Avocado Seeds — The Superfood You’ve Been Throwing Away!

by Betsy Green

As we already know, avocados are a superb and delicious addition to all sorts of dishes! Avocados make scrumptious salads and are full to the brim with notoriously beneficial vitamins and minerals such as vitamin K, copper, folate, vitamin B6, potassium, vitamin E, and vitamin C to name but a few! Avocados are also one of the best ways to protect your cardiovascular health.

But what about the large seed in the center? After slicing open an avocado, most of us toss away the seed in the garbage. Next time, keep it!

A superfood in a superfood

Over 70% of the total antioxidant capacity of your rich avocados is actually located within the seed itself. A recent study on the benefits of avocado seeds discovered that the phenolic antioxidant compounds contained within the seeds lowers cholesterol, lowers blood pressure, reduces inflammation, reduces the risk of diabetes, and boosts immunity. The seeds even have insecticidal, fungicidal, and anti-microbial properties- why not save the seeds and pop them into this easy smoothie recipe? All you’ll need is:

• 1 cup of coconut or almond milk
• 1 pear
• 1 cup of spinach
• 1 half of an avocado
• 1 half of an avocado seed
• 1 half of an apple
• 1 teaspoon of grated ginger

Blend up the mixture and this refreshing, zingy smoothie will pack a seriously flavorsome and healthy punch!

Image Credit: @SeeDJan

Great for reducing inflammation

Avocado seeds are also fantastic at treating inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract and they can also help to eliminate the symptoms of diarrhea too! Did you know that in South America, avocado seeds are used for dysentery and other gastrointestinal tract problems? It’s true. Avocado seeds also have lots of phenolic compounds that help protect you against conditions such as gastric ulcers, and they also help prevent bacterial and viral diseases.

Make your own natural facial scrub

It is definitely worth mentioning that avocado seeds can be turned into a beautifying facial scrub. All you need to do is grind the seeds up, and blend them with a banana, olive oil, honey and avocado with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. You can lay the mixture over your face for a fortifying facemask or use it as an exfoliator as the mixture will help to remove dead skin.

TOP TIPS

To incorporate the avocado seed into your diet, don’t chuck them into the garbage, save them and use them for:

Infused water — Make delicious infused water to reap the benefits of the avocado seed. Simply boil the seed for 10 minutes in water and let it sit for another 5. Feel free to then add in any fruits of your choice and drink throughout the day.

A meal garnish — Shaved avocado seed will compliment salads, soups, stews, rice plates, and pasta.

Mashing — You can toast the avocado seed and then mash it with the help of a decent coffee bean grinder and save it in its powder form.

There really isn’t much that avocados don’t do. Not only are they super healthy, but they also can help you eliminate and treat a number of health conditions.

Main Image Credit: @richardcoombs58