Not a personal trainer or a gym membership but a weight manager. Our weight manager will help you get healthier by adding fresh fruit to your diet. A superfood with low sugar, healthy fats and high fibers. It will help you absorb nutrients from other fruits and vegetables so that you really benefit from what you eat. How is this possible, you wonder? All you have to do is add some avocados to your daily diet.*
I am sure you have heard your doctor recommend a mediterranean diet to you before. The diet that should prioritize a daily intake of fresh fruit, vegetables and nuts. Including avocados will do wonders to your daily meals, here is why..
The main role of your metabolism is to convert calories from food into energy that can be used throughout the day. It’s what keeps your heart beating, your mind thinking and your body moving. The faster your metabolism runs, the more calories you burn. The more you burn, the easier it is to lose weight. While your metabolism is partly ruled by genetics, you can rev it up naturally by eating certain foods. Avocados can even help decrease fat storage when consumed in adequate amounts thanks to its high content of monounsaturated fatty acids - specifically oleic acid. Oleic acid is the same fatty acid found in olives and olive oil. This type of fat is considered very healthy.
Sometimes eating a salad and some fruit will make you obsess about food because hunger creeps back to haunt you in less than 2 hours! That's when the craving temptation is at its worst. Adding avocado to your meal will be the perfect solution to help you stay away from temptation. Avocado has the perfect combination of high fiber and low sugar. Its high content in fiber will make you feel fuller longer and will also contribute to healthier digestion. The lower the sugar the better your body can manage its blood sugar levels thus avoiding dips in energy and spikes in feeling hungry.
You may be ingesting a myriad of vitamins only to find out that your body is not able to absorb much of it. This is because Vitamins A, D, E and K, are better absorbed by our body when they are consumed together with fat.
A rule of thumb is to combine your vegetables, such as dark greens and those of red, yellow and orange color with a healthy fat to maximize vitamin absorption. There are many options available from Cold pressed olive oil, nuts, eggs or fish and of course our favorite Avocado.
It is the easy solution for a nut free alternative, or a vegan or vegetarian option. The creamy texture of Avocado is the perfect add-on to any meal. It never overpowers the taste of your meal and always enhances the flavors adorning your plate. It is a favorite from the very first solid food a baby tries to an adults' go-to for a healthy add-on to any meal in the day.
How do you eat your avocados? Share with us your favorite recipes and combinations. We always love to hear from you.
* unless not recommended by your physician
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An average size avocado is made of around 73% water, 15% fat, 8.5% carbohydrates — mostly fibers — and 2% protein. Fats make up to 80% of the fruit calories, making them even higher in fat than most animal foods.
Don't let the word FAT fool you. Despite what you may have heard, eating fat doesn’t make you fat — as long as you eat it in moderation. In fact, fat is an essential part of a balanced diet. Your body needs dietary fat for many different biological processes. Not getting enough fat can make it harder for your body to function the way it should and can lead to health issues.
The BAD fats are Trans Fats and Saturated fats.
Trans Fats are found primarily in partially hydrogenated oils, are the least healthy type of fat for your body. Hydrogenated oils are often used to improve the taste and shelf life of processed foods. Fried and processed foods tend to contain trans fats.
Saturated Fats tend to be solid at room temperature. They are found in animal-based foods such as meat, poultry, dairy products, and eggs or in tropical oils such as palm and coconut oils.
You should try to consume these with moderation as consuming a lot of these types of fat can raise your risk of heart disease, stroke and Type 2 Diabetes.
Unsaturated fat in avocados can act as a nutrient booster as they help the body to absorb fat-soluble nutrients like vitamins A, D, K and E. This is important because without fat these vitamins cannot be properly absorbed.
Monounsaturated fat (MUFA) can be found in oils such as avocado, olive, canola or peanut oil and tend to be liquid at room temperature but begin to turn solid when cold, MUFA can also be found in nuts and avocados. They provide nutrients to help develop and maintain your body’s cells, help lower bad cholesterol and increase the good cholesterol keeping your heart and arteries healthy.
Polyunsaturated fat: Oils rich in Polyunsaturated fats also contribute essential fats. These can be found in fatty fish, seeds and nuts. The body can’t make these fats but needs them so they must be obtained through diet. Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids contribute to lowering your triglyceride levels.
