Recipes for Health: Avocado

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Recipes for Health: Avocado

When I lived in France, in the ‘80s and early ‘90s, I hardly ever ate avocados. Those sold in the markets were smooth, thin-skinned varieties grown mostly in Israel. They were watery, not as creamy or nutty-tasting as Haas avocados, the dark, pebbly-skinned variety that we get in California. Plus, it was a time of fat phobia. Any fat was a bad fat, and avocados are rich in fat.

But the fats in avocados, like those in olives and nuts, are for the most part healthy monounsaturated fats - particularly oleic acid, the primary fat in olive oil. "Poor man's butter," they used to call avocados when my father was a child. (Now they would more aptly be described as "rich man's butter.") When I moved to California and once again could lay hands on Haas avocados, I began to eat them just about every day, especially in spring and summer, when they are at their best.

In addition to their high oleic acid content, avocados are a good source of dietary fiber and vitamin K, vitamin C and vitamin B6, as well as folate, copper and potassium (half of a medium avocado has more potassium than a banana). Studies have suggested that the fats in avocados may speed the absorption of carotenoids in other vegetables, another good reason to include them in salads and salsas.