Contents
What it is
The avocado is the fruit of an evergreen tree in the laurel family, native to Central America. It is a fruit, but barely sweet, and so high in fat that the texture is closer to butter. It does not ripen on the tree — it ripens after picking, so it ships hard and then softens over a few days at room temperature, the skin darkening and the flesh giving slightly under a thumb. Once ripe, the fridge slows it down. Cut surfaces brown fast, which lemon juice holds off.
Scientific name Persea americana
Avocado is that rare plant food where fat is the main event. Of roughly 15 g per 100 g, most is oleic acid — the same monounsaturated fat that dominates olive oil.
What is worth noticing is that avocado does not only deliver its own nutrients. Studies adding avocado to a salad measured several-fold increases in the absorption of carotenoids from carrot, tomato and spinach, because fat-soluble nutrients need fat present to get into you at all.
Key benefits
- Moderate evidence
It improves LDL cholesterol
Diets replacing part of their saturated fat with avocado's monounsaturated fat lowered LDL cholesterol and triglycerides. The plant sterols in avocado also partly block cholesterol absorption.[1]
- Moderate evidence
It boosts nutrient absorption from other vegetables
Carotenoids — beta-carotene, lutein, lycopene — and fat-soluble vitamins are only absorbed alongside fat. Trials confirm that adding avocado to a salad sharply increases how much of them reaches the bloodstream. If you eat plenty of vegetables and feel it does nothing, the missing piece may be fat.[2]
- Moderate evidence
It keeps you full for longer
100 g of avocado carries 6.7 g of fibre, and the fat slows gastric emptying. In one trial, adding avocado to lunch sustained fullness and reduced the desire to snack afterwards.[3]
- Nutrition data
It is rich in potassium and folate
485 mg of potassium per 100 g — more than a banana — which supports sodium excretion and works in favour of blood pressure. The folate matters for cell division and fetal neural tube development, so it counts when planning a pregnancy.
How to eat it well
- Half to one a day is a realistic range. It is calorie-dense, so it is not an unlimited health food.
- Serve it with a vegetable salad. That is the easiest way to get the absorption effect described above.
- The dark green flesh nearest the skin holds the most carotenoids. Peeling by hand wastes less of it than scooping.
- Ripen at room temperature, store ripe fruit in the fridge. A paper bag with an apple or banana speeds up a hard one.
- Lemon juice on the cut surface slows the browning.
How to read the grades
Each benefit carries a label showing how far research on people supports it. Grades differ between items even within the same ingredient.
- Nutrition data
- A fact verifiable from food composition databases or health authorities. This is a different kind of statement from a clinical effect.
- Strong evidence
- Consistently confirmed across randomised controlled trials or meta-analyses.
- Moderate evidence
- Human studies exist, but effect sizes are small or results are mixed.
- Early research
- Cell or animal work, or small preliminary studies.
- Not established
- Commonly claimed, but not confirmed in studies on people.
What to watch out for
- It is calorie-dense. Substituting it for another fat source beats adding it on top of what you already eat.
- With a latex allergy, cross-reactivity (latex-fruit syndrome) is possible.
- If you restrict potassium for kidney disease, portion it carefully.
- It contains sorbitol, so more than half a fruit can trigger symptoms in irritable bowel syndrome.
- On warfarin, keep vitamin K intake steady.
Nutrition
Approximate values per 100 g edible portion.
- Calories
- 160 kcal8%
- Fat
- 14.7 g19%
- Carbohydrates
- 8.5 g3%
- Fiber
- 6.7 g24%
- Protein
- 2.0 g4%
- Potassium
- 485 mg10%
- Folate
- 81 µg20%
- Vitamin E
- 2.1 mg14%
- Vitamin K
- 21 µg18%
Percentages are of the US FDA Daily Value for adults and children 4 and over. National reference intakes differ by sex and age.
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Key nutrients
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Sources
The databases and health authorities this article's nutrition figures and health statements draw on.
- 1Impact of avocado-enriched diets on plasma lipoproteins: A meta-analysisMeta-analysisPeou S, et al. J Clin Lipidol 2016PMID 26892133
- 2Carotenoid absorption from salad and salsa by humans is enhanced by the addition of avocado or avocado oilClinical trialUnlu NZ, et al. J Nutr 2005PMID 15735074
- 3A randomized 3×3 crossover study to evaluate the effect of Hass avocado intake on post-ingestive satiety, glucose and insulin levels, and subsequent energy intake in overweight adultsClinical trialWien M, et al. Nutr J 2013PMID 24279738
- 4USDA FoodData CentralFood composition database
- 5NIH Office of Dietary SupplementsHealth authority
- 6PubMedResearch literature
