Avocado57I eat a LOT of avocado. Not a salad, smoothie orsoup goes by without me adding at least 1/2 anavocado per person. I probably eat at least fivesevenper week, myself.Now, I know a lot of people give avocado a bad repbecause it is a high-fat <strong>food</strong> (85% of it’s caloriescome from fats) – but this is totally insane. Theseare good fats that will not make you gain weight. Ifanything, due to the high content of oleic acid (makingit an omega 9 fat and very similar to olive oil), itcan lower total cholesterol level and raise levels ofhigh-density lipoproteins (HDLs) while lowering lowdensitylipoproteins (LDLs), also known as the “bad”cholesterol. Oleic acid also slows the developmentof heart disease, and promotes the production ofantioxidants.These beneficial omega oils also help speed themetabolism, actually leading to weight loss ratherthan gain.Nutrients per 1 CupDietary Fiber: 40% RDAVitamin K: 38% RDAFolate: 30% RDAVitamin C: 24% RDAVitamin B5: 20% RDAPotassium: 20% RDAVitamin B6: 19% RDASo now we’re over the fat issue, avocado also containsa wide range of other nutrients that have seriousanti-inflammatory, heart health, cardiovascularhealth, anti-cancer, and blood sugar benefits.Containing key antioxidants such as alpha-carotene,beta-carotene, lutein, selenium and more – it isa powerful, <strong>alkaline</strong>, nutrient-dense super<strong>food</strong>.Research on Avocado:Avocado & Adult Health: Fulgoni V, Dreher M,Davenport A. Avocado consumption associatedwith better nutrient intake and better health indicesin U.S. adults (19+ years): NHANES 2001-2006. Abstract #8514. Experimental Biology,Anaheim, CA. April 28, 2010. 2010.Avocado & Cancer: Ding H, Han C, Guo D etal. Selective induction of apoptosis of humanoral cancer cell lines by avocado extracts viaa ROS-mediated mechanism. Nutr Cancer.2009;61(3):348-56. 2009.Avocado & Cancer: Ding H, Chin YW, KinghornAD et al. Chemopreventive characteristics ofavocado fruit. Semin Cancer Biol. 2007 May 17;[Epub ahead of print] 2007. 2007.Avocado & Inflammation: Rosenblat G, Meretski S,Segal J et al. Polyhydroxylated fatty alcohols derivedfrom avocado suppress inflammatory responseand provide non-sunscreen protection against UVinduceddamage in skin cells. Arch Dermatol Res.2010 Oct 27. [Epub ahead of print]. 2010.
Celery58Celery, like cucumber is a favourite because it’s<strong>alkaline</strong> AND really high water content, so is usedvery frequently as a base in juices and soups (not somuch smoothies as you have to juice it first…andthen you have double the washing up).One of celery’s big benefits is it’s vitamin C level,which has the well known benefits – but two of it’slesser known nutrients are phthalides which havebeen shown to lower cholesterol and coumarinswhich have been shown to inhibit several cancers.The beauty of vitamin C rich <strong>food</strong>s are that theyhelp with the most common and most challenginghealth concerns – they support the immune system,inflammation (so helps with arthritis, osteoporosis,asthma etc), and vitamin C also helps significantlywith cardiovascular health.If you are on a weight loss journey, you’ll also behappy to hear that this <strong>alkaline</strong> staple containsplenty of potassium and sodium and so is a diuretic– meaning it helps rid the body of excess fluids.Nutrients per 1 CupVitamin K: 37% RDAFolate: 9% RDAVitamin A: 9% RDAPotassium: 8% RDAMolybdenum: 7% RDADietary Fiber: 6% RDAVitamin C: 5% RDAResearch on Celery:Celery and Hypertension: Kurl S, Tuomainen TP,Laukkanen JA et al. Plasma vitamin C modifies theassociation between hypertension and risk of stroke.Stroke 2002 Jun;33(6):1568-73 2002.Celery & Cholesterol: Tsi D, Tan BK. The mechanismunderlying the hypocholesterolaemic activityof aqueous celery extract, its butanol and aqueousfractions in genetically hypercholesterolaemic RICOrats. Life Sci 2000 Jan 14;66(8):755-67 2000.
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