A new study by researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign suggests that people looking to balance their gastrointestinal health may be able to have their avocado toast and eat it, too.
The Hass Avocado Board funded the research, but the study authors believe that there is enough evidence to justify making the mildly flavored fruit a regular diet stable.
The findings, which appear in the August 2020 issue of the Journal of Nutrition, imply that eating avocados daily can drastically improve a person’s overall gut health.
According to lead study author Sharon Thompson, the group wanted to deviate from the more obvious arguments in favor of the popular fruit. Multiple studies have attempted to link regular avocado consumption with weight loss or management. Instead, the University of Illinois researchers focused on how avocados affect the digestive system.
Says Thompson, “We know eating avocados helps you feel full and reduces blood cholesterol concentration, but we did not know how it influences the gut microbes and the metabolites the microbes produce.”
In their paper, the study authors note that avocado is also high in fiber and that research has shown high-fiber foods to be good for digestive health.
The research involved 163 participants between the ages of 25 and 45 years. The University of Illinois team hoped to gauge the effect of daily avocado consumption on individuals with overweight and obesity who were otherwise in good health.
The researchers divided the study participants into two groups. Over a 12-week period, one group ate a meal that included avocado. Each participant could have the replacement meal at breakfast, lunch, or dinner; the important factor was that they ate avocado as part of a single meal each day. The control group ate similar meals but without an avocado.
Members of both groups provided blood, urine, and fecal samples throughout the 3-month study period. All of the participants reported how much of the provided meal they ate, and, each month, they turned in a complete list of everything they consumed.
A positive outcome, but is there a catch?
Ultimately, the study showed that eating avocado with at least one meal per day leads to a greater presence of healthful microbes in the stomach and intestines. Additionally, the avocado group excreted slightly more fat in their stools than the control
group.
