HEALTHY LIVING
Myths busted about avocados’ high fat content
Not only are they safe to eat every day, but the fruit formerly known as the alligator pear is a superfood
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by Martin Dunphy
ou may or may not have cared that the Super Bowl took place last weekend (February 13), but if you were part of a COVID-safe watch party to mark that event, you were probably exposed to guacamole. The creamy, savoury avocado dip—with added zing courtesy of lime, garlic, cilantro, onion, and other ingredients—has become a Super Bowl staple, and it is often also served in salads and as a vital ingredient in seven-layer dip. Avocado consumption has soared in North America during the past two decades. In the U.S., during the lead-up to Super Sunday alone, consumption soared from 40 million pounds in 2003 to almost 80 million pounds in 2013 (according to Mexican marketing group APEAM) and more than 100 million pounds this year. In Canada, avocado imports for all of 2020 were 106,660,000 kilograms (235,145,000 pounds), Statistics Canada says, about a 12 percent increase from the previous year. (Most came from Mexico, with Chile, California, and Texas supplying the rest.)
More people than ever are eating avocados in dip, salads, guacamole, and on toast, yet health myths about the fruit’s high fat content persist. Photo by Wikimedia Commons/Popo Le Chien.
That’s a lot of guac and avocado toast being made from the simple fruit that used to be known as “alligator pear” because
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of its pebbled green skin. And it is a fruit, not a nut, despite its large, nutlike pit and the fact that the word avocado comes from the Aztec word ahuacatl, meaning “testicle”. (Technically, though, the avocado is actually a berry and is in the same plant family as the cinnamon tree.) Despite the avocado’s popularity, though, some myths about the fruit persist. One is that you can’t or shouldn’t freeze them. False. Cut them in half, peel, remove the stones, and put them in baggies with the air squeezed out. You can also mash them with a little lime juice, bag ‘em, and have them ready for a quick thaw and breakfast guac. Another myth is that avocados should be kept at room temperature only. False again. If you bought a dozen or so on sale and don’t want them all ripening at the same time, put them in the fridge to halt the ripening process. (Chiquita used
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to tell consumers in its postwar TV ads to never refrigerate bananas, which was also false and designed to hasten waste and prompt more purchases.) But one of the biggest whoppers out there is that the avocado’s fat content, which is quite high, renders them either unhealthy or makes it unwise to eat them more than occasionally. About 77 percent of a typical avocado’s calories (250 to 300) comes from its fats, but they are mostly monounsaturates, the “good” fat. About 67 percent of the 22 grams of fat in a cup of chopped avocado, therefore, is unsaturated, with polyunsaturated and saturated fats comprising the rest. The good fatty acids (mostly oleic, the main component of heart-healthy olive oil) that are present help your body absorb certain vitamins, some of which are contained in avocados in fairly high quantities, such as E, K, C, and B-6. The fruit is also an excellent source of thiamine, folate, niacin, riboflavin, and fibre, and it is very low in sugar, sodium, and cholesterol. All in all, the sometimes maligned former alligator pear can probably be considered a “superfood” when you also take into account the presence of antioxidants like vitamins C and E and the fact that it is a rich source of minerals such as potassium, copper, and magnesium. As well, plant compounds such as carotenoids (eye health) and persenones A and B (antioxidants that may be useful in preventing cancer and reducing inflammation) are present in avocados. So unless you have a relatively rare allergy to avocados, you can probably safely eat one every day for the rest of your life. (A 2015 study even showed that one a day can help reduce “bad” cholesterol levels in obese people.) Guac on! g
