Why an avocado a day is better than an apple at keeping the doctor away

We’ve all heard the saying “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” — and certainly apples do have plenty of essential vitamins and minerals — but there’s another fruit packed with far more nutrition that doesn’t get nearly the credit it deserves.

According to one nutritionist, the avocado is the most nutrient-dense fruit on Earth. It’s the only fruit that makes his “Top 12 Most Nutrient Dense Foods in the World” list, along with liver, eggs, salmon, oysters and sardines.

Another nutrition website provides a handy nutritional comparison of apples to avocados.

Vitamins

For starters, avocados have far more vitamins than apples, including twice as much Vitamin C,  triple the Vitamin A, six times as much Vitamin B6, eight times as much Vitamin K and ten times as much Vitamin E.

They also have up to 20 times as much of the other B vitamins – thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid and folate.

Minerals

Avocados have four times as much iron, six times as much magnesium, five times the phosphorus and potassium, ten times the copper, and 16 times the zinc that apples have.

Protein and Amino Acids

Avocados have 8 times more protein than apples and significantly more of all the essential amino acids, especially tryptophan.

Fat and Fatty Acids

Avocados already beat apples in a landslide when it comes to vitamins, minerals and amino acids, but where they really take the cake is in healthy fats.

They have 14 times the Omega 3 fatty acids, which most Americans are starving for, and are loaded with almost 10 grams of monounsaturated fat, the fat everyone agrees is super good for your heart.

Avocados are also high in saturated fat (2 grams per serving) and polyunsaturated fat (2 grams per serving).

So keep eating apples if you want, but don’t forget to get in at least one avocado a day!