Study reveals the true benefits of avocados

It’s perfectly sliced and arranged on a crispy slice of toast, sprinkled with just the right amount of salt and pepper to round off your yummy snack before you tuck into it.

This is only one way to enjoy avocado, the creamy, green fruit that’s firmly established itself as the food trend of the decade – even leading to the establishment of a New York restaurant where it’s the focus of all the dishes. 

But while avocado mania has seen the fruit replacing burger buns and even turned into lattes, a new study has found that the flesh isn’t even the healthiest part of the fruit, reports Daily Mail . 

According to scientists at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in the US, the husk surrounding the seed – which we pop out before slicing the flesh – is bursting with nutrients so beneficial that it could even help protect against cancer and heart disease.

Metro.co.uk reports that at a recent meeting of the American Chemical Society, researchers revealed that the seed husk is packed with vitamins, antioxidants, potassium, monounsaturated fatty acids and fibre, to name but a few.

“It could very well be that avocado seed husks, which most people consider as the waste of wastes, are actually the gem of gems because the medicinal compounds within them could eventually be used to treat cancer, heart disease and other conditions,” says Dr Debasish Bandyopadhyay, one of the researchers involved in the study.

The team conducted the study by grinding 300 dried avocado seeds, reveals a report by 9honey. They found that the powder contained heptacosane, a chemical that could stop the growth of tumour cells in the body, as well as dodecanoic acid, a compound that helps reduce the risk of fatty materials clogging your arteries.

The study’s findings open the possibility to reducing the causes of heart attacks and strokes, as well as cancer.

These are only two of the 130 different compounds researchers found in the oil and wax of the seed husks.

Considering avocados are readily accessible – nearly five million tons of avocados are produced globally annually – it’s no wonder the latest discovery is causing such excitement. The answer to some of the world’s most prominent diseases could lie in the fruit food bloggers and fitness fanatics love to share on Instagram.  

Sources: metro.co.uk, dailymail.co.uk, 9honey