potassium helps level out your blood pressure by lowering sodium levels in the body and helps to ease tension in the blood vessel walls. Also, the Vitamin E present in avocado pear helps lower inflammation in the body, Chronic inflammation can lead to many diseases including diabetes, dementia and arthritis.
It can be an aid in the treatment of diabetes, the good fat (oleic acid also known as mono unsaturated fat) in this fruit can go a good way to help regulate blood sugar levels by reducing insulin resistance in the body and the soluble fiber that alligator pear contains also helps to regulate blood sugar levels.
Another advantage of eating this fruit is that it also helps to reduce bad breath, which often emanates not from the mouth but from the stomach. Fortunately, drinking the juice of avocado pear will both cleanse your mouth and purify the intestine and help to remove the microbes that causes bad breath.
Avocado pear is an essential ingredients for beauty products. The benefits of avocado pear for testing various skin conditions are many, this is why it is widely used in commercial creams and soap production companies. Avocados for anti-aging, glowing skin and in treating skin conditions. Everybody wants to retain their youthful good looks for as long as possible, eating avocados would go a long way to help. The antioxidants in the fruit will help to detoxify your body and help to reduce the appearance of wrinkles, they also contain vitamins as mentioned before which helps to reinvigorate dull and dry skin making it look glowing.
The healthy fat in avocados helps in treating skin conditions by moisturizing the skin and reducing any inflammation and also help protect your skin from the rigores of the day too. Eat avocados for at least 3 times a week to enjoy beautiful, healthy and glowing skin.
Finally, Avocado pear also help revitalize the scalp, treats dandruff, add luster and shine to the hair and for general hair treatment. Massage some matched up avocado pear to the scalp and there will be penetration of amino acids and proteins into the scalp help to nourish and improve the overall condition of the scalp. The natural nutrients and oils in avocados also help in treating damaged and frizzy hair. The seeds too is also important as it can be made into powder as a natural dandruff treatment.