An Avocado A Day May Help Boost Gut Diversity & Improve Fiber Absorption, Study Says

Honestly, even if avocados didn't have a slew of health benefits, we'd still love them—it's almost like all their health benefits are an added bonus to the creamy, flavorful fruit. This versatile food is a staple in many kitchens, and it's a star ingredient at many cafes and restaurants (often, of course, on toast).

The study, which was published in the Journal of Nutrition, sought to find out how eating avocado every day might influence gut health. While the high dietary fiber content of avocado—and the associated gut health benefits of eating fiber—have been pretty well known, understanding how daily avocado consumption might influence the microbiome was still something of a mystery.

A team of researchers at the University of Illinois found that daily avocado intake led to1 an increase in the microbial diversity, a higher concentration of the microbiomes that work to break down fiber, which help produce the metabolites that support our overall gut health.

"Our goal was to test the hypothesis that the fats and the fiber in avocados positively affect the gut microbiota," explains Hannah Holscher, Ph.D., senior author of the study. "We also wanted to explore the relationships between gut microbes and health outcomes." 

Participants were between 25 and 45 years old who were considered either overweight or obese based on BMI. After being split into two groups, they were all given similar meals to consume each day, though one group had avocado, as well. Over the course of 12 weeks, participants provided blood, urine, and fecal samples and reported all the foods they ate.

Supporting those microbes is crucial for our health: Studies have linked poor gut health to inflammation2, and many chronic health conditions. With so many things contributing to the downfall of our gut health—from stress to diet—we're all for simple ways to support our gut microbiome with the foods we love.

Avocado's high fiber content means they're a good source of prebiotics—those nondigestible compounds that fuel the probiotics that keep our gut in balance. This may help to explain how daily consumption of avocados helps fuel increased microbial diversity. Though the researchers don't call out prebiotics, specifically, they did discuss in a news release the role of fiber: "We can't break down dietary fibers, but certain gut microbes can. When we consume dietary fiber, it's a win-win for gut microbes and for us," explains Holscher. "Just like we think about heart-healthy meals, we need to also be thinking about gut healthy meals and how to feed the microbiota."