In summary
* This week’s note was inspired by a comment about the ‘healthy fats’ in avocados.
* It explains avocado as a food in terms of macronutrient content and then reviews the fat profile.
* This note summarises the nutritional value of avocado and compares this with other foods to see how healthy it is.
* It gives a top level summary of the evidence for avocado and the issue with industry funding.
* It asks – if we take the industry funded claims at face value, how robust are they? (Covering LDL-Cholesterol, plant sterols, fibre, monounsaturated fats, vitamins and minerals).
* It then considers the environment question – are avocados healthy for the environment?
* The note closes with a suggestion for eating avocado, if you like it (which I don’t).
Introduction
Andy and I were making dinner with my brother, his daughter and her boyfriend (BF). When I saw that BF was preparing avocado for a starter, I said “please don’t bother with any for me, thank you.” BF replied, “But avocados have got all those healthy fats.” “Which ones?”, I said. “Oh, I don’t know – the healthy ones”, said BF and we all laughed.
Having declared my bias that I don’t like avocado (I find them tasteless and slimy), let’s take a look at the nutritional facts about avocado and the health claims made about this food.
Zoe
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