The avocado, also known as Persea americana, is a powerhouse superfood. Avocados contain healthy fats, anti-aging, disease-fighting antioxidants, and nearly 20 vitamins and minerals.1
Regular avocado eaters have higher https://miksemar.id/ intakes of fiber, vitamins E and K, magnesium, and potassium than those who don’t eat avocados.2 Just one avocado provides 40% of the Daily Value (DV) of folate, 30% of the DV for vitamin K, and over 20% of the daily value vitamin C.345
Avocados also contain many minerals. Nearly 30% of the daily value of potassium and almost 20% of the daily value of magnesium, a mineral essential for structural and chemical reactions in the human body, is in this fruit.
Here are nine health benefits of avocados and how to incorporate them into your daily meals and snacks.
1. Boosts Satiety
Eating healthy fats helps slow stomach emptying, which keeps you full longer than usual and delays the return of hunger. This satisfied feeling is known as satiety. Avocados, whose fat content primarily comes from heart-healthy monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs), fit that bill.6
Adding half of an avocado to your meal may significantly boost satiety for up to five hours.6
2. Helps Manage Body Weight
The notion that eating fat makes you gain weight is wrong. Eating healthy fats is a savvy weight management strategy. Having one avocado a day in a calorie-controlled diet for 12 weeks, while adding fat and calories, didn’t prevent weight loss.7
Plant-based fats like those in an avocado provide antioxidants and fight inflammation, which has been linked to healthy weight management. Eating avocados regularly may help you to maintain a healthy weight, even without eating fewer calories. Regular avocado eaters generally have a more nutritious diet—consuming more veggies and fruits and less refined foods—and have lower body weight and a smaller waist circumference than those who don’t eat avocados.8
3. Protects Your Heart
Consuming an avocado has heart-protective effects by improving your lipid profile. Eating one avocado a day for five weeks reduces total cholesterol, lowers “bad” cholesterol—low-density lipoproteins or LDL—and raises “good” cholesterol—high-density lipoproteins or HDL—in people who are overweight or living with obesity.10 Eating avocado regularly improves your lipid profile—lowering triglycerides and LDL and raising HDL.11
Avocados are an excellent source of potassium—a micronutrient that helps reduce blood pressure.12 A balance between increasing potassium and decreasing sodium can help treat high blood pressure.13
4. Prevents Diabetes Complications
If you have type 2 diabetes or insulin resistance, the higher your blood glucose level rises, the more your body produces insulin to lower your blood sugar.14 Adding avocado to your meals can prevent insulin and blood glucose levels from rising following the consumption of a meal. Even just adding half an avocado prevents the rise in insulin and glucose.6
Avocado consumption over time may also reduce belly fat, or visceral fat. Visceral fat cushions the organs in your abdominal region and is tied to a higher risk of type 2 diabetes.8
5. Boosts Nutrients
Enjoying avocados at mealtime can help your body absorb more antioxidants from other healthy foods. Pairing avocado with tomato sauce and carrots boosts the absorption of vitamin A, which is a crucial nutrient for healthy skin, vision, and immunity.15
Avocados may also help support a healthier diet overall. Regular avocado eaters tend to consume more vegetables, fruits, and whole grains.16 People who consume avocados have significantly high intakes of the following nutrients:16