If you're following a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet, daily fat intake would be ~60g. Of that, saturated fat should make up no more than 50% of your fat intake. Always try to focus on unsaturated fat to stay as healthy as possible.
Half and avocado will provide you with an estimated ~10g of fat:
~1.5 g Saturated
~1.5 g Polyunsaturated
~7 g Monounsaturated
Let avocados support daily healthy eating and improve your health!
]]>Potassium is abundant in many whole foods, especially fruits, vegetables and fish. Most health authorities recommend getting 3,500–4,700 mg of potassium daily. Half an avocado could provide you with over 12% of your Daily potassium intake.
]]>Do you go for a Banana avoid muscle cramps after a strenuous workout?
Did you know Avocados contain 35% more potassium than Bananas?
Potassium is...
...the 3rd most abundant mineral in the body. Roughly 98% of the potassium in your body is found in your cells. Of this, 80% is found in your muscle cells, while the other 20% can be found in your bones, liver and red blood cells.
......a mineral that is essential for all of the body's functions. Once ingested, it functions as an electrolyte because it’s highly reactive in water. When dissolved in water, it produces positively charged ions. This special property allows it to conduct electricity, which is important for many processes throughout the body.
....helps the body regulate fluid, send nerve signals and regulate muscle activity, heartbeat and blood pressure. It also regulates movement of nutrients into cells, and removal of cellular waste
A potassium-rich diet is linked to many powerful health benefits. It may help reduce blood pressure and water retention, protect against stroke and help prevent osteoporosis and kidney stones.
Most health authorities recommend getting 3,500–4,700 mg of potassium daily. Half an avocado could provide you with over 12% of your Daily potassium intake.
Have you ever noticed tiny brown/grey dots or lines in the avocado flesh when you cut it open? Does your fruit sometimes feels stringy and you wonder if there is something wrong with your fruit? These are all signs of the high dietary fiber content avocados contain and are perfectly normal.
Dietary fiber is a type of complex carbohydrate that the body cannot digest. It occurs naturally in plant foods. Fiber comes in two types: soluble and insoluble. Most plants have both types, but in varying amounts.
While fiber is most commonly associated with digestive health benefits, it serves other essential roles in the human body.
Soluble fiber dissolves in water and turns into a gel-like substance, which slows down digestion as it moves down the digestive tract, whereas insoluble fiber does not dissolve in water. It adds bulk to stools and acts as a “broom", helping to promote faster movement of food through the digestive tract.
Avocados contain soluble and insoluble fibers both of which are important for your health, good digestion and preventing diseases. As opposed to other high fiber fruits, Avocados are low in carbohydrates and high in healthy fats.
Besides helping with digestion, avocados also help...
... lower your blood sugar
... reduce your cholesterol, thus lowering risk of heart disease
... promote healthy weight by slowing digestion down and making you feel fuller longer
The recommended daily fiber intake ranges between 25-35 gr to maintain a healthy lifestyle. 1/2 avocado will provide you with ~5gr of fiber in one sitting. That is 20% of recommended daily intake for women and 14% for men.
So load up on your favorite fruits, vegetable and grains and don't forget to drink water!
Why is avocado good for your eyes? Because of the high amount of lutein that it contains.
What is lutein?
Lutein is a naturally occurring carotenoid found in green vegetables and also avocados. It acts as an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant, filters harmful blue light, builds up pigments in the eye and helps maintain eye health as you age. Because the human body does not synthesize lutein, it is important to seek out natural sources of lutein in your diet.
Avocados also contains vitamin A and E as well as mineral zinc. Zinc helps on absorption of vitamin A and protect against night blindness and dry eyes.
Oh and don't forget our fresh Limes & Lemons! They are also a great addition to your daily diet. Just like vitamin E, vitamin C is an antioxidant to fight age-related eye damage.
So don't turn a blind eye on our superfoods and continue to include us in your healthy daily habits!
]]>Avocado is a unique fruit containing fibers, monounsaturated fatty acids, vitamins and phytonutrients that are not only good for our health, but provide us with a lot of beautifying effects as well.
Fats play many physiological roles including helping the body absorb vitamins. Some nutrients the body receives from food are fat-soluble, meaning they cannot be absorbed without the help of fatty acids. Your daily avocado is a great vector for carrying nutrients to the skin.
