Eating one avocado a day for six months was found to have no effect on belly fat, liver fat or waist circumference in people with overweight or obesity, according to a new study. However, it did lead to a slight decrease in unhealthy cholesterol levels.
Key Findings
- Eating one avocado per day for six months did not lead to any significant changes in belly fat, liver fat, or waist circumference in people with overweight or obesity.
- However, it did lead to a slight decrease in LDL (bad) cholesterol levels.
- Participants who ate avocados had better quality diets during the study period and improved the overall quality of their diets by eight points on a 100-point scale.
Recommendations
- If you are looking to improve your overall health, incorporating an avocado per day into your diet may be a beneficial addition.
- Avocados are a good source of fiber, vitamins, minerals, and healthy fats.
- They can help to improve heart health, reduce the risk of chronic diseases, and promote weight loss.
A new study has found that consuming one avocado a day for six months did not have any effect on belly fat, liver fat, or waist circumference in people with overweight or obesity, but it led to a slight decrease in unhealthy cholesterol levels.
The study was conducted in conjunction with Loma Linda University, Tufts University, and UCLA, with coordinating support from Wake Forest University, and included more than 1,000 participants experiencing overweight or obesity. Half of them were instructed to eat an avocado every day while the other half continued their usual diet and were told to limit their avocado consumption to less than two a month.
The study also found that participants who ate avocados had better quality diets during the study period and improved the overall quality of their diets by eight points on a 100-point scale. Adherence to the Dietary Guidelines is generally poor, and the study’s findings suggest that eating an avocado per day can substantially increase overall diet quality, which is important because higher diet quality is associated with lower risk of several diseases including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and some cancers.
While previous, smaller studies have found a link between eating avocados and lower body weight, BMI, and waist circumferences, this was the largest, most extensive study to date on the health effects of avocados, including the large number of participants and length of the study period.
Although the avocados did not affect belly fat or weight gain, the study still provides evidence that avocados can be a beneficial addition to a well-balanced diet.
Incorporating an avocado per day in this study did not cause weight gain and also caused a slight decrease in LDL cholesterol, which are all important findings for better health