By Obiabin Onukwugha
The avocado, sometimes also referred to as an alligator pear, is botanically a large berry containing a single large seed.
Avocado is a delight to eat. It can be consumed alone or eaten with bread in place of butter. But it has medicinal powers to add to its flavour.
Avocado fruit is used to lower cholesterol levels, to increase sexual desire, and to stimulate menstrual flow.
This huge plant has also been used by traditional medicine practitioners to treat different aments and sicknesses. The seeds, leaves, and bark are used for dysentery and diarrhea. To treat these sicknesses, get some of the seeds, leave and bark, boil together and drink a glass cup twice a day.
Avocado oil is applied directly to the skin to soothe and heal skin and to treat thickening (sclerosis) of the skin, gum infections (pyorrhea), and arthritis. Avocado oil is also used in combination with vitamin B12 for a skin condition called psoriasis. The fruit pulp is used topically to promote hair growth and speed wound healing. The seeds, leaves, and bark are used to relieve toothache.
Furthermore, avocado has been found to treat osteoarthritis..Certain extracts made from avocado and soybean oils are called avocado soybean unsaponifiables (ASU). Taking ASU by mouth for several months seems to reduce pain and overall disability in people with hip or knee osteoarthritis, though this is still subject to research.
Also, a 2021 study in The Journal of Nutrition found that enjoying an avocado a day may help to reduce visceral fat among females.