To reduce visceral fat, the important thing is ... to eat an avocado a day. In fact, avocado is able to modify the distribution of body fat by reducing the dangerous accumulations of fat in the abdominal area. This is what emerges from a very recent scientific research that appeared a few days ago in The Journal of Nutrition thanks to the work of an American team from the University of Illinois (Khan et al, JN, Sep 2021).
Not all fat is the same
Fat, as we already know from previous research, is not all the same. There are also two types of fat in the abdominal area, subcutaneous fat, which is less dangerous, and fat that instead accumulates deeper, between the internal organs. The latter fat is the most dangerous as it is not inert, but produces pro-inflammatory substances and increases the risk of cardiovascular illnesses and of developing diabetes. Therefore, decreasing the presence of this visceral fat benefits the health of the heart, of blood vessels and of the entire body.
Does avocado reduce fat in the abdomen? The experiment
Researchers at the University of Illinois wondered whether avocado consumption could in any way change the distribution of body fat, reducing visceral fat. Avocado is a fruit rich in fiber, mineral salts, such as potassium and magnesium, vitamins, such as vitamins A, C, E and group B, but also antioxidants, such as lutein and zeaxanthin, and finally monounsaturated fatty acids. The researchers then recruited 105 volunteers, all adults between the ages of 25 and 45 who were overweight, half of them women. The study participants were divided into two groups. The first group was asked to consume, every day for 3 months, a meal provided by the university which could vary between pasta, rice, salad and eggs but which always included the presence of an avocado. The second group was served a meal without avocado, but containing the same calories as the meal consumed by the first group. At the beginning and at the end of the study, the participants underwent analyzes to assess the presence of visceral fat and the distribution of fat in the body.
In women, avocado reduces visceral fat
What emerged after three months was that visceral fat had decreased in women. Not only that, the ratio of visceral fat to subcutaneous fat also decreased, indicating that the avocado had stimulated a different, and healthier, distribution of body fat.
