This news left me as shocked as these little guys. Photo: Shutterstock.
The past few years, the avocado has really hit its stride. The delicious green fruit is praised for its healthy oils and fats, and it can be found on top of and incorporated into just about everything from toast to tacos. It’s the face of cookbooks and the foundation of weight loss programs. It might be the closest thing California has to a culinary icon. Not to mention it has its own pretty solid social media following…@avocadosfrommexico @swagacado. The avocado has truly taken the world by storm.
However, until now, we’ve all been doing it wrong, or at least I have. Let’s review the typical steps to preparing and eating an avocado:
-Pick a good one (exceedingly challenging).
-Wait for the perfect hour of its ripeness (even more challenging).
-Slice it open vertically.
-Remove the pit safely with your knife. Disregard.
-Slice, dice, and enjoy the rest of the creamy wonderfulness that is avocado.
Science, however, tells us some pretty momentous news. We’ve been throwing away the most nutritious part of this fruit all along. As nature would have it, the pit of the avocado is by far the healthiest part of the avocado. Although hard like a rock, the inside is a natural gold mine of antioxidants (it contains 70% of the avocado’s total amount). It’s also rich in anti-cancerous flavonols that can deter or slow tumor growth. It contains a significant amount of soluble fiber that aids with digestion. Not to mention it’s a potassium power house. We may be a little late to the party as indigenous cultures have been using the pit of the avocado as a medicinal remedy for digestive issues for centuries, but hey, better late than never.
Unfortunately, this news doesn’t change the fact that the nutrients in there aren’t all that easy to access. Unless you’ve got a lawnmower for a mouth, the best approach is to:
-Carefully cut the pit into quarters using a sharp knife (muscles required).
-Place in a strong, sturdy food processor and grind the quarters to a powder.
-Remove the powder and use about half of it as a supplement in a smoothie. Each pit has about two servings worth of powder, so save the other half for later.
The powder will be bitter, so be sure to combine it with a very flavorful smoothie or juice that masks the taste. A green smoothie or juice or one that is loaded with cacao is recommended.
