The avocado diet is not actually a diet structured by experts but the advice to take this fruit every day as part of a healthy and varied diet aimed not only at losing weight but also at maintaining health. The suggestion comes following the results of several scientific researches that have demonstrated the benefits of avocado.
There are those who have already baptized this diet in these terms: an avocado a day keeps the fat away. A premise is a must, however. There are no diets that allow you to lose the famous 7 kilos in 7 days and you must be wary of all those that promise to make the excess kilos disappear in a magical way. However, there are specific foods, such as avocado, which have great beneficial effects on the body and its metabolism. When inserted into an active and healthy lifestyle, they can help you lose weight without subjecting the body to unnecessary stress.
Avocado reduces the presence of abdominal fat in women
Avocado is an increasingly popular fruit also in Italy. The exotic fruit, in fact, is the main ingredient of the famous (and tasty) guacamole sauce, or of dishes such as avocado toast and poke bowl. An American study has shown how this exotic fruit from Central America is able to reduce the presence of abdominal fat especially in women.
Avocado diet, how it works
Contrary to what one might think (since it is a fatty fruit), consuming avocado regularly in moderate quantities does not make you gain weight but on the contrary promotes weight loss.
It is therefore advisable for people who want to drop a few kilos to consume small portions of this fruit every day, naturally associating it with a healthy and balanced diet overall and the right amount of physical activity. Consumed every day, this fruit favors the intake of nutrients and improves the metabolism of sugars, it is also able to satiate and therefore decreases the sense of hunger that can be had between meals. The virtues of this fruit are many more: it contains good fats, helps keep bad cholesterol at bay, reduces the likelihood of suffering from metabolic syndrome. Moreover, thanks to the richness in vitamin D, avocado could also prove useful for preventing osteoporosis. Finally, it is rich in antioxidants, therefore slows down cellular aging and is anticancer.
Avocado diet, what to eat
If you want to try to lose weight with the help of avocado you have to insert this fruit every day in a dose of about 70 grams.
There are many ways to integrate it into your diet: you can cut it into small pieces and add to the salad that you should preferably eat at the beginning of the meal, or you can prepare the famous guacamole sauce or even a veg sushi for example with rice and ginger, a original avocado gaspacho and much more.
Remember, however, that avocado is already rich in fats (even if good) so do not associate it further with other fatty foods. In the case of salads, for example, avoid adding extra virgin olive oil as a condiment.
As already mentioned, avocado can only lend a hand, so you must eat balanced foods together with it such as brown rice, fruit and vegetables, vegetable proteins such as legumes, lean meats and fish (for those who eats them), etc. For example, you can follow a Mediterranean diet in a slimming version or a vegetarian diet that has proved equally valid for those who have to lose weight.
Of course it is always better, especially if you have to lose a lot of kilos, to rely on an expert nutritionist who will advise you on a path designed on your specific needs.
The American study on the beneficial effects of avocado
A research group from the University of Illinois has published research that focuses on avocado intake in the Journal of Nutrition. This exotic fruit has a lot of beneficial properties. Among these, we point out that it is very rich in ‘good’ Omega 3 fats, contains a large amount of minerals such as potassium and magnesium as well as vitamins of different groups. Avocado also helps reduce bad cholesterol and is a powerful antioxidant. Thanks to these properties, many nutritionists recommend its integration into the diet. The American study wanted to investigate another aspect, to try to understand if the avocado also had an effect on the reduction of abdominal fat and on metabolism in general.
Those who decided to participate in the study, 105 people in all aged between 25 and 45 (of which 61% women). They were divided into two groups: the first included in his diet, for three months, a meal including one avocado (therefore one avocado a day). The second ate a similar meal in caloric quantity, but without avocado.
The results of the American study and the dietary properties of avocado
Twelve weeks later, the researchers found that women who ate one avocado a day had a better distribution of abdominal fat. This reduces its presence and effectively distributes it well away from sensitive organs such as the liver. This is an important result, and not only from an ‘aesthetic’ point of view. In fact, excess abdominal fat represents a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, such as stroke and heart attack.
In the conclusions of the study we read that “the intake of avocado imparts a beneficial abdominal adiposity profile”. Furthermore, subsequent research will try to understand how to “differentiate diets according to gender to reduce adipose tissue and improve the health of the metabolism”.
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