Avocado Rich in Brain and Eye Nutrient Lutein

The little old avocado is packed with lutein and healthy fat which helps to feed your cognitive brain function and keep your eyes working well.

In a recent study, people were randomly assigned one avocado or a cup of potato or chickpeas daily. The avocado group showed a 25% increase in lutein levels compared to a 15% increase in the potato/chickpea group. Both groups saw an improvement in cognitive function but only the avocado group showed an improvement in sustained attention.

I find the best way to get more avocado in your diet is to add them to soups and smoothies, which make them really creamy. Most days, this is the soup I have for lunch:

1 large carrot

1 stick of celery

A bit of fennel and a few capers if I have any

A couple of mushrooms

Some greenery like spinach or left over salad leaves

About 10 cashew nuts for protein and creaminess (leave out if you need to as you have the avocado)

Half an avocado

Sometimes a bit of apple if I’ve used a lot of bitter greens

Water

I blitz the whole thing in my blender (this one, which I use about twice a day!) and then heat it through gently in a pan. I add some roasted veg and flaked fish if I have any left over, or some prawns for texture, then water it down if it is too thick. I serve with a swirl of extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkle of seasalt. If I have any leftover basil ‘pesto’ I add a teaspoon of that on top too. If I’m really hungry, I serve it with a few plantain crisps! Keeps me going and is power-packed with nutrients.

Obviously, you can make any number of variations of that depending on what you have in and can eat. I’d love to have onions in it, or leek or something, with maybe a squeeze of lemon but not got those back in yet.

There are lots of avocado recipes on the Pinterest boards for you here. My favourites are:

Avocado Sauce for ‘Pasta’ – I use courgetti and basically blend my basil pesto with avocado to make it creamier.

Avocado ‘Butter’ – mix avocado and coconut oil and solidify in the fridge.

And of course…

Avocado Chocolate Mousse. Although I often leave the chocolate out and just whizz banana and avocado and have it like a yogurt for breakfast or a sweet.

You can see all those recipes on the Pinterest boards.  (I did try to do a search for them all and link you to it, but Pinterest won’t let me. You can do a search instead.)

For more Soup ideas, check my free Super Soups out and for more TrulyGlutenFree (grain and dairy free) snack/brekkie ideas, check out TGF Breakfasts.

What’s your favourite way to get more avocado in?