•Consumption of avocados did not affect participants’ belly fat and weight, but it did help people reduce their sodium intake and eat more healthy fats, among other health benefits.
•Experts suggest adding avocados to desserts, salads, smoothies, sandwiches, and other foods that people want to increase their consumption of.
•Researchers found that eating whole avocados daily is associated with a better quality diet.
Avocados are high in fiber, antioxidants, and healthy fats and are generally considered healthy additions to diets. But can they still be good for you if you regularly eat them?
Because avocados are high in calories and fat, some people avoid them out of fear they could lead to high cholesterol, weight gain, and other health concerns.
However, new research has found that these concerns are unfounded.
A study published in January in Current Developments in Nutrition found that people with abdominal obesity who ate one avocado daily for 26 weeks developed a higher-quality diet. After six months of eating avocados, subjects’ diets aligned with healthy eating patterns, like those outlined in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
“By improving people’s adherence to dietary guidelines, we can help to reduce their risk of developing…chronic conditions and prolong healthy life expectancy,” said lead study of the author, Kristina Petersen, PhD, associate professor of nutritional sciences at Penn State University, in a press release.
Here is what nutrition experts say about the new research and why an avocado daily might be a good choice for forming a healthier diet.
Dietary changes from consuming an avocado daily
To design the study, Peterson and her working colleagues at Penn State University divided 1,008 adults with obesity in their abdomens into two groups. One group was told to eat a whole avocado daily and continue their normal diet. The other group maintained their regular diet and were told to consume less than two avocados monthly.
No dietary counseling was provided; however, researchers gave the first group avocado-based serving ideas and recipes.
Initially, researchers were not necessarily focused on the effects of avocados on the quality of diet. In fact, “the original study was conducted to examine the effect of daily avocado intake on central obesity,” said Peterson to Health.
Interestingly, after 26 weeks, the number of subjects’ scales did not budge significantly. “We saw no effect on avocado intake on belly fat or weight,” said Peterson. “This means avocado intake [does] not increase or decrease weight or belly fat.”
Although eating an avocado daily didn’t appear to impact weight, a second analysis revealed that the practice did affect an additional important metric: quality of diet.
At four additional points throughout the study period, participants were asked to recall what they had eaten in the past 24 hours. Researchers used this information to decide how closely each person’s diet aligned with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The guidelines, created by the Health and Human Services (HHS) and U.S. Departments of Agriculture (USDA), are meant to help individuals meet nutrition goals and avoid disease.
By the end of the 26 weeks, Peterson and her colleagues found that those who ate avocados daily were more likely to have diets aligned with the parameters for healthy eating. The group consumed more vegetables, had a lower intake of refined grains, sodium, and added sugars, and had an improved ratio of healthy to unhealthy fats.
Why can avocado consumption improve the quality of your diet
Simply increasing the intake of avocado doesn’t guarantee that a person will change their diet in additional ways. Then why did researchers find a link between consuming more avocados and more nutrition patterns of eating?
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans classify avocados like vegetables, so it would be no surprise that eating one daily significantly increased veggie consumption from baseline. In addition, avocados’ high content of monounsaturated fats improved the ratio of unsaturated fats to saturated fats naturally, said Peterson.
Peterson, digging deeper, suspects that this better quality diet was significantly a matter of avocados taking the place of less nutritious foods.
“We saw reductions in intake of salt and refined grains,” explained Peterson. “This suggests people partially replaced high-salt foods and refined grain products with avocados or ate avocado instead of these foods some of the time.”
Instead of topping a burger with ketchup, which is high in sodium, for example, it’s possible that subjects opted for fresh avocado instead. Perhaps they chose an avocado smoothie for breakfast instead of a refined-grain cereal on one high in sugar.
These results highlight the impact of adding additional whole foods—avocados or others—to your diet, said exercise physiologist, author, and registered dietitian Wendy Bazilian, DrPh, RDN, based in San Diego.
“We know that different plant foods, including fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, seeds grains, and others, have complementary and also different nutrients, which impact the overall quality of our diet,” said Bazilian to Health.
Incorporating additional avocados into your diet
While eating an entire avocado daily might not be for everyone—cost concerns, taste preferences, and other factors could affect how much avocado you eat—Bazilian said there are no health drawbacks to it if it is tasty and accessible.
“Avocados have fats — good fats, primarily monounsaturated ones — and are a good source of fiber,” said Bazilian. “This fat and fiber combination plays a role in satiety and steady blood sugar, so it may help manage appetite, satisfaction, [attend] to hunger cues and cravings, and more.”
Since the research shows no relationship between avocado consumption and weight gain, “those who have concerns about the calories and fat content of avocados need not worry,” Bazilian said.
There are numerous simple ways to add avocado to your diet. Bazilian said avocados can be:
• Blended into a smoothie with citrus, yogurt, and honey
• Mashed as a spread for a sandwich
• Added to creamy salad dressings
• Used as a topping for green salads, tacos, toast, and more
• Infused into chocolate desserts, like chocolate mousse
Eating avocados over the week might sound like a lot. However, Bazilian said the fruit’s various applications make it a natural addition to innumerable snacks and mealtimes.
“Of course, it depends on the person, but I do think it’s possible,” said Bazilian. “This research trial speaks to the possibility.”
