The simple, and very much loved avocado fruit is rapidly becoming a favourite in diets across the world. Whether smashed avocado on toast, cubed in salads or made into creamy sauces on vegan noodles. However, much less is known about the leaves of the avocado tree. Can you eat the avocado plant itself, or the avocado seeds (the stone in the middle)? Wouldn’t it be great if you could eat the entire avocado and leave nothing to waste? Let’s find out!
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Avocado Leaves
You may have come across the leaves of avocados without even knowing as they look just like bay leaves in colour, size and shape. However, if you had eaten one, you’d know instantly it wasn’t a bay leaf, they taste very different – of course!
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Avocado leaves aren’t yet that popular with shoppers so it’s unlikely you will find them in general supermarket stores. You’re more likely to find them in specialist shops or health food stores in a dried form. Starting at around £30 for a 1-kilogram bag, they aren’t the cheapest health supplement to buy. However, 30kg should last you a long time as the dried leaves are very lightweight. However, you can also buy avocado leaves fresh, as well as dried.
Benefits Of Avocado Leaves
The numerous health benefits of avocado leaves are mainly down to the very high levels of Quercetin it contains. Quercetin is a powerful anti-oxidant with anti-inflammatory effects that work throughout the body. However, Quercetin is most commonly known to be used in people with heart conditions as it can help to control people with high blood pressure.
The benefits include…
- Helps to reduce swelling
- May help to kill cancer cells
- Helps to fight bacterial infections
- Controls blood sugar levels
- Help prevent heart disease
- Fights free radicals
- Lower blood pressure
- Good source of potassium
- Wound healing properties
- High in vitamin b
- Boosts the immune system
- Calms menstrual cramps
- Promotes healthy hair growth
- Lowers the risk of an asthma attack
- Improves heart health
- Lowers risk of heart disease
If you suffer from any respiratory issues such as asthma, consuming avocado on a daily basis could have a very beneficial effect on you. The high levels of anti-inflammatory properties found in avocado can help to calm respiratory muscles in spasms. If you have those uncomfortable asthma symptoms, consuming more avocado in your diet could have a positive effect on your lung function.
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For many years, avocado leaf extract, or avocado leaf tea has been used in traditional medicine as the best way to treat a variety of ailments. The plethora of health benefits avocado leaves can offer surely means we should be consuming them on a daily basis!
Possible Side Effects
Before you go buying 1kg of avocado leaves, you will need to make sure you won’t have an allergic reaction. For most people, you shouldn’t have a problem, however, there are some people who need to be a little more careful. Speak to your doctor first if you fit into any of the below categories…
- Pregnant
- Breasfeeding
- Allergic to latex
- If you are on Warfarin
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Another aspect to be aware of is avocado oil, especially, can react badly with other creams and oils if used together. If you aren’t sure, try it in a very small patch with a weak dose and see how you go. However, most people will be just fine using avocado leaves, oil or the fruit itself.
How To Consume Avocado Leaves
Fresh Avocado leaves are often used underneath meats while roasting them in the oven. However, they can also be used to wrap fish for grilling or steaming to give the fish a deep and intense flavour.
The fresh leaves can also be added to soups and stews to add a nutty flavour. If you have a pestle and mortar, you could even crush them down to add the avocado oil to salads or salad dressings with some lemon juice and a crack of salt and pepper.
One way to consume dry avocado leaves is to have them as herbal tea. Avocado tea is a great natural remedy if you have kidney stones as this herbal drink will help to break them down. A cup of avocado tea a day might just keep those stones away. For those who don’t like the taste or texture of avocados, drinking the leaves dried in cups of tea will give you the health benefits without having to eat them.
To consume the dried leaves as tea, for best results, simply soak some of the leaves in hot water. Then remove the leaves after allowing them to brew for approx 5 minutes. The longer you leave the leaves to soak, the stronger the tea will be.
Other potential health benefits of avocado tea include…
- Treats constipation
- Lowers cholesterol
- Soothing effect on the stomach
- Aids digestion
Where Avocados Are Grown
Originally found in central and south America. Avocados can now be found all over the world. However, the avocado tree is very temperamental to grow, needing stable conditions with no possibility of frost, or high winds. It also requires exactly 1 metre of soil depth to grow in, along with good humidity. All of these elements make the avocado highly susceptible to changes in weather conditions. All of which are more common due to climate change.
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Due to their temperamental growing needs, avocados are mainly grown in central and southern America. For example, over 500,000 acres of land in Mexico are used to grow avocados. This industry is estimated to be worth approx $5 billion per year! The increase in the popularity of avocados brings with it a huge carbon footprint.
For example, an avocado from Mexico would have to travel over 5000 miles to reach us in the UK. Given the distance they have to travel, the fruit is picked before it’s ripe. It’s shipped in temperature-controlled storage containers, which consume high energy levels. Not to mention the packaging they are sold in as well.
If you can find locally grown avocados, then go to town on them. If you don’t live in a country that grows them, perhaps think about swapping it out for something more local.
Overview
So, whether you eat the fruit, drink cups of avocado tea, or use the leaves in salad dressings, incorporating avocados into your diet on a day-to-day basis could have more than just a positive impact on your diet, but your health as well.
With them being so readily available in both fruit and oil forms, you should be able to find a way to consume them that works best for you. Let’s hope the leaves also start to appear in local supermarkets the more people find out about their important role in human health.
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Will you start consuming them more now you know the health benefits of avocado leaves?
I love avocado! 🥰
Me tooo!