A new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Collaborators found that an avocado a day could help redistribute belly fat in women.

Naiman Khan, an Illinois Professor of Kinesiology and Community health, led the research study which was funded by the Hass Avocado Board and published in the Journal of Nutrition.

105 adults with overweight and obesity participated in a randomised controlled trial that provided one meal a day for 12 weeks. Women who consumed avocado as part of their daily meal had a reduction in deeper visceral abdominal fat.

Professor Khan said, The goal wasn't weight loss; we were interested in understanding what eating an avocado does to the way individuals store their body fat. The location of fat in the body plays an important role in health.” He further explained that, there are two kinds of fats in the abdomen: fat that accumulates right underneath the skin, called subcutaneous fat, and fat that accumulates deeper in the abdomen, known as visceral fat, that surrounds the internal organs.

The participants were divided into two groups. One group received meals that incorporated a fresh avocado, while the other group received a meal that had nearly identical ingredients and similar calories but did not contain avocado.

At the beginning and end of the 12 weeks, the researchers measured participants' abdominal fat and their glucose tolerance, a measure of metabolism and a marker of diabetes. Female participants who consumed an avocado a day as part of their meal had a reduction in visceral abdominal fat;the hard-to-target fat associated with higher risk and experienced a reduction in the ratio of visceral fat to subcutaneous fat, indicating a redistribution of fat away from the organs. However, fat distribution in males did not change, and neither males nor females had improvements in glucose tolerance.

Khan said, “While daily consumption of avocados did not change glucose tolerance, what we learned is that a dietary pattern that includes an avocado every day impacted the way individuals store body fat in a beneficial manner for their health, but the benefits were primarily in females.”

Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/09/210907110702.htm