If you’re limiting your avocado consumption to Guacamole now and again, you’re missing a health-giving trick.
New data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed that the humble avocado really is something of a super food. Not only can it improve the quality of your diet and nutrient intake, but it can also help you to burn fat, maintain a lower body weight, waist circumference and BMI (body ass index).
As if that isn’t enough, avocados can also help to boost good cholesterol and lower metabolic syndrome risk, says a recent report in Nutrition Journal.
As an aside, an avocado diet or foods likely to be eaten as part of a Mediterranean Diet can also triple the chances of success for couples going through IVF. Is there nothing the avocado cannot do?
The CDC survey of 17,567 adults in the U.S. reports that those who consumed avocados in any amount during the 24 hours that their diet was recorded had significantly better nutrient intake levels and better health indicators than their none avocado-eating counterparts.
Average daily consumption of avocados was approximately one half of a medium sized avocado.
The results in detail showed that:
- Avocado consumers had 23% more vitamin E, 16% more potassium and 13% more magnesium than those who did not eat avocado.
- They also had a whopping 48% more vitamin K and 36% more dietary fibre.
- Those eating avocados had more ‘good fats’ (monounsaturated (18% more) and polyunsaturated (12% more)) than those who did not, though the two groups’ calorie intake was similar.
- In addition, avocado eaters had significantly lower BMIs, smaller waists and weighed significantly less – 7.5 pounds less on average – than those who did not partake.
- They also had significantly higher levels of ‘good’ (HDL) cholesterol.
It’s hard to believe that such a small fruit could have such dramatic effects, but the benefits don’t even stop there.
Perhaps even more significant, those people eating avocado had 50% less odds of suffering from metabolic syndrome than non-avocado eaters.
Metabolic syndrome is the name given to risk factors which together can increase the threat of stroke, type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease.
“These findings suggest an interesting association between the consumption of avocados and better nutrient intakes and other positive outcomes,” said lead author Victor Fulgoni, PhD.
“These observations were derived from population survey data, they provide important clues to better understanding the relationships between diet and health, and give direction to future research endeavours.”
There were however, some limitations to the study. The findings were based on a single 24 hour period which memory lapses or misreporting could make inaccurate and the short timeframe of the study could not prove direct cause and effect.
However it does seem to suggest that the humble avocado is one of nature’s healthy wonders.
Check out more amazing fruits that eat fat and fat burning foods.
