Avocado pit : Its consumption divides the web

According to nutritionist Bernard Lavallée, eating an avocado pit is toxic, but others find it very healthy and even very nutritional.

Elvis Serge NSAA

Its consumption has been dividing the web for a few weeks, there is a real buzz around the avocado seed! Indeed, since a video entitled “How to Eat an Avocado Seed” was posted on Facebook, the web has been ablaze with two camps pitted against each other; the “pros” and the “anti” of avocado
seed. The video in question is a veritable tutorial on how to grind avocado into a powder and incorporate it into your diet. The debate rages on because eating avocado pits is toxic according to some and very healthy or even very nutritional according to others, and is even full of antioxidants.
Risk of toxicity
Instead of cutting the pit, we asked
nutritionist Bernard Lavallée to settle the debate. « It made me laugh a lot when I saw the video on how to eat an avocado pit,” he explains. I’d like to say right away that I don’t advise anyone to do it! The main reason is that the nutritional profile of the avocado pit has never been established. The content of avocado pit extracts
has been analysed, but not the whole avocado pit, and no serious analysis of its toxicity has been carried out. And for good reason: it is not a “natural” thing to eat an avocado pit. No culture, no people, has ever included the consumption of avocado pits in their diet ». The studies that have been conducted indicate that avocado pits contain a natural toxin, cyanogen glycoside. It protects
the avocado from disease and insects, but when consumed by humans, it turns into hydrocyanic
acid, a toxic substance.
An emphatic no
The powerful California Avocado Commission has the same cautions.
To the question that has been asked frequently since the video was posted online: “Is it dangerous to eat the avocado pit?”, they answer categorically: “We do not recommend it”, with a very explicit photo. If this kind of false debate, which could be called “Avocado-Gate”, exists, it is because we are in the age of social networks and everything goes very fast; too fast. All it takes is for a video to be original, shocking,
funny or to contain a new fact for it to go viral, as is the case here.
In search of the miracle product
People then click en masse, share like crazy and feed the buzz, forgetting
to check the veracity of what is being said. People like everything that is new in terms of food, they are looking for the miracle food, products that have extraordinary virtues,” explains Bernard Lavallée. Those who extol
the antioxidant virtues of the avocado pit are not only putting forward a fact that has not been proven and is therefore potentially
dangerous, but above all they are forgetting that all fruits and vegetables have antioxidant virtues! So why try to consume the avocado pit?” We will therefore
side with the precautionary principle by inviting you not to attempt the consumption of the avocado pit until further scientific
and nutritional studies have been produced.