What does an avocado taste like?
The avocado's popularity seemingly knows no bounds. But how did this exotic fruit become a superfood staple, why is it good for you, how do you eat one, and what does an advocado taste of?
What does an avocado taste like?
It's a question I asked myself many times before succumbing to the hype surrounding avocados.
I've always been a fussy eater, reluctant to try new foods, but today I took the plunge and ate my first avocado.
So what does an avocado taste like?
The short answer is it tastes like an avocado.
A bit like a banana tastes like a banana, an apple tastes like an apple, and an onion tastes like an onion.
With every mouthful I racked my admittedly limited brain for something to compare the taste with, but came up blank. To be honest, an avocado tastes of very little at all. It's certainly as bland a fruit as I've ever tasted and despite my general fussiness, I've always ate a wide variety of fruits.
The reason for the lack of a distinctive taste is that an avocado contains little to excite our taste buds. It isn't sweet, sour, bitter, salty or savoury. The reason for this is that an avocado consists almost entirely of fat (15%) and water (73%). About 10% of a avocado is carbohydrate, but most of its carb content is fibre. Sugar accounts for less than one per cent of an avocado by weight.
Perhaps surprisingly, it's an avocado's fat content that has given it superfood status.
For years we were told fat was bad for us, but we now know only too well that such blanket advice was wrong and that some fats are beneficial to human health.
Two-thirds of the fat content of an avocado is a monounsaturated fat called oleic acid. You may have come across oleic acid before because its the main component of another widely-touted superfood, olive oil.
Oleic acid is known to reduce the low grade inflammation that can lead to metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease. It has also been shown to be protective against the development andd growth of some cancers.
But the benefits of eating avocados don't stop with its healthy fat content. In many ways, the avocado is another nutritional hand grenade to add to your food armoury. I've already mentioned its fibre content. but it is also packed with vitamins, minerals and other micronutrients including antioxidants.
An avocado is a rich source of Vitamin K, Vitamins B5, B6 and B9 (folate / folic acid), Vitamin C, and Vitamin E. It also contains more potassium by weight than a banana.
Common deficiencies include Vitamin E, Vitamin K, and potassium. so an avocado could help fill nutritional gaps in your current diet. If you've read the book, Belly, you'll know I'm a big advocate of increasing dietary potassium in our diet and avocados present an easy opportunity to do so. 100g of raw avocado will give you 485mg of potassium which is about 10% of RDA.
Given the above, you should forgive the avocado's lack of taste and try one for yourself.
Cut it in half, remove the stone, and peel away the skin. Then eat the flesh of the fruit either as it comes or as part of another dish.
Avocado on toast seems to be popular in trendy circles, but as with most things, moderation is the key. The healthy monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) found in an avocado are better for you than saturated fat, but too much monounsaturated fat can also lead to health problems. A 2017 study by the University of California San Francisco linked high MUFA consumption with fatty liver disease in mice. The study found that they found that a diet high in MUFAs caused the most severe fatty liver disease when combined with high starch content.
INTEL: Although best known for their fat content, avocados also contain more protein than any other fruit.
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Article last updated: 15th January 2021
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