Good fats from lean proteins, vegetables and legumes add a lot to our health and our diets. But we have to admit, some are even tastier than others — and present numerous interesting possibilities to add flavor to our meals. At FoodFacts.com, we’re big fans of avocados for those very reasons.
Technically a fruit, avocados can substitute easily for sandwich spreads, or added to salads or stuffed with tuna or chicken. They can be incorporated into salad dressings, added to home made salsa or combined with with vegetables for new and different flavors. We’ve always appreciated how this good-for-you food can be enjoyed in so many ways.
Now it appears that the addition of avocado to your meals can help you curb between meal hunger.
Research published in the November issue of the Nutrition Journal showed that overweight people who ate half of a fresh avocado with their lunch were more likely feel full and not want to snack more after their meal.
According to the study’s authors, this might help with weight management and may even reduce risk for disease, like Type 2 diabetes.
“Satiety is an important factor in weight management, because people who feel satisfied are less likely to snack between meals,” lead researcher Dr. Joan Sabate, chair of the department of nutrition at Loma Linda University in Loma Linda, Calif., said in a press release. “We also noted that though adding avocados increased participants’ calorie and carbohydrate intake at lunch, there was no increase in blood sugar levels beyond what was observed after eating the standard lunch. This leads us to believe that avocados potential role in blood sugar management is worth further investigation.”
The study involved 26 overweight but otherwise healthy adults who were asked to include avocados in their lunch either by replacing an item they would have eaten with the fruit, or eating avocado in addition to their regular meal.
Those that added half of an avocado were found to be 40 percent less likely to want to snack after lunch over a three-hour period, and 28 percent less likely to munch on something else up to five hours after the meal, compared to when they didn’t eat the avocado.
Avocado-eaters also were found to report more meal satisfaction, about 26 percent higher up to three hours after the meal, compared to after eating a standard lunch.
The researchers said that more studies need to be conducted to be able to say for sure that the results would be applicable to the average person,. They want to look deeper at avocados’ effects at glucose and insulin levels, which are markers for diabetes.
This is a great idea for those of us who find ourselves looking for a little something extra between lunch and dinner. Try adding avocados to your lunch. You’ll not only be adding high levels of antioxidants, folate and fiber to your meal. You may just find yourself feeling fuller, longer!