New Research Shows You Can Enhance Your Life By Eating Avocado Every Day
Health conscious Kiwis and foodies alike now have even more reason to celebrate the arrival of the New Zealand avocado season - latest research proves they can make a vast improvement to overall health and wellbeing.
As well as being a delicious addition to many meals, avocados are one of the most nutritionally complete foods in the world and new international research published in the Nutrition Journal* shows that people who regularly eat them weigh 3.4 kilograms less on average and have waistlines around four centimetres smaller, than those who don’t.
Avocado consumers also have significantly lower BMIs than non-consumers; significantly higher intakes of important nutrients (such as fibre, vitamin E, magnesium, potassium and vitamin K), plus more good fats and a lower intake of added sugars.
The findings of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) in the United States, published in the Nutrition Journal, proved eating avocado every day boosted people’s HDL (“good”) cholesterol levels and resulted in a 50 per cent less chance of metabolic syndrome (a group of risk factors that occur together and increase the risk for coronary artery disease, stroke, and type-2 diabetes).
Qualified dietician and nutritionist Nadia Lim is the official New Zealand Avocado ambassador and was a guest presenter at the recent New Zealand and Australian Avocado Growers’ Conference, held in Tauranga. Nadia says avocados are a perfect health conscious option for healthy, vibrant people who desire nutritious food that contributes positively to their overall health.
“Avocados are a perfect food – they’re abundant in valuable vitamins and minerals, as well as healthy fats, protein and carbohydrates. Nutritionists have long recommended consuming the healthy fats from avocados which are known to support improved overall diet quality, nutrient intake and heart health,” she says.
New Zealand Avocado CEO Jen Scoular says “Avocados are incredibly nutritious and nourishing for the body and soul. If you like to get the most out of life then you should definitely include an avocado in your diet every day.
“As part of a healthy, balanced diet, avocados are proving themselves time and again as a food that can help us all live healthier lives. This new research reinforces the importance of the food’s role in our everyday diet,” says Scoular.
The American-based Hass Avocado Board (HAB) is continuing to invest millions of dollars in nutrition research on Hass Avocado – a fund which the New Zealand avocado industry has long contributed to – and has engaged top researchers and institutions to further investigate the fruit’s health potential.
HAB established a nutrition research programme in 2010 to increase awareness and improve understanding of the unique benefits of avocados to human health and nutrition. The four research pillars are heart health, weight management, diabetes and healthy living.
*To read the overview from Nutrition Journal visit http://www.avocadocentral.com/avocado-nutrition-center/nhanes-study.