Move over apples. There's another fruit in town that might just be what the doctor ordered - the avocado.
Results of a recent study were published in Current Developments in Nutrition and reveal that eating an entire avocado every day greatly improves diet quality. Over 1,000 participants took part in the study that took place over a 26 week period and involved people 25 years and older with abdominal obesity. Obesity was considered in women with waists of 35 inches or more and men with waits 40 inches or more.
Participants were split into two groups with the first group eating one avocado a day while the second group kept their current diet and the second group could not eat more than two avocados in a month.
Researchers found that there was no increase in weight among those in the daily avocado eating group. They also found that the avocado consuming group had improvements in vegetable intake and their overall diet quality.
Avocados are an excellent source of monounsaturated fats, which promote cardiovascular health thus potentially reducing the risk of heart disease and stroke. In addition, avocados are a great source of fiber, which is also good for heart health as well as gut health and blood sugar management.
