What’s all the fuss about avocados?

They’re a superfood that has skyrocketed in popularity over the last few years, and the exotic avocado shows no sign of falling out of our favour.

It may have started out as a trendy addition to menus, but avocados are unlikely to be forgotten any time soon.

The rise of the avo has come hand in hand with the uptake of vegetarian and vegan eating. Now, they’ve grown from a luxury side dish in trendy brunch bars, to being able to boast their status as a staple ingredient in our shopping trolley.

In fact, according to a recent study undertaken by the folks at Nielsen, last year, avocados saw the third largest growth in sales of any grocery item in the UK.

The BBC even wrote an intriguing piece about the fact that, on Instagram, there are currently around 8.3 million posts which are tagged with #avocado. How crazy is that?

To celebrate this brilliant and super nutritious ingredient, we’ll be dedicating this blog post to avocados. Below, we’ll be taking you through:

1. What actually is an avocado?
2. The health benefits of avocados
3. Our recipe for a green avocado and matcha smoothie
4. Equipping your kitchen for healthy eating

So, without further ado, let’s find out what all the fuss is about.

 

1. What actually is an avocado?

Believe it or not, avocados are officially, a fruit - a type of berry, to be exact. They first originated in Central America, roughly 7,000 years ago.
The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) has broken down avocados, and outlined their composition into a useful list of nutrition facts. According to their research, 68 g (roughly half) of avocado consists of:

• Calories 114
• Dietary fibre 6 g
• Total sugar 0.2 g
• Potassium 345 milligrams (mg)
• Sodium 5.5 mg
• Magnesium 19.5 mg
• Vitamin A 43 micrograms (μg)
• Vitamin E 1.3 mg
• Vitamin K 14 μg
• Vitamin B-6 0.2 mg
• Monounsaturated fatty acids 6.7 g

 

2 . The health benefits of avocados

Where to start? Honestly, we were pretty blown away with the beneficial properties of this brilliant ingredient.

Luckily, we were able to narrow it down a bit, and we’ve listed a short summary of these perks for you below.

These brilliantly healthy avocado benefits include:

• As you can see from the list above, they are remarkably nutrient rich.
• They provide a great source of key vitamins (including C, E and K), magnesium, potassium, omega-3, and B-6.
• They are filled with highly beneficial fats, which actually keep you fuller for longer.
• These fats help to keep the consumer’s blood sugar levels stable.
• They can help to keep your skin healthy.
• They can help to keep the immune system in top condition.
• Avos can help your heart, by keeping it healthy.
• Thanks to the high level of antioxidants, they can help to protect your vision, and keep it stable as you age.
• They’re a great help for maintaining bone health, and can even act as a preventative measure against the development of osteoporosis.
• The nutrients within avocados can help to protect the consumer against various forms of cancer.
• They’re a great choice for pregnant mothers, who want to stay healthy during their pregnancy, and keep their baby healthy, too.
• Its properties help to naturally detoxify the body.

3. Our recipe for green avocado and matcha smoothie

Ingredients:

• Banana, 1 large
• Avocado, ¼ - ½ of a standard-size avocado (depending on your preference), at a medium ripeness
• Matcha powder, 1 tablespoon
• Fresh greens, 1 large handful - this could be either spinach, kale, or even rainbow chard
• Dairy-free milk, 240 ml

Method

• Grab your blender, and add in all the ingredients.
• Blend the mixture on a high speed. If your smoothie is a bit thick for your liking, just add an extra splash of dairy-free milk.
• Once all the lumps are blitzed, split the mixture between two glasses.
• Add in a few ice cubes, and serve!

This super creamy avocado and matcha recipe is a beautiful bright green colour, which makes it look super enticing.

It is filling and absolutely chocka with natural ingredients, making this drink a remarkably healthy option.

Not only is it brimming with vitamins, minerals and healthy satisfying fats, but it’s even vegan and dairy free too!

Plus, it’s a super versatile base recipe for you to tweak as you like. You can easily adjust it to suit your personal preferences - simply add extra avocado if you like your smoothies a bit more creamy, and add more alt-milk if you prefer it a bit thinner.

Also, the drink can be upgraded by adding extra ingredients like cucumber, strawberries, ginger, or chia seeds - the options are endless

 

4. Equipping your kitchen for healthy  eating.

The trouble with avocados is, unless you like to scoop them straight out of the skin (some enjoy that, it’s not for me personally), they can take some prep. Personally, we think that this brilliant ingredient shines best when it is intuitively prepared, as part of a recipe.

After all, it’s not a cheap ingredient, so we think that it’s well worth partnering this with a creative and nutritious recipe.

Another thing to bear in mind when you’re shopping for avocados, is that it can be tricky to time their ripeness. You may want to save a bit of money by buying them before they reach ripeness (lots of supermarkets offer a ‘ripen at home’ option). This is all well and good, but it’s difficult to keep track of your avocados, and know when’s the right time to eat them.

Our range of innovative kitchen gadgets are on hand to help you with both of the above points.

Take our FridgeCam for example - this device is made to help you keep track of your food, and identify the peak ripeness of your products. That way, not only are you able to enjoy food at its freshest, but it’s also a great way to help you cut out food waste in your household.

At Smarter, we create kitchen technology that is designed to make everyday cooking and healthy drinks easier than ever to prepare - we reckon it’s the perfect way to improve your work from home routine.

So, if you want to bring a health kick to your daily diet, be sure to check out our Smarter online store. On our website, you can find out more about our full product range, and find the right fit for your (now super healthy) daily routine.

 

Written by Josephine Walbank