by Matthew Monarch, February 2015
Proprietor, TheRawFoodWorld.com
In this guest editorial, Matt shares what how making avocados a staple
of his diet helped him to transition to a raw food lifestyle.
Avocados were a huge help when I jumped into a 100% raw food diet overnight and stopped eating cooked food cold turkey! How did I do it? Well, many things helped, such as colon cleansing to help move out all of the detoxification and withdrawals at an exponential rate.
That did a pretty good job of keeping me well satiated, even though I still desired more afterwards in the beginning stages. I ended up eating fruit sometimes, which didn’t feel the best on my digestive system.
How was I able to eat 3–5 avocados a night?!
It was such an improvement to my previous diet of Standard American Diet processed foods, that my body had no issue with that many avocados. However, as the months and years went on, my body became cleaner from all of the detox and withdrawals, and my body became more efficient. My body started to require less food to maintain high energy levels. After about 7 years on the 100% Raw Food Diet and eating this same salad every single night, I started to wake up with a runny nose. Now the 3–5 avocados was too much for my new cleaner body. So I cut the quantity to two large avocados and took it from there.
When a person first goes on a Raw Food Diet, they think that they have to restrict themselves and watch their fat intake, etc. This is one reason why people fail. Anyhow, let’s look at some of the benefits of the avocado!
An Avocado a Day May Keep the Doctor Away!
Avocados are large fruits that in some places grow year round. Avocados are high healthy fats, Vitamins C, Vitamin E and Vitamin B, potassium and folic acid. Avocados are great for raw foodists, vegans or vegetarians because they are also considered to be a complete protein, containing all 18 essential amino acids. This makes avocado’s the highest protein fruit! This amazing fruit is also rich in omega 3 fatty acids, making this a necessary fruit for heart health! (1,2)
New study shows that eating an avocado per day significantly decreases LDL cholesterol and improves heart health!
A recent study from Pennsylvania State University recommends adding avocado to your diet to help lower bad cholesterol and reduce risk for heart disease. Prior studies suggest that avocados are lower cholesterol but this is the first study to examine implications of avocados beyond their monounsaturated fatty acids. (3)
Researchers tested three different diets, all of which were designed to lower cholesterol. A lower-fat diet that consisted of 24 percent fat and two moderate fat diets consisting of 34 percent fat were used. The two moderate fat diets were nearly identical, only one added on Hass avocado daily while the other used olive oil. (3)
The team tested the diets with 45 healthy, overweight adult ranging in age from 21 to 70. The team collected baseline measurements and found that all three diets lowered LDL cholesterol as well as total cholesterol. However participants who consumed the avocado diet experienced an even greater reduction in cholesterol. This diet decreased LDL cholesterol by 13.5 mg/dL while LDL was decreased by 8.3 mg/dL on the moderate-fat/olive oil diet and 7.4 mg/dL on the low fat diet. (3)
Participants followed the three diets for five weeks and were given a two week break in between each diet. Researchers collected blood samples at the beginning and end of the study period and participants were randomly assigned the order in which they would start the diets. (3)
Be adventurous and try delicious raw recipes to incorporate avocado into your diet!
When thinking of eating avocado’s try to branch out from guacamole and try raw chocolate avocado mousse, avocado soup, zucchini pasta with creamy avocado sauce, raw avocado fries, avocado kale pesto, smoothies and salads. Avocado is versatile and the perfect base for a creamy dressing, sauce or even dessert!
Sources:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hass_avocado
- http://www.fullcircle.com/goodfoodlife/2012/06/21/5-health-benefits-of-avocados/
- http://news.psu.edu/story/339842/2015/01/07/research/avocado-day-keeps-cardiologist-away
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