Keeping the gut healthy is indeed a task especially for people who cannot live without spicy food and love processed & packaged meals. Are you one of them? Stomach ache, bloating, constipation, loose motions, etc. are signs that your gut is not in the right state. You need to fix it before it severely hampers your health. Consuming fibre-rich foods is the first and most important advice that doctors give for stomach health. There are n number of foods but avocado overpowers them all. Want to know how avocado can boost gut health? Keep reading.
How to Improve Gut Health with Avocado?
Call it bland but this tasteless fruit is the best thing for your gut. A research conducted by the University of Illinois College of Agriculture, consumer and environmental sciences recently revealed the health benefits of avocado for the gut. Avocados are loaded with monounsaturated fat and dietary fibre that is beneficial for the gastrointestinal system as it increases microbes in the gut.
The Journal of Nutrition published this study on avocado and gut health. One of the lead authors Sharon Thompson of this study says, “We know eating avocados helps you feel full and reduces blood cholesterol concentration, but we did not know how it influences the gut microbes, and the metabolites the microbes produce.”
Also Read: Can An Avocado Help In Lowering Cholesterol?
The research on Avocado
To find the effectiveness of avocado on gastrointestinal health, the researchers divided participants into two teams. One team was asked to consume avocado with one meal. While the other team ate their regular meals. The researchers found that the microbial diversity or gut microbes in people who consumed avocado was higher as compared to others. These microbes produce metabolites and allow the proper break down of fibre. “Avocado consumption reduced bile acids and increased short-chain fatty acids. These changes correlate with beneficial health outcomes,” Sharon Thompson adds.
Another author comments, “Our goal was to test the hypothesis that the fats and the fibre in avocados positively affect the gut microbiota. We also wanted to explore the relationships between gut microbes and health outcomes. Greater fat excretion means the research participants were absorbing less energy from the foods that they were eating. This was likely because of reductions in bile acids, which are molecules our digestion system secretes that allow us to absorb fat. We found that the number of bile acids in stool was lower and the amount of fat in the stool was higher in the avocado group.”
Also Read: Treat Summer Hair Dryness With DIY Avocado Hair Masks
Avocado is an energy-dense food that would keep you fuller for a long time. Not just that, it is also rich in gut microbes that help in boosting gut health and promoting digestion. If you have an avocado daily, you are sure to have great gut health. Add it to your salad or make an avocado toast but include it in your diet.
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