Does the World Need Diet Avocados?
Because, yes, they do exist now.
guvendemir, guvendemir
If you pay any attention to food trends, you know avocados have been at the top of the list of trendy items for awhile now, and they’re not going anywhere. Restaurants that serve avocado everything all day long are popping up across the globe. Avocado toast, mousse, chocolate bars, smoothie bowls, and about a thousand other avo things constantly flood our social feeds — and it’s easy to see why. I mean, what looks prettier than a bright green avo “flower” or a creamy green bowl of fruit-topped avocado smoothie?
But as great as all of those treats are, the latest avo innovation is a bit questionable. There are now low-fat avocados for sale, aka Avocado Light.
Wait. Diet avocados?! Aren’t avocados supposed to be good for us? I can sense the flood of bewildered questions coming, and I hear you, believe me. Yes, it seems strange that a food long touted as a must-eat staple by health nuts would need to come in a low-fat version, but here it is. The question is, why?
While avocados contain lots of good stuff, including the heart-healthy kind of fats, it seems some diet-obsessed people still can’t get over the idea that eating fat makes you fat. (There is plenty of recent evidence to suggest that’s not the case, but nevertheless, here we are.) Avocados are high in fat, which also means they’re higher in calories than other fruits. And so, one company has come to the aid of consumers concerned about this tasty, creamy and nutritious fruit’s high fat content.
Eurobanan has developed the “Avocado Light,” a whole new variety of avocado that you can’t get anywhere else. Recent reporting from Fruitnet.com describes the specially engineered fruit, which is now sold in Spain under the Isla Bonita brand name, as “having a smooth, shiny green skin and a delicate light flavor,” and as “fast-ripening with a slow rate of oxidation.”
Well, that last bit, at least, I can certainly get on board with. An avocado that ripens quickly but doesn’t brown immediately after being cut into? Yes, please! The “Avocado Light” also has all the other nutritional benefits you get with regular avocados — the high concentrations of vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals and fiber — just 30 percent less fat. The specialty fruit has had its nutritional profile verified by independent laboratories and carries the Spanish Health Foundation’s Food Health Program’s seal of approval.
Right now, this super avocado is only available at supermarkets and specialty food stores in Spain, but this seems like it could spark an even more intense avo obsession across the globe.
Photo: iStock
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