Want to Lose Weight? Try an Avocado at Lunch

Oh the avocado. That Central American fruit with a dark, pear-shaped body but a bright yellow-green center that we love to eat up. Most of us love to indulge in a little avocado dip or side with chips, salad or you name it. Yet a recent study shows that eating half an avocado at lunch can help cut down on the desire to snack between meals.

The latest study, which involved 26 healthy but overweight individuals, showed that snacking on this fruit also helped to reduce blood sugar and insulin responses that are typically involved with a desire to snack.

In fact, the study showed that 40 percent of the participants reported less desire to snack over a three-hour period following the fruit's consumption. For 28 percent of the group, they were not hungry over a five-hour period. Best of all, researchers found that those who snacked on an avocado were more satisfied with the meals they did consume later.

"We 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," lead researcher Dr. Joan Sabate, a nutritionist from Loma Linda University noted, via the Daily Mail. "This leads us to believe that avocados' potential role in blood sugar management is worth further investigation."

More information regarding the study can be found via the Nutrition Journal.