Healthy fats are the mainstay of my very own A-List Diet for a reason: You HAVE to eat fat if you want to burn fat. Period.
That’s why my recipes include various fatty foods… from salmon and steak to butter and macadamia nut oil.
But let me ask you something… is there anything more delicious than a fatty, nutritious avocado!?
Research shows that regular avocado consumption is a dieter’s best friend—helping to keep you fuller for longer, among other health benefits (like lowering cholesterol). That’s partly because avocados are packed with health-boosting monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs).
So I wasn’t at all surprised to come across brand-new research showing that an avocado a day is a potent belly fat buster, too…
Big changes in just 12 weeks
Researchers recruited 105 adults, all overweight or obese, for this randomized, controlled trial.
The study provided subjects with one meal daily for 12 weeks—one group received meals with a fresh avocado; the other group received nearly identical meals without an avocado.
Before and after the study period, researchers measured both belly fat and glucose tolerance to assess for metabolic function. And they found that, over 12 weeks, regular avocado consumption was able to redistribute fat away from the belly… in women, at least.
Men didn’t see the same kind of fat redistribution. And neither group experienced changes in blood sugar. But these findings, which appeared recently in the Journal of Nutrition, still demonstrate a pretty huge victory…
The deadliest kind of fat
The technical term for belly fat is intra-abdominal fat, or visceral fat. No matter what you call it, it’s bad news. In fact, it’s the worst kind of fat you can have.
Basically, belly fat winds itself around abdominal organs like your liver and intestines. And this visceral fat is much more dangerous than the subcutaneous fat that collects on your hips and thighs.
Belly fat can raise the level of inflammation in your body—the No. 1 root cause of disease. And it releases other substances that can raise your blood pressure and boost your insulin resistance.
So it’s no surprise that belly fat has been linked in studies to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, dementia, and cancer.
In other words, losing belly fat is essential to good health. And there’s no better way to do that than with a healthy, balanced diet… one that includes a daily avocado among other delicious foods (like lean protein, fresh produce, and nuts).
Sliced, diced, or straight off the spoon—get your daily avocado any way you can. And for delicious recipes that incorporate fresh avocado, grab yourself a copy of my A-List Diet book from the “books” tab of my website, www.DrPescatore.com.
Reference:
Khan NA, et al. “Avocado Consumption, Abdominal Adiposity, and Oral Glucose Tolerance Among Persons with Overweight and Obesity.” The Journal of Nutrition, 2021; 151 (9): 2513 DOI: 10.1093/jn/nxab187