Eating One Of These A Day Has Some Wild Health Benefits You Haven’t Heard About. Nope, Not An Apple.
by The Candidly Team
You’re gonna make fun of us when we tell you, because let’s face it, this fruit has been riding the world’s longest wave of trendiness in dietary history. But unlike say bulletproof coffee or zoodles, this one might just be worthy of its lasting fame.
Now that we’ve sufficiently made our excuses: that fruit is an avocado.
Our guess is that half of you are bored with this answer. And the other half is just happy to reconfirm that something so delicious remains exceptionally good for us.
HOWEVER. There is far more to this glorious green food of the Gods than being a bougie toast topping.
In fact, there are some seriously surprising/ thrilling benefits of enjoying a whole avocado on the daily.
We’re just gonna dive right in.
Here’s what an avocado-a-day could do for you:
1. It can make you stick to your health goals all day long.
A brand new study showed that particpants who ate an avocado each day stuck to eating healthier overall.
2. It makes your skin firmer and more elastic.
A group of women studied over 8 weeks of eating an avocado daily showed significantly more firmness and elasticity in their skin. Brb, making some avocado toast RIGHT NOW.
3. It could change the distribution of belly fat for the better.
Did you, like us, think all belly fat was created equal? Well, in fact, a 2021 study showed that “women who consumed avocado as part of their daily meal had a reduction in deeper visceral abdominal fat.” There are two kinds of fat found in the abdomen, and that deeper visceral fat, which “surrounds the internal organs” can put people at “higher risk of developing diabetes,” according to researchers.
4. It could lower your cholesterol.
A 2022 Penn State study found that eating an avocado a day over six months “lead to a slight decrease in unhealthy cholesterol levels,” though if the word slight bums you out, it may uplift you to know that it also “improved the overall quality of the participants' diets.”
5. It could improve gut health.
Yet another study (this one from 2000) discovered that “people who ate avocado every day as part of a meal had a greater abundance of gut microbes that break down fiber and produce metabolites that support gut health. They also had greater microbial diversity compared to people who did not receive the avocado meals in the study.”
6. It makes you feel less hungry.
People who ate an avocado with breakfast in a study on the “satiety effects of fat-fiber combination” felt fuller and more satiated than people who ate a meal with the same number of calories but less fiber and avocado-derived fat.
7. Other possible benefits:
Supporting eye health, brain function, good digestion, and weight management to name a few.
Nutritional Lowdown
According to Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, avocados are a source of:
Monounsaturated fat - oft called the “healthier” form of fat which can help lower heart disease and stroke risk
Folate - helps with forming red blood cells and with healthy cell function
Fiber - Ugh, what doesn’t it do? Helps with healthy bowels, lowers cholesterol, helps control blood sugar, increases longevity to name a few
Potassium - (it has more than a banana) Go here to learn why potassium is hugely important.
B6 - helps with immunity, mood, brain function, and could lower cancer risk
Vitamins C -helps boost immunity and healing. It also helps the body absorb iron and might lower cancer risk.
Vitamin E - acts as an antioxidant and may reduce certain risk factors for heart disease
Vitamin K - important for bone health
Magnesium - We went deep with the benefits of this one here
Carotenoids (lutein, zeaxanthin) - antioxidants that might lower inflammation in the body
How To Eat It
If you have your own lifelong love of avocados, you probably don’t need us telling you how to eat them, but here are some tricks that make them even more delectable/convenient:
We already know they’re perfection on toasts, sandwiches, and salads, but as a dressing itself with lemon, garlic, water, salt, and cilantro all blended up, anything you put it on will now feel 12x more chefy.
Buy them frozen at Trader Joe’s, and you’ll never have to worry about missing your ripeness window.
It’ll make a smoothie taste like a fucking milkshake with cocoa powder. Plus, it will actually fill you up for hours.
Layer them over your morning eggs.
Blend them into hummus - the creaminess is on another level.
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