(HealthDay News) – Eating a half of an avocado at lunch dampens appetite for the next several hours in overweight adults, according to research published online Nov. 27 in the Nutrition Journal.
Michelle Wien, DrPH, RD, CDE, of Loma Linda University in California, and colleagues conducted a randomized, crossover study in 26 overweight adults to compare the post-ingestive effects of a control (C) meal, an avocado-inclusive (AI) meal, and an avocado-added (AA) meal. The C and AI meals delivered 35% of the participant’s daily energy needs; the AA meal provided 41%.
The researchers found that, based on the area under the curve (AUC) from 0–5 hours and from 0–3 hours, respectively, adults who consumed the AA meal, compared with the C meal, had significant changes in increased satisfaction (23% [P=0.05] and 26% [P=0.04]) and decreased desire to eat (28% [P=0.04] and 40% [P=0.01]). The AUC from 0–3 hours for blood insulin level was significantly higher for the C and AA meals compared with the AI meal (P=0.04 and 0.05, respectively).
“This study showed that the addition of approximately one-half of a fresh Hass avocado to a lunch meal favorably increased satisfaction and reduced the desire to eat over a subsequent three hour and five hour period in an overweight and moderately obese adult population,” the authors write.
The Hass Avocado Board funded the study.