31st July: International Day of Avocado

The 31st of July is celebrated worlwide the International Day of Avocado, fruit of he family of lauraceae originating from a vast geographical area that extends from the central and western highlands of Mexico, passing through Guatemala to the shores of the Pacific Ocean in Central America.

The famous “green gold”, as it is often called, is an ingredient with which many culinary delights are made in the context of different gastronomic traditions, but its benefits have also been used in other areas. In the field of health and beauty, personal hygiene products such as soaps, shampoos, hair creams, face and body, lipsticks and makeup, among many others, are made with avocado extract.

Origins

There is evidence of avocado consumption in the Tehuacan Valley (Puebla, Mexico) between 9000 and 1000 years old, althought its is believed that they emerged in the north of North America and between the Miocene and the Pilocene migrated to Mesoamerica

During the colonization of America its cultivation expanded.

From 1900 they began to select copies to offer them in the market, they sold well until 1935 that appeared in the United States the variety Hass.

 Natural multivitamin

With an unctuous pulp, avocado is rich in vitamins A, C, E, thiamine (vitamin B1), calcium, iron, magnesium and zinc; in other words, it is a natural multivitamin.

It also has the property of eliminating «bad» cholesterol, which is why it has currently become one of the favorite superfoods.

The not so nice part of the story is that the overproduction needed to meet world demand makes avocados an unsustainable crop. That is why it is advisable to eat it only in season and to supplement it with other sources of good fats, such as nuts or almonds.