- Mar
- 5
Eat Avocados, Fight Off Superbugs?
Posted by Michelle Sherrow at 8:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Could we soon be picking up our prescriptions in the produce aisle? According to a new study, Chilean avocados have potent therapeutic properties and can actually help fight the increasing threat of antibiotic-resistant staph infections.
Antibiotic-resistant superbugs are a gift from factory farms, which regularly supply animals with antibiotics as "growth promoters" or to keep them alive in the crowded, filthy conditions. Seventy percent of all antibiotics used in the U.S. are given to animals on farms—not to sick people. As disease-causing bacteria continue to multiply and mutate, they become more resistant to the antibiotics that they are encountering on a regular basis. So when people sit down to a meal of beef, pork, chicken, or turkey, they may also be ingesting an unwanted "side dish" of superbugs. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria can also spread through factory farm runoff, which can lead to major outbreaks.
So how can nature give science a helping hand? Antibiotic-resistant staph infections effectively pump out antibiotics as soon as they hit the bacterial wall. But a compound in the Chilean avocado thwarts the bacteria's pumping action, meaning that the antibiotics can burst through the wall like a battering ram and destroy the staph. The lean, green, staph-killing machine also packs a powerful nutrient punch of potassium, folate, and vitamins C, K, and B6 as well as heart-healthy fiber and unsaturated fat.
Of course, like all foods, avocados are much more enjoyable sans staph infection, so shunning antibiotic- and superbug-filled meats in favor of vegan foods can lead to a much more pleasurable dining experience. Here are a few of our favorite ways to enjoy the surprising avocado:
Posted to Health | Posted to Tags: avocado, Factory Farming, Health, Michelle Sherrow, recipes, staph infection
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Jason 'Great Whites' (Shark: Beings Rights Person) Nall says...
March 9th, 2012, 2:32 pm
As health concuss person and Vegan, I love getting such proven information; however, I love it when it does not become a negative possible action(s) that deeps the hurt in my country's and the world's health. Since they are Chilean, it would either take money away from USA citizens, because made in Chile, or take away resources (water, ground and etc) from native plants and shipped from Chile or from The USA -more environmental damage.
Probably, as a health concuss person and Vegan person, I probably do not need that extra help; but I can really never be healthy enough.
I hope this does not have sports organizations loading-up on this non-native product and environmentally damaging shipping. If reader does not know, many different types of sports organizations have had many "public" cases of staph infections, they use a lot antibiotics and environments of sharing towels and etc that spreads it.
Louise Esther Rothstein says...
March 13th, 2012, 5:54 pm
Dear Jason Nall:
Avocados do grow in the United States.
Although nobody thought to ask whether any of the "American" avocados
belong to the variety that has been dubbed "Chilean" I suspect-sight unseen-that some of them do.
The questions are:
Which are the genetic "Chileans" here…?
And how much does that matter?