The avocado is a unique fruit. While most fruit consists primarily of carbohydrate, avocado is high in healthy fats. Numerous studies show that it has powerful health benefits too.
Avocados
Avocados are nutrient dense and an energy-dense food, and it contains important micro-nutrients that many of us don't eat enough of, like potassium and fibre. They contain heart healthy monounsaturated fats so they can help lower cholesterol and antioxidants that are important for eye health.
The benefits of Avocados
It is well known that avocados are high in dietary fibre which helps you feel full and reduces blood cholesterol, but a new study from the University of Illinois, shows that eating avocado as part of your daily diet can also help improve gut health.
The researchers found that people who ate avocados every day as part of a meal had a higher proportion of gut microbes that break down fibre and support gut health. They also had a wider variety of microbes, compared to people who didn't eat the avocado meals in the study.
Avocado study
The study included 163 adults between 25 and 45 years of age who were either overweight or obese, but were otherwise healthy. They received one meal per day to consume as a replacement for either breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
One group consumed an avocado with each meal, while the control group consumed a similar meal, but without the avocado. The participants provided blood, urine, and fecal samples throughout the 12-week study.
While other research on avocado consumption has focused on weight loss, participants in this study were not advised to restrict or change what they ate. Instead they ate their normal diets with the exception of replacing one meal per day, with the meal the researchers provided. The purpose of the study was to explore the effects of avocado consumption on gastrointestinal health.
Different types of fats have differential effects on our health. The fats in avocados are monounsaturated, and are heart-healthy fats. Soluble fibre content is also very important, A medium avocado provides around 12 grams of fibre, which is a significant proportion of the recommended 28 to 34 grams of fibre per day.
Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com
I never used to like eating avocados, but I have made a real effort to eat them recently as I know they are healthy.
This post reaffirms just what a great food they are.
Thank you. Yes, I can understand why you aren't keen, they are a little bland. But as you say they are good healthy fats. Avocados are a good addition to smoothies also.