Avocados are one of the most versatile foods you can build a recipe on may it be for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
So, it’s always a delight to see some french avocado toast or chicken avocado rolls on the menu of your assisted living community in Macomb, right? You can even have a BLT guacamole for snacks and a fresh avocado smoothie for a drink一the possibilities are endless!
But here’s much more exciting news: health experts consider avocado as one of the most nutrition-packed foods among others due to the plethora of essential nutrients it contains. This includes:
- A significant amount of Vitamins C, E, K, and B6
- High amounts of healthy fats coming from omega-3 fatty acids
- Niacin, riboflavin, potassium, magnesium, and folate
- Lutein and beta-carotene
Additionally, one serving of avocado only contains less than a gram of sugar, and most of its calories come from healthy fats. So if you are looking for a nutritious snack to boost your health, then a slice of avocado is your guy!
Here are some of the physical and mental benefits of eating more avocado for older adults like yourself.
1. Keeps Your Heart Healthy
One of the most essential benefits of avocados to seniors is their ability to maintain heart health and keep it free from cholesterol and triglycerides. Furthermore, it contains 77% of healthy fats, mainly oleic acid, that helps reduce inflammation in the body and heart.
Also, the fruit is rich in beta-sitosterol (a natural plant substance) that helps regulate the levels of cholesterol coming into the body. As a result, it only permits HDL fats (good cholesterol) to enter the heart, which helps prevent heart diseases in seniors.
Another essential nutrient it contains that does wonders to the heart is potassium. High levels of potassium help maintain healthy blood pressure and prevent stroke, kidney failure, and heart diseases.
2. Improves Digestion
Eating avocados daily can bring healthy amounts of fiber into your body, thus improving your digestion and gastrointestinal health. Plus, it helps feed the group of beneficial bacteria in your intestines, which is crucial for ensuring gut health and other body functions.
In addition, the fiber content in avocado aids seniors who want to lose weight or maintain a healthy one. Some of the other weight loss benefits of a high-fiber fruit like avocado include:
- Helps burn excess fats in the body.
- Reduces appetite while revving up the metabolism.
- Lowers blood pressure.
- Decreases the harmful cholesterol levels, which are responsible for most cases of obesity.
Pair your avocado-rich diet with regular exercise, and you’ll achieve your weight and physique goal in no time! Then, share it with your friends in your assisted living community in Macomb.
3. Boosts Vision and Eye Health
We all know how eating carrots and tomatoes can improve vision due to their beta-carotene content, right? But if you’re not much of a fan of veggies, then you’ll be glad to know that eating avocados can also enhance your vision and eye health.
Studies found that an ounce of this tasty green fruit contains 80 micrograms of lutein (an antioxidant), making it ten times richer in lutein than most supplements. So here’s why your eyes need to get their much-needed lutein to maintain their health:
- Lutein serves as a blue light filter that protects your eye cells from harmful rays.
- It also protects eye tissues from the damaging effect of sunlight.
- It prevents age-related macular degeneration.
- It contains another antioxidant called zeaxanthin, which also helps in maintaining eye health.
Additionally, avocados contain unsaturated fatty acids, which help the body absorb these antioxidants into your system so it can do its work.
4. Prevents Osteoporosis, Cancer, and Other Chronic Ailments
Besides its apparent delicious taste, another reason to eat guacamole and avocado sandwiches is their ability to protect you from chronic diseases prevalent in older adults.
According to recent studies, avocados contain high amounts of antioxidants that can help eliminate free radicals and toxin buildup in the body. Furthermore, these antioxidants can also help strengthen your immunity, saving you from both infectious and chronic diseases, such as:
- Colds and flu
- Several kinds of cancer, like mouth, prostate, and skin cancer
- Arthritis and the chronic pain that comes with this joint disorder.
- Osteoporosis
- Hypertension
- Coronary heart disease
- Diabetes and obesity
Additionally, doctors recommend that seniors undergoing chemotherapy sessions eat plenty of avocados to get the antioxidants their bodies need. This will help fight cancer cells and keep them strong during the treatment.
Lastly, both the high antioxidants and fiber content of this fruit can also aid seniors in detoxifying the body. In addition, it ensures the removal of toxic substances, like stool and other harmful chemicals that can cause illnesses.
5. Enhances Cognitive Function
The healthy fats in your avocado shake don’t just make your heart and physique healthy; it also strengthens one of the most important organs in your body: the brain!
Your brain thrives in an environment full of healthy fats (unsaturated). It utilizes these good fats to ensure proper brain function and maintains the health of its brain cells.
The healthy fat content of avocado can also delay brain cell aging, slowing age-related cognitive declination in the process. In fact, these good fats actually help your brain strengthen its function, especially memory and learning skills.
Boost your brainpower to its full potential by adding avocado and other brain-healthy foods into your meals, such as chia seeds, salmon, and walnuts.
6. Lowers Risk from Depression
It’s no secret that eating anything with avocado in it can definitely make your day brighter and happier. But besides its flavorful taste, there’s another reason why you feel light, relaxed, and happy when you eat this fruit.
According to studies, avocado contains several nutrients (folate, omega 3, and tryptophan) that help prevent and combat depression and its symptoms. Plus, its folate content aids in stimulating the release of your happy hormones一serotonin and dopamine.
In turn, the release of these helpful hormones can then boost your mood, appetite and even contribute to a night of quality sleep.
So the next time you see an avocado in your assisted living community in Macomb, grab the chance and take a nutritious bite!