Avocados contain vitamin E which really helps in plumping up your skin and thereby making those fine lines and wrinkles appear less noticeable.
Avocados not only help with the repair of damaged skin but, because they contain a high level of antioxidants, support multiple functions in the body. It’s similar to the nutritional value of grapes namely the resveratrol as well as many other phytonutrients found in other fruits and vegetables. help in protecting your skin against environmental aggressors that could damage your skin and cause premature aging.
Presence of linoleic acid and oleic acid ensures that avocados boost skin repair and restoration. They help in strengthening your skin’s barrier function and keeping it healthy and glowing.
Oh...and if you have leftovers and you don't want to waster your fruit, apply to your skin!
Thanks to antimicrobial properties, adding some mashed avocados to a face mask, or simply applying a little avocado oil to your face will help in controlling breakouts to a great extent. Also, enriched with lauric acid, avocados deliver anti-inflammatory benefits, which also help in fighting acne.
Do your skin some good with a daily dose of Avocados!
]]>Fleshy fruits can be divided into two groups: Climacteric vs non-climacteric based on a simple question: Does the fruit continue to ripen once harvested or not?
Non-climacteric fruits need to be harvested when they are fully ripe. Citrus fruits, strawberries, grapes or cherries for example are non-climacteric fruits.
You guessed right, Avocado is a climacteric fruit, as it continues to "breath" and ripen after harvesting. As a matter of fact, the avocado remains green as long as it is on the tree and starts to ripen once picked or once it falls off the tree. Avocados must be mature to ripen properly. In a perfect world they would fall off the tree and ripen on the ground naturally. Other examples of climacteric fruits are bananas, apples, peaches, pears and mangos which continue to ripen after they have been harvested.
This is due to the naturally generated ethylene gas climacteric fruit emits. When growing on the tree, the fruit produces enough ethylene, once harvested, it can continue to ripen, although it no longer receive more nutrients from the tree it came from. It continues to produce the ethylene it needs to ripen.
Now you can imagine why some tips recommend to put an avocado with a banana in a paper bag. Since both emit ethylene gas they will speed up each other's ripening, but beware that can quickly lead to over-ripening.
The good news is that our fruit just needs to be refrigerated, no need to figure out the ripening as we have managed that entire process for you. When we receive the fruit after harvest, we let Mother Nature take its time for the fruit to naturally ripen, letting the fruit emit its own ethylene gas, making the fruit you receive the freshest and most optimal for consumption in your own home.
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We all know there is good and bad cholesterol. The bad one - called LDL aka low-density lipoproteins - is responsible for encouraging plaque to build up in your arteries. Buildup can make it hard for blood to flow through your arteries causing potential life threatening heart attacks and strokes.
Research shows that avocado consumption helps lower total cholesterol and specifically LDL particles. Oxidized LDL particles are especially bad for you, as they can be the start of plaque build-up in the artery wall. They can also be the basis for cancer and heart disease. Oxidation is not good and that's where avocados come to the rescue!
Eating half an avocado a day (unless your doctor tells you otherwise) can make a big difference on your long term health and it's so delicious!
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Mother Nature has her ways and just like any other fruit, avocados have a season. We tend to like our fruits at their peak. For Avocados that tends to be when their dry matter (oil content) is at a good to high level. That is when you bite into the buttery, nutty texture everyone loves. The higher the dry matter content the better the taste. The higher the oil, the faster the fruit will ripen!
Opposite to the buttery texture everyone loves, is a grassier taste and more watery texture which you will get to enjoy only 2 months in the year. The new fruit hold low oil content and tends therefore to be difficult to ripen. Some say it is impossible. During this time, a green colored avocado does not mean it is not ripe, and they can feel harder than usual as well. They are totally edible.
This is why we do not offer green avocados or accept to ship avocados unless we are in high season because ripening is a complex balance that we take care of for you so all you have to do is enjoy the fruit.
Avocados are a fickle fruit. It has taken us years of trial and error to navigate the change in season and we still learn every year.
La Fruta Loca tends to arrive starting July through September. This is when pricing tends to go very high and you might find yourself with rock hard or "dryer" avocados if you try to ripen at home.
]]>Video in Collaboration with Masienda
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