My mom bought me some avocados the other day, and I just got around to chopping them up for a salad. I took out the pit like always, but stopped before I threw it away.
Are avocado pits toxic? Can you eat them?
Flashed through my mind, and I set it on the counter to dissect after I'd finished my salad. When I got around to cutting it up, it didn't want to cooperate. So, because I had nothing better to do, I stuck it in my mouth and sucked on it for a while. Don't judge me. After about five minutes of trying really hard not to bite it, I pulled it out and peeled off the thin layer between the meat of the seed and the meat of the actual avocado. To my surprise, I found a nut that looked kind of like a peanut. Before I could even think, I bit into it.
Bleh.
That pit was nasty. It was bitter and opposite of the avocado flesh, sharp and jagged instead of smooth and creamy. I jumped on the computer to see if I needed to call the poison control, and I came up with various sources that had little to nothing in common with the others. One said the core contained cyanide.(Click Here) Another said it was a great source of soluble fiber (whatever that is. [Yumm...Avocado smoothies]). And yet another said that it contained a crap load of potassium, but too much would kill you. (Raw Health...hehe)
What am I supposed to believe?
I went back to examine my littler avocado seed, and found my tooth marks in the side.
It was bleeding.
No, it wasn't turning black. No, it wasn't a tiny animal resting inside a fatty veggy. It was an avocado pit, bleeding.
I turned to the all powerful Google for the answer, and got a boring explanation on how it was the tannin in the pit oxidizing. (Yahoo Answers. Not very reliable....but still.) My mind didn't want to accept it; I kept thinking, "oh goodness, it's alive! It's not really a vegetable....or a fruit!".
And now I'm not sure what's up with my brain, but I think I'm feeling a little woozy. Maybe I'll go lie down for a while and tell myself that people put it in smoothies all the time....
Ta-ta for now!
Are avocado pits toxic? Can you eat them?
Flashed through my mind, and I set it on the counter to dissect after I'd finished my salad. When I got around to cutting it up, it didn't want to cooperate. So, because I had nothing better to do, I stuck it in my mouth and sucked on it for a while. Don't judge me. After about five minutes of trying really hard not to bite it, I pulled it out and peeled off the thin layer between the meat of the seed and the meat of the actual avocado. To my surprise, I found a nut that looked kind of like a peanut. Before I could even think, I bit into it.
Bleh.
That pit was nasty. It was bitter and opposite of the avocado flesh, sharp and jagged instead of smooth and creamy. I jumped on the computer to see if I needed to call the poison control, and I came up with various sources that had little to nothing in common with the others. One said the core contained cyanide.(Click Here) Another said it was a great source of soluble fiber (whatever that is. [Yumm...Avocado smoothies]). And yet another said that it contained a crap load of potassium, but too much would kill you. (Raw Health...hehe)
What am I supposed to believe?
I went back to examine my littler avocado seed, and found my tooth marks in the side.
It was bleeding.
No, it wasn't turning black. No, it wasn't a tiny animal resting inside a fatty veggy. It was an avocado pit, bleeding.
I turned to the all powerful Google for the answer, and got a boring explanation on how it was the tannin in the pit oxidizing. (Yahoo Answers. Not very reliable....but still.) My mind didn't want to accept it; I kept thinking, "oh goodness, it's alive! It's not really a vegetable....or a fruit!".
And now I'm not sure what's up with my brain, but I think I'm feeling a little woozy. Maybe I'll go lie down for a while and tell myself that people put it in smoothies all the time....
Ta-ta for now!
So after I realized it was bleeding, I stuck my thumb nail into it. I then found that the blood was once used as ink, and it was indelible. Now I have a nice little red stain inside my fingernail that will never go away (until I grow it out and cut it off, of course).
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