Have you ever considered an avocado to be one of the most nutritious ways to feed your body with vitamins, minerals, and healthy fats? An avocado has bolstered in popularity over the past decade because it is being utilized in recipes and many companies are tailoring their recipes to go along with the latest social media trends.
Avocado toast nutrition is one of the most popular of the social media trends that many trendy restaurants such as Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts, and Panera have added to their menus. Patrons can enjoy this open-faced breakfast sandwich without needing to worry about going outside the confines of their recommended caloric intake for a meal.
In addition to having great nutritional value, a delicious taste, and being budget friendly, avocados are easy to incorporate into one’s lifestyle. Throughout this article, we will explore avocado benefits, the nutritional values of adding avocado to meals, and how delving into the enjoyment of avocado-friendly recipes can positively impact your energy levels.
Avocado Nutrition Benefits
What is the nutritional value of an avocado?
An avocado is chock full of nutrients. You may be surprised to find out that an avocado can be the source of several vitamins and minerals. The avocado is rich with vitamin C, E, K, and B6, while also consisting of riboflavin, niacin, magnesium, potassium, and pantothenic acid. Talk about a great return on your investment! Omega-fatty acids, beta carotene, and lutein are also consumed when one enjoys an avocado.
Does an avocado have many nutritional facts?
It is a well known fact that many report that after eating an avocado they experience feeling satiated for an extended period of time. This is because of the generous amount of healthy, beneficial fats that are included in an avocado. The medicinal value of the monounsaturated fat is well-known to help protect against heart disease and lower blood pressure. The potassium, folate, and fiber found in an avocado also work together to benefit the heart and cardiovascular system so that the blood flow can pump faster and through a clearer pathway.
Avocados are considered a fruit and they originate from the Mexico and Guatemala regions. In addition to helping to lower blood pressure and aid in cardiovascular health, avocados have a reputation for positively impacting one’s complexion and hair growth. Avocados can help to improve skin through decreasing blemishes, improving elasticity, and soothe damaged skin. In fact, many skincare manufacturers are utilizing avocado extract to enhance their products because of these findings.
Further still, the oil from avocados can help to restore damaged hair. The healthy fats enrich the hair and add moisture allowing for damaged hair to regrow and become more resistant to damage over time. Like skincare manufacturers, many haircare experts are using avocado oil to enhance their products.
3 Benefits of Adding Avocado to Your Food
What mixes well with avocado?
Cooking with avocado is relatively easy as it is an ingredient that goes with many things. Avocados have a smooth and creamy texture and a mild flavor. For the best results, use avocados with the following items.
Recommended Produce: lemon or lime, onions, garlic, tomatoes, lettuce, spinach, cucumber, edamame beans, strawberries, mango, coconut.
Recommended Proteins: Bacon, turkey, chicken, eggs, tuna, chickpeas, pinto or black beans, shellfish
Herbs and Spices: Cilantro, coriander, mint, dill, chili pepper, black pepper, nutmeg, chipotle pepper
Dairy: sour cream, various cheeses, goat cheese
While these items may sound random, there are a variety of ways that you can combine these ingredients to create a delicious meal centered around the avocado.
Avocado toast nutrition
How do you make a balanced avocado toast?
Avocado toast is a great meal for breakfast and can even be enjoyed as a light snack. The beauty of this meal is that it can be put together in a variety of ways depending on your lifestyle. Some people like to put an egg on their avocado toast while others prefer to add a side of tuna fish. Some choose to eat their avocado toast plain while others get creative and add alfalfa sprouts or other veggies to their toast for a healthy meal.
This recipe is a great traditional recipe that you can doctor up or eat as is. How will you make your avocado toast?
A Fan Favorite Avocado Toast
Ingredients
- ½ small avocado
- ½ teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 slice of bread of your choosing (we suggest whole wheat), toasted
- ½ teaspoon extra virgin-olive oil
How to Make the Recipe
Step One:
Using a small bowl mix the avocado, lemon juice, salt, and pepper together well. The best way to do this is to gently mash the ingredients together with the back of a fork.
Step Two:
Spread the mixture over toast, drizzle with olive oil and top with your choice of toppings. Popular topping ideas include but are not limited to eggs, tuna fish, red pepper flakes, fresh tomato slices, onions, or alfalfa sprouts. Experimentation is encouraged!
Health benefits of avocado toast
Did you know that avocados have more potassium than a banana? When you enjoy avocado toast, you are feeding your body with an abundance of nutrients that will help you sustain energy throughout the day. Let’s explore the specific benefits of how a simple meal of avocado toast can positively impact your mind and body.
