Is it healthy to eat avocado seeds?

Patricia Schutte, nutritionist

A round of googling indeed yields the most jubilant stories. Crushed avocado pits are said to help you lose weight, prevent intestinal problems, lower cholesterol, and so on. That sounds like a superfood to my ears. By superfood I mean a substance that would have all kinds of positive effects on health due to a high content of good nutrients and antioxidants. Other examples include goji berries, hemp seed and wheat grass.

Powder

Unfortunately, the claimed health effects of such superfoods are generally not (enough) scientifically substantiated. In addition, one food does not contain all the essential nutrients that the body needs. What you eat throughout the day is more important for your health than a small amount of ‘healthy’ powder, seeds or fruits. You therefore do not get healthier from eating avocado pits. Each fruit and vegetable has its own unique package of nutrients, so eat a bit of everything to get all the important nutrients and reduce the risk of disease.

Edible

In addition, not everything that is natural is automatically edible. For example, it appears that people get sick from superfoods such as bitter almonds and apricot kernels, because they naturally contain the toxic substance prussic acid. (Bitter almonds are by the way a different species than the ‘regular’ sweet almonds that are in the store.) The Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) has not received any complaints about avocado seeds, but it is still not recommended to use them. much to eat.

Do you also have a question? Then ask one of our experts. Always go to your doctor with urgent questions, the experts are not the right person for that. Nor do they make diagnoses. You can find the other conditions here.

Patricia Schutte has been working as an information officer at the Nutrition Center in The Hague for more than 25 years. She answers questions about healthy, sustainable and safe food.