Avocados are a miracle superfood, but they used to have a bad reputation. Very few American household keep them stocked and often times, you only find them in guacamole or dips. It might be a fatty fruit—but don’t fall into the generic trap of thinking that fat is “bad.”
It turns out that research is proving Avocados are a nutrient-rich food that protects your body from inflammation, reduces your risk for cancer, helps your heart, and promotes weight loss.
Check out the five reasons an avocado a day might actually help keep the doctor away!
1. Avocados Lower Inflammation
The first reason you need to start eating more avocado: they prevent extreme inflammatory responses. Adding avocados to your diet keeps inflammation in check, even when you eat them with something like red meat—a well-known inflammation spiking food.
Research published in the academic journal Food & Function demonstrates that eating a plain hamburger results in as much as a 70% rise in IL6—a cytokine that promotes an inflammatory response[1].
Adding an avocado to the same burger can reduce inflammation significantly. The study determined that IL6 levels when eating a burger with avocado were reduced by 40%. As a result, there was a 30% decrease in food-based inflammation just by adding avocado.