Instead Of Throwing Away Your Avocado Pits, Try Making Tea

The American avocado craze exists for good reason. A recent study showed that eating avocados are good for the heart, which means that you can fill up on the green and buttery fruit to your heart's content and for your heart's well-being.

Another upside to avocado is that it is a very versatile food, which can be used in cooking Mexican dishes, as a dessert in Filipino cuisine, and of course, as the star of the immensely popular brunch staple, avocado toast. Avocados also come perfectly wrapped, which means no plastic, and are fairly easy to handle — especially if you know how to buy a perfectly ripe one. Removing an avocado pit, however, can be a bit trickier, though there are safe ways to do so to avoid any knife injuries. Most people throw away the avocado pits (though some consume the pit in small quantities), but there's an alternative use with those large, woody leftover avocado pits you should try.

If you don't have the patience to grow an avocado plant from your pit in a cup of water with a sunny windowsill (via My Garden), there's a faster, more immediately gratifying use for your leftover avocado pits: tea.

As reported by Bon Appetit, two food scientists, Sheetal Bahirat and Zuri Masud, decided to try to salvage a heap of avocado pits doomed for the trash bin. They ended up launching a beverage company, Reveal, that offers nutrient-packed beverages brewed from the missing piece from avocado toasts. While the health benefits of eating avocado are fairly known, the benefits of the avocado pit have been flying under the radar (and into the garbage). But the seeds are at the literal heart of the avocado, and per Well+Good, they contain a large majority of the fruit's antioxidants — a whopping 70%. They are also anti-inflammatory. You can make your own by simply boiling the pit for five minutes until soft, removing it to cut into smaller pieces. Brew it again for ten minutes and then drink the remaining liquid, which you can also sweeten to your liking. And that's the tea.