Don’t skip avocadoes. They can boost your mood and help with bad cholesterol

I love when one of my favorite nutritious foods gives me another reason to sing its praises.

This happened last week when I saw a research article from the European Society for Paediatric Research. This research comes from universities in Finland and was sponsored by the avocado nutrition center. But, seriously, who else is going to pay for avocado research these days?

The researchers analyzed data from a long-term Finnish study that began in 2012. The study recruited 10,000 women and continued a multi-year follow-up of the mother-child pairs. Questionnaires, biologic samples and health examinations were conducted at various points during pregnancy and delivery. Following childbirth, annual follow ups involving questionnaires and health exams were conducted for both mother and child.

The analysis for this paper included 2,272 mother-child pairs. The findings were that mothers who consumed avocados had a 43.6% lower odds of having food allergy among their infants at the 12-month follow-up.

This was a fairly large study, but since it was in Finland, it was a homogeneous sample. Only 11% of the people in Finland are of foreign origin. This makes it difficult to generalize to the population of South Florida, but I see this is as a nothing-to-lose situation. Avocados are a wonderful addition to everyone’s diet. And they grow on trees in so many of our backyards.

One cup of avocado contains 240 calories and 1/3 of the daily requirements for vitamin K, copper, and folate. During pregnancy, pregnant women usually take a folic acid supplement, but it certainly can’t hurt to get a little more through diet and avocados.

The folate in avocado also aids in controlling serotonin and dopamine levels, which can decrease risk of depression. Avocados do have more fat than most every other fruit, but that fat is mono unsaturated, which helps lower the body’s bad LDL cholesterol. The phytosterols in an avocado can also help block the absorption of cholesterol.

And moms don’t put away the avocados when baby is born. Avocado is a great early food for infants. The taste, the texture and spreadability is perfect for an infant exploring new foods.

Sheah Rarback MS is a Dietitian nutritionist in private practice in Miami