How does an Avocado ripe?

Avocado is considered as one of the highly nutritious fruit which brings a range of health benefits for its consumers. For every 100 grams of avocado, you get 160 calories, 8.5 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of protein, and 14.7 grams of fat. In addition, avocados are an excellent source of potassium, magnesium, vitamin C, vitamin E, and vitamin K. It comes as no surprise that avocados are considered a superfood by nutritional experts.

What is an Avocado?

Known for names such as butter fruit and alligator pear, avocado is a type of berry that grows in places with a warm climate. The green, nutrient-dense fruit in the shape of a pear, grows on evergreen tropical avocado trees. This evergreen tropical tree is a member of the flowering plant family, Lauraceae. The avocado fruit in itself is a berry that contains one large seed.
When it comes to taste, avocados are not known for their sweetness as much as they are known for their nutritional value. The fruit has a buttery and creamy texture with high fat content and a rich flavour underneath the skin.

How does an avocado ripe?

Avocados do not ripen on tree but after the harvest. Some of the common methods to ripen avocados are:
•    Keep it in sunlight; the warmth will help the avocado ripen soon. It is the natural process of ripening.
•    You can also place an avocado in a paper bag with other ripen fruits like banana, apple or kiwi. The ethylene gas produced by these fruits will induce and increase ripening of avocado as well. The avocados will be ready to eat in a couple of days.

Nutrition facts about Avocado

Avocados have a reputation as superfoods with high nutritional content and are versatile fruits. On the basis of the fruit's high nutritional value, the following are the major nutrients that you will find in an avocado:

●    Carbohydrates

Almost all of the carbs in this fruit come from fiber. A whole avocado weighing around 200 gms will provide you with approximately 17 gms of carbohydrates and about 13.4 gms of fiber. The sugar content is very low in an avocado, and it may be less than 1 gram. The primary source of carbohydrates in the pear-shaped fruit is starch.

●    Fats

With a whole avocado, which weighs roughly 200 gms, you will get 30 gms of fat. Of the 30 gms, 4.2 gms are in the form of saturated fat, 3.6 gms are in the form of polyunsaturated fat, and the remaining 20 gms are in the form of monounsaturated fat. So, though much of the calories present in an avocado come from fat, a very high percentage of them are in the form of healthier monounsaturated fat.

●    Protein

For every whole avocado, you will get 4 gm of protein. Though avocados are not the ideal source of a high protein diet, the amount of protein provided by each avocado can easily meet your average protein intake requirement.

●    Vitamins and Minerals
An avocado is a rich source of vitamins and minerals if you consume it as a whole and not in small slices. It contains vitamins C, E, and vitamin K. The fruit contains minerals named as magnesium, copper, potassium, and manganese. An avocado is also a good source of pantothenic acid, folate, niacin, and riboflavin.

●    Calories
The amount of calories present in an avocado depends on the size of the fruit. In one whole avocado, which generally weighs around 200 gms, you will get 321 calories. According to experts, the calories present in one average shaped avocado range between 200 and 300 calories.

To summarize the nutritional value of an avocado fruit, one whole avocado weighs roughly 200 gms and is a rich source of vitamins, minerals, and carbohydrates. The fruit is low in sugar and high in fat, but in the form of healthy monounsaturated fat.

Avocado health benefits

Avocados are one of those fruits on which continuous and extensive research is being carried out. Avocados have numerous health benefits, which are sometimes referred to as "health food."

●    Improving Diabetes Management

Although rich in carbs, Avocado is known to have health benefits for diabetic people. What makes the fruit ideal for people with diabetes is that due to its very low glycemic index rating, consuming Avocado will have less to no effect on your blood sugar levels.

The fruit's richness in monounsaturated fats makes it a comparatively healthy choice of diet for people with diabetes; especially when they are replacing higher-glycemic foods.

●    Reduction in the Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

Many studies show that the consumption of Avocado improves cholesterol levels in people with high levels of cholesterol. In fact, according to the suggestions of various researchers, people who consume avocados on a regular basis develop a higher level of HDL cholesterol. The optimal is the HDL cholesterol level, the lower the risk of suffering from cardiovascular disease.  

●    Reducing the Risk of Metabolic Syndrome

According to the results from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey or NHANES, the researcher came to the conclusion that consumption of avocados is related to reducing the risk of metabolic syndrome. In addition, the researchers also made a note that consuming avocados leads to an overall improvement of health.

●    Promotion of Weight Loss

Recent studies have found the connection between lower body weight, decreased circumference of the waist, and lower BMI (body mass index) to the consumption of Avocados. Avocados also provide fiber, and a fiber-rich diet is known to promote satiety.

Adverse effects of Avocado

All things have their good aspects and bad aspects. The fruit avocado is no different. The adverse effects of consuming Avocado include -

●    Consumption of Avocado may impact the effectiveness of Warfarin, that is, Coumadin. So if you are on medication that includes Warfarin, it is always wise to check with your doctor or physician before consuming Avocado.
●    The second adverse effect of consuming Avocado is that in some people with oral allergy syndrome, they may develop an allergic reaction to eating an avocado. In general terms, avocados allergy is very rare.

Conclusion

In recent years the popularity of avocados is seeing steady growth. People today are more conscious about their health and what they eat. Moreover, the drive towards an organic diet is also one of the reasons for the growing popularity of avocados. The fruit has a long harvest season and can be found in grocery stores or farmer's markets all through the year. When choosing an avocado, always select one with a consistent dark hue. Give it a gentle squeeze, and if the fruit feels slightly much, it is ripe for consumption.

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