Cardiovascular Health
A diet that is rich in potassium has been proven to decrease the risk of high blood pressure, kidney disease, and heart attacks. Including avocados into your daily meal plan is a smart way to ensure that you are improving your cardiovascular health.
Improve Gut Health
Avocado toast, especially when enjoyed on whole-grain wheat bread, is full of fiber and can positively impact your digestive system. A highly functioning digestive system is imperative to your overall health and well-being. Avocados provide a great source of soluble fiber which helps to rid the body of gut bacteria. Improving your gut health can positively impact other aspects of your life as your gut is a key component to warding off viruses, bacteria, and fungi that can make you seriously ill. Avocados help you take care of your gut and in turn, your gut takes care of you.
Lower Cholesterol Levels
There have been studies conducted that have proven that eating a diet that consists of avocados can help lower cholesterol levels over time. Some studies report that blood triglycerides can be reduced by up to 20% after consuming avocados regularly. If you are suffering from high cholesterol, adding avocado toast to your diet is a delicious way to feed your body some healthy fats, vitamins, and minerals to help lower your cholesterol.
Aid in Eye Health
An avocado provides a healthy dose of zeaxanthin and carotenoids, both of which are important to eye health. Some eye specialists have even suggested that eating avocados regularly can help to decrease the risk of macular degeneration or cataracts.
Healthy Weight
You have probably seen and heard main street media, talk show hosts, and magazines sharing the news that avocados have been known to help with weight loss. The truth is that eating avocados along with a healthy, well balanced diet can help with one’s weight loss goals. The reason for this is that avocados contain properties that help to suppress hunger and the healthy fats make you feel satiated for a longer period of time post consumption. When you consume less calories, you will lose weight over time. Avocado toast is a great way to start off your day as it will help you feel full throughout the morning and energized to fulfill your tasks. Keeping hunger at bay is a great way to maintain a healthy weight and avocado toast will help you accomplish this goal.
Healthy Avocado Recipes
Is avocado and egg a good combination?
Yes. An avocado and egg is a great combination as it can be enjoyed in a scramble along with a side of protein such as bacon or scrapple and a side of fruit or milk to round out the meal. Avocado slices along with some eggs would also be a great combination to enjoy a la cart with some slices of toast along with a nice cup of coffee. The avocado is a light, flavorful side dish that lends itself nicely to accompany an egg. Whether the egg is scrambled or served in any other manner, fresh avocado slices or some avocado toast is a nice way to bring out the flavor of the egg dish.
Avocado toast is a fan favorite for breakfast but some are getting more creative and attempting avocado toast recipes for lunch. This avocado and egg recipe is the perfect mix between egg salad and avocado toast. This rendition of avocado toast and egg salad is one that you don’t want to miss!
Simple Avocado Egg Salad
Ingredients
- 1 avocado, pitted and peeled
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 ½ teaspoons lemon juice
- 4 hard boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
- 1 medium length celery stalk, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped chives (parsley or dill can also be used)
- Salt and black pepper to taste
Step One:
Mash up the avocado with the back of a fork.
Step Two:
Mash up the mayonnaise, lemon juice and avocado together into a medium bowl.
Step Three:
Add the boiled eggs, celery, and chives and season with salt and pepper.
Step Four:
Add the mixture to whole grain toast and enjoy!
Perhaps you are interested in an egg and avocado recipe that is a bit more hardy than toast. This avocado egg bake is perfect to make for Sunday brunch or to enjoy on a day that you want a little something special.
Avocado Egg Bake
Ingredients
- 3 Avocados
- 6 eggs
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons chives, chopped
Step One:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Lightly grease a baking sheet.
Step Two:
Use a spoon to scoop out the middle of the avocado and create a well for the egg.
Step Three:
Crack open an egg and slide it into the avocado well that you created. Be careful to keep the yolk together. Do this for each avocado half.
Step Four:
Put into the oven and bake until the egg whites are set. The yolks should still be runny. This should take about 15-18 minutes.
Step Five:
Salt and pepper each avocado and egg half and then serve. Serving with some toast is ideal as it is nice to enjoy with the runny yolk.
Conclusion
There are many ways to enjoy an avocado and throughout this article we explored some of the easiest and most popular ways to do so. The avocado is a delicious fruit that is versatile, can be used in a variety of dishes, and has an enormous amount of health benefits. Whether you are looking to improve your complexion, lower your cholesterol, or you just want to enjoy eating a slice of avocado toast, there is no question that the health benefits are bountiful and you can’t go wrong!